World Building Part II: Intro to Lore

Friday October 10, 2014

If you are at all like me, you like enormous, deep, rich fiction. That does not necessarily mean long, not by any means, but it means that the world the creator made has a high resolution. The stories behind the scenes of the main plot are written. The history of the place the main characters inhabit: all accounted for.

Lore is an integral part of world building that many writers ignore, mainly because large amounts of lore will never end up in the final product, and what good is all that material if no one ever sees it? Well, for one, your story will benefit. If you are planning a series, or if your work is particularly complicated, it helps having your world all in order for the sake of continuity. Your story will also make much more sense if it is in fact a piece of a larger narrative - not necessarily one your reader will read - but one that will be understood regardless. Events do not happen in isolation, ever. There is always context, always another story that can serve as the WHY for the story you are writing.

First, assess what you know about your world. Do you know the political systems that are in place? Do you know who the politicians are? The currency? The most common types of work that people do in your setting? What their lifestyle is? Major conflicts of the last hundred (or in my case) thousand years? Do you know who founded the nation your character is from? When that was?

The above questions are examples of absolute need to know. Without the context for your world firmly established you walk a dangerous road of potentially building plot holes and story inconsistencies. Your timeline needs to be rock solid and consistent.

If you are working on a particularly large project, I recommend two things.

Write down an actual timeline, or sketch it out on a poster (I do the written timeline because I’m not particularly artsy.)
Ask a friend to help!

Bribe your friend(s) with a drink or snack of their choosing. Bring a writing pad and pen and have them ask you all sorts of questions about your world and the history of it. Everything is on the table for these sessions. You do not need to answer the questions right away, but you need to know the answers before your work is done. This knowledge is the lore of the world you are building.

After that, it is totally up to you what you include in your world and story. I would not recommend including everything, but every now and again a well sprinkled detail or hint to a larger story will enhance every aspect of your creation.