World Building, Part Eleven: History
And we're almost to our last post for world-building. I think we have maybe one more. Now that you have the basics all figured out, for culture, locations, animals, and plants, it's time to look at history. History plays a huge part in the background of a story, as well as the current plot, especially if it's a political story.
Step one: The first question you need to answer before starting on the history for your world is how old is it? You need to know this in order to decide whether to cover great swathes of territory in one go, or go farther into detail on everything that happened. If, for example, you have a world that is millions of years old, you may need to label periods of a hundred thousand years or more with something as simple as "The Silence" or "The Long War." But, if you have a world that's only a few thousand, you might decide on a timeline, covering every major happening from the crowning of a king to a civil war.
Step two: Creation stories. This would be the time to consider your world's creation story. If you made a list of religions, you may have several different accounts of how various deities made the world. But this is the time that you write down how your world actually came to pass. If you have any religious themes in your plot, this could be important. As an example of how ancient history was used in a story, you can read the Shadowmarch series by Tad Williams. One of the things I found most interesting was that the creation and battle stories the people knew and loved were inaccurate, because of who had written them. You can use a similar device, making the actual account an important plot point. This type of ancient history rarely has humans as the main player, so if you want to deal primarily with powerful beings and monsters, now would be a great time to do that, and set the stage for later myths.
Step three: Intelligent life. Now that you have the earliest history of your world completed, you need to know how this world went from uninhabited (or inhabited by monsters and powerful otherworldly beings) to being populated by the people you made up in an earlier post. You have the world, now you need to know how the people came to pass.
With this step, you need to consider if different people or forms of intelligent life have different beginnings. You might, for instance, have two deities that work together to create a "model" of the intelligent life they desire, and then they both use that as the basis for different groups. This could result in two groups able to produce offspring together, but with different gods, or different abilities/specialties.
Step four: How did societies develop? Typically in stories, humanity starts off as a small group. If you choose to do that, and your world started out with beasts and dangerous creatures, you'll need to decide how these people survived, and how their societies developed to handle the challenges they face. Even if you start with a large group, it's not likely that they're going to just fall into place immediately as a functional society that can survive adversity of different types. Often, the start of a human population begins with a single family, and the growth of that family eventually turns into a nation.
Step five: How did people travel? People migrate, with weather, with food sources, away from natural disasters and enemies. Where have these people been? Why did they go there? It may be helpful to make copies of your maps and draw migration routes for the different groups of people, along with generalized times for when they were in each place. This will allow you to pinpoint when different clans or families crossed paths, and also give you some info for basic genealogies, since at those kinds of meetings there's usually cases of intermarriage.
Step six: What fighting or wars were there between different groups of people, or among the same group of people? One large nation can split into pieces and go off separate ways, just like two groups of people can fight each other for generations. Groups of people can also join together for safety, or in wars against a common enemy. If this fighting happens in early history, it may be before the different groups were very large, and therefore the consequences might not be as big. Or, conversely, the consequences might be much worse, such as an entire tribe or family group losing their lives. If this fighting happens when there are established large cities or nations, the scale of the conflict is likely going to be much bigger, and possibly longer. Any fighting or conflict might also result in tensions between races or nations for many years, even generations, after the wars are over.
Step seven: What kinds of treaties or alliances have been formed? There may be a longstanding friendship between two nations, where each has pledged to aid the other in times of war or distress. There may be a kind of symbiotic relationship, as well. If, for example, one race of people is physically weak but has skill in magic, they may be bound to a member of a nation that has no magic but is physically powerful. They may then form partnerships that benefit both groups. Nations that have worked together for a long time will likely have had a number of intermarriages, and the rulers of each may, eventually, decide to join the two nations into one through the marriage of royal families.
Step eight: Notable events. Aside from treaties and wars, there may be other notable events, such as the birth of royal triplets, the first woman to ascend a position of power in the military, the death of the longest living ruler, the first magician of a certain race, or the building of a monument. This would be the time you could look at your first maps, with the notable areas, and decide what they are, represent, or memorialize. These notable events or places to memorialize them can be very important to people in different ways. As an example, the first magician to become king might invite the mistrust of his non-magic-using subjects, while giving young children studying magic the belief that they can rise to important positions. The first woman warrior to win a battle might give other young women the hope to someday achieve glory, and would likely "go down in history." The monument to memorialize fallen soldiers might be visited every year by families who lost loved ones to war.
Step nine: Influential people can do a lot of harm or good to a nation. They can find cures for diseases, or start panic over something that isn't true. They can lead a nation to victory or defeat. People who are remembered for acts of valor in war will likely be remembered by those fascinated by or studying the art of war. Men and women known for artistic contributions will probably have their artwork displayed in prominent places, or even collaborate on public buildings. Kings and queens that lead their nations to peace will be remembered for their political abilities and the results of their hard work. Because these names will be common knowledge, and many youngsters may look up to these people as role models, it may be important for you to know who they are and what they're famous for, especially in relation to history.
Step one: The first question you need to answer before starting on the history for your world is how old is it? You need to know this in order to decide whether to cover great swathes of territory in one go, or go farther into detail on everything that happened. If, for example, you have a world that is millions of years old, you may need to label periods of a hundred thousand years or more with something as simple as "The Silence" or "The Long War." But, if you have a world that's only a few thousand, you might decide on a timeline, covering every major happening from the crowning of a king to a civil war.
Step two: Creation stories. This would be the time to consider your world's creation story. If you made a list of religions, you may have several different accounts of how various deities made the world. But this is the time that you write down how your world actually came to pass. If you have any religious themes in your plot, this could be important. As an example of how ancient history was used in a story, you can read the Shadowmarch series by Tad Williams. One of the things I found most interesting was that the creation and battle stories the people knew and loved were inaccurate, because of who had written them. You can use a similar device, making the actual account an important plot point. This type of ancient history rarely has humans as the main player, so if you want to deal primarily with powerful beings and monsters, now would be a great time to do that, and set the stage for later myths.
Step three: Intelligent life. Now that you have the earliest history of your world completed, you need to know how this world went from uninhabited (or inhabited by monsters and powerful otherworldly beings) to being populated by the people you made up in an earlier post. You have the world, now you need to know how the people came to pass.
With this step, you need to consider if different people or forms of intelligent life have different beginnings. You might, for instance, have two deities that work together to create a "model" of the intelligent life they desire, and then they both use that as the basis for different groups. This could result in two groups able to produce offspring together, but with different gods, or different abilities/specialties.
Step four: How did societies develop? Typically in stories, humanity starts off as a small group. If you choose to do that, and your world started out with beasts and dangerous creatures, you'll need to decide how these people survived, and how their societies developed to handle the challenges they face. Even if you start with a large group, it's not likely that they're going to just fall into place immediately as a functional society that can survive adversity of different types. Often, the start of a human population begins with a single family, and the growth of that family eventually turns into a nation.
Step five: How did people travel? People migrate, with weather, with food sources, away from natural disasters and enemies. Where have these people been? Why did they go there? It may be helpful to make copies of your maps and draw migration routes for the different groups of people, along with generalized times for when they were in each place. This will allow you to pinpoint when different clans or families crossed paths, and also give you some info for basic genealogies, since at those kinds of meetings there's usually cases of intermarriage.
Step six: What fighting or wars were there between different groups of people, or among the same group of people? One large nation can split into pieces and go off separate ways, just like two groups of people can fight each other for generations. Groups of people can also join together for safety, or in wars against a common enemy. If this fighting happens in early history, it may be before the different groups were very large, and therefore the consequences might not be as big. Or, conversely, the consequences might be much worse, such as an entire tribe or family group losing their lives. If this fighting happens when there are established large cities or nations, the scale of the conflict is likely going to be much bigger, and possibly longer. Any fighting or conflict might also result in tensions between races or nations for many years, even generations, after the wars are over.
Step seven: What kinds of treaties or alliances have been formed? There may be a longstanding friendship between two nations, where each has pledged to aid the other in times of war or distress. There may be a kind of symbiotic relationship, as well. If, for example, one race of people is physically weak but has skill in magic, they may be bound to a member of a nation that has no magic but is physically powerful. They may then form partnerships that benefit both groups. Nations that have worked together for a long time will likely have had a number of intermarriages, and the rulers of each may, eventually, decide to join the two nations into one through the marriage of royal families.
Step eight: Notable events. Aside from treaties and wars, there may be other notable events, such as the birth of royal triplets, the first woman to ascend a position of power in the military, the death of the longest living ruler, the first magician of a certain race, or the building of a monument. This would be the time you could look at your first maps, with the notable areas, and decide what they are, represent, or memorialize. These notable events or places to memorialize them can be very important to people in different ways. As an example, the first magician to become king might invite the mistrust of his non-magic-using subjects, while giving young children studying magic the belief that they can rise to important positions. The first woman warrior to win a battle might give other young women the hope to someday achieve glory, and would likely "go down in history." The monument to memorialize fallen soldiers might be visited every year by families who lost loved ones to war.
Step nine: Influential people can do a lot of harm or good to a nation. They can find cures for diseases, or start panic over something that isn't true. They can lead a nation to victory or defeat. People who are remembered for acts of valor in war will likely be remembered by those fascinated by or studying the art of war. Men and women known for artistic contributions will probably have their artwork displayed in prominent places, or even collaborate on public buildings. Kings and queens that lead their nations to peace will be remembered for their political abilities and the results of their hard work. Because these names will be common knowledge, and many youngsters may look up to these people as role models, it may be important for you to know who they are and what they're famous for, especially in relation to history.
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