56: Past and Present – Explore History’s Legacy (5)

When I first started writing fantasy, I quickly reached an

obstacle in my story writing, when I didn't know why things

were the way they were at the beginning, what past events had

brought my character's world to its present state? Why did they

face the constraints that made them act the way they acted, or

make choices the way they did? I needed historical context. I

needed a timeline, I needed a map. What I needed was a history

for my world, all neatly laid out. But you know what? It

didn't exist because I hadn't created it. Yet. As a writer,

creating a rich and detailed history for your fictional world

can help bring it to life and captivate your readers. In this

episode, called past and present, explore history's

legacy. We'll go over five tips to help you create and remember

your world's history and use it to drive your stories forward. A

writing precedes authors. Welcome back to the podcast. To

those of you who are new, I want to extend a special welcome. My

name is Kathrese. McKee. And I'm glad you're here. If you are a

writer seeking encouragement, information and inspiration,

this podcast is for you. Let's get to it. Let me start with

this. There are as many ways to create your world building

history, as there are authors who have done it, you will

develop your own system. So the ideas I'm going to share are a

starting place or possible additions to what you are

already doing. Also, in my personal opinion, you don't need

to write a history book before you begin writing your story.

Maybe I'm picking a fight. But there are lots of authors out

there who have been world building for years, but they

haven't finished their first story yet. world building is in

service of your story, not the other way around. So I am more

of a plotter for my stories, and more of a pantser for my world

building. But once I make a world building decision, it

needs to be locked down and documented for the sake of

consistency. Also, I'm not minimizing the importance of

world building, not at Hall. This is the fifth part of a

series about world building. So clearly, I think it's important,

but don't make it an excuse for not writing the story already.

Okay, so here are five tips to help you create and remember

your world's history. Number one, you must know where your

story is set, is it Earth, is it alternative earth or somewhere

else in part to the series we discussed dangers realm, which

covered climate, habitat, weather, topographical

considerations. Clearly, you need a map, or maybe a bunch of

maps. Even if you are writing historical fiction, or

contemporary fiction. Maps are extremely helpful. You You need

a map. A map can be as simple as a drawing on a napkin, or as

detailed as a digital file. For my own series. I started with a

map in a spiral notebook. And then it became a digital file

later as it got perfected fantasy and science fiction

authors. Here's a word for you get a map for your world and put

it in your book and on your website. And maybe in a wiki. If

you go that far, your readers expect maps so make sure you

supply those. Your map should note major geographical features

including mountains, valleys, plains, deserts, like oceans,

rivers, lakes and streams, forests, jungles, Badlands,

cities, towns and borders, the sky's the limit. Okay, number

two, you must know when your story happens. And that sounds

obvious. Wherein when are twins like sides of a coin, they both

must be present. Where things happen is critical to historical

context. And so is when things happen. When in your world's

history. Does your story occur? Does it happen at the world's

inception? Or does it happen during a golden age? Or does it

happen during a time of terrible struggle, and uncertainty?

Remember, when we were in social studies, and the teacher made us

make all kinds of timelines? Well, now you can make your own

timelines and there's no going there's not going to be a social

studies teacher telling you you got it wrong. So make timelines

for your cities. And if you have two civilizations, parallel

timelines are really helpful. You can create timelines with

pen and paper but software exists in our world. See what I

did there. So why not take advantage

of the technology world anvil is a frequently recommended site to

help creators make timelines and many other things. And I will

include a link in the show notes. Recently, I interviewed

Troy Lambert about plotter.com. In episode 50 of writing

precedes podcasts. plotter also has timelines and provides for

story Bible. So it's a really great tool. I love mind maps for

this purpose to digital Mind Maps make it easy to just keep

going with no end in sight to rearrange to erase to edit

history on the fly. And honestly, spreadsheets are a

great way to document historical timeline. So don't overlook the

lowly spreadsheet. Some folks want to know every single detail

about how their world came to be, and to each their own. But

it is probably adequate to just name major slices of time, their

duration, the major features of each epoch, and then set along

when your story is set. Number three, how will your decisions

about where and when affect your characters and the plot of your

story. At this point, you'll know the historical context for

how and why your characters make their choices the way they do,

and you'll understand the consequences that are likely to

spring from those choices. So the historical context of your

story will dictate society's rules, which we discussed in

part three of the series go back to that episode to find a wealth

of possibilities for generating plot ideas, conflict and themes.

If you're still having difficulty with the win of your

story, it may be useful to stick a pin in your world history with

a technological limitation. One of the limitations I set in my

world building for my first series was the rule there is

nothing like gunpowder, no explosions. Another limitation

I've set was no electricity, and nothing similar. So fire is the

only thing you have for warmth, and light, and cold and dark

places. Boom just like that many decisions were made for the

world, and what was likely to have been discovered what could

have been manufactured, and when my story was set in my alternate

Earth world. So that was a big help. In part four we discussed

technological knowledge and industrial achievements. So if

you want some questions to consider go back to that

episode. Technology also dictates how history is passed

on through the generations. Is history passed on by word of

mouth? Or is history readily available to anyone through

advanced search engines? Try making a few rules about

technology and many things will fall into place. Writing

pursuits is run by Kathrese. McKee, who has been trusted by

level of excellence. Guthrie's is a three story methods

certified editor who specializes in story diagnostics, coaching,

and line editing to help you prepare your story for the

journey ahead. For more information, go to writing

pursuits.com. The link is in the show notes. And now back to the

podcast. Number four, you may need assistance to generate

historical facts for your universe events. And my best

suggestion is to be a student of Earth history. Because plot

ideas are everywhere in recorded accounts around the world, you

practically cannot run out but if your imagination is running

on a beat, try some low tech tools to move things along.

You're probably familiar with Dungeons and Dragons, and they

use something called a D 20. Which is a pod polyhedral dice

that they introduced to modern board games, but it has been

about plot. In fact, d&d uses a D four a D six a DA that he 12

entity 20 for various purposes during their game, so this idea

isn't original to me, but you can assign various meanings or

potential events to each side of the die, then cast it and record

the results. possible events can include like things like

drought, flood, famine, prosperity, disease, war,

victory, defeat, refold, peace, assassination, birth and so on.

With the D 20. There's a 5% chance any one thing will

happen. So you can create a very varied series of events. The

number that comes up with a throw may indicate the intensity

of a given result from like net

negligible to shattering.

I have three sets of Rory Story Cubes, which I have found useful

for sparking plot points. Each story cube set includes nine,

six sided dice, with a unique pictogram on each side. And that

means that each set of nine cubes, there are 54 images, and

over 10 million combinations. So you throw those out and kind of

come up with something to go with them. There are many random

event generators online too. So you don't need to feel like

you're having to figure out every little thing on your own.

This is a great way to create events that go in your timeline.

Number five, write everything down and keep it handy built

that keep your maps your timelines and your historical

details, your society's rules and all the information about

your characters and magic systems in some sort of story

Bible, probably a digital one. I have used Scrivener for this

purpose in the past, but I'm leaning toward using plotter or

world anvil or a notetaking app like OneNote notion or obsidian,

which is like my current favorite for future books. As

long as you're keeping track. Why not share your world

building info with your fans in a wiki? Make your work count

twice. Use it also in your newsletters between books, fans

can soak up the minutiae of your ever expanding universe and

enjoy the side stories and historical context that set your

story in motion. Okay, bonus tip. Don't beat your reader down

with the details in your manuscript. Leave them wanting

more, not less. So no info dumps. Do not be like that Uncle

you know with the endless travel photos nobody wants to see at

the family reunion, edit condensed tantalize, and leave

the details for your wiki. Nothing in our world happens in

a vacuum. Even far flung events have unexpected effects on you

and me, seemingly small disagreements spiral out of

control and lead to World Wide conflict, like a single spark

setting an entire forest on fire. So context makes all the

difference. So be sure to consider history's legacy in

your world building. Okay, but Question of the week is what is

your method for creating the history for your fictional

worlds? And how do you keep track? Leave your answers at

writing proceeds.com forward slash podcast forward slash 56.

And that's all I have for you today. Until next time, keep

writing my friends. Keep writing. Thank you for listening

to the podcast today. If you enjoyed this episode, please

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keep writing my friends. Keep writing