Newsletter 08/04

This Will Take More Then Seven Days Part 2
A Long Time Ago...

I must appologize for any strange formatting in this edition. My computer at home has slipped into a coma, so I'm submitting this edition from the computer at my office, which is a Mac. Sadly, the office computer is on the same line as the office fax, so I can't take the time to figure out how to fix the formatting problems, so this is the way it's going to have to be. Sorry. In any case, on with...

         In fantasy, probably more so than in any other genre, ancient history is not only relevant, but crucial. What happened hundreds or even thousands of years ago can have a very direct impact on what is happening in the present. The obvious example is The Lord of the Rings, where the events going back to the creation of the world affect the life of a few modern Hobbits and others. Like Tolkien, many modern fantasy authors have developed detailed histories for their worlds. Some have even published the historical information in separate books.

         The question for the fantasy author is, how much history is required? Well, like most things in writing, the answer is, as much as is required. It depends entirely on the needs of the story. If you are going to write a Fantasy story Dealing with a small band of likable rogues outwitting a local official, ancient history will probably not play a great role. If your story revolves around a current war, you are going to have to know the history of the war and the warring nations. If your story is a quest to find a way to stop a mad wizard, you will need to know about the wizard. Of course, if your story features the great powers that created the world, you are going to have to know what they've been up to.

         History in literature is generally not that difficult to produce. Generally it's best to start at the start and work your way forward from there. By the start, I mean the absolute beginning. When writing fantasy, it's usually very helpful to know where the world came from. Why is also a good question to answer, since fantasy worlds are generally created by some manner of divine being besides the author.

         The first thing an author who wants to develop a history of the world should do is decide who made it an why, and then go from there. Luckily we don't need to reinvent the wheel. Mythology is ripe with ideas for the plucking. They don't have to be obvious thefts either. There are so many mythologies out there, a day or two at the library should give you some ideas not typically seen on the bookshelves. Remember to vary your sources and adapt things as much as possible, and you should be all right. Real world myths tend to be public domain anyway so legal problems should be minimal. Still it never hurts to put your own spin on things to keep them from becoming too derivative.

         After deciding how the world began, you will need to move on to other important matters. In my opinion, that means you need to decide how the gods got along, what they did when they didn't get along, and how that impacted the world. Next you will need to figure out where the human types came from and what their relationships with each other and with the gods might be. Finally, you will need to establish some reason in the past why things are the way they are in the present. A few details about early encounters, the odd myth relating to major events, and perhaps a two to three page time line showing major events should be sufficient.

         I'm afraid I can't get into too much more detail than that at the moment. Writing a world's history is much like writing another story, and the needs will vary from story to story. I can say that Myths and legends from around the world can be a great source of inspiration. So can real world history if you have the time to research it and change some names and dates around. A few days at the local library is well worth the time invested for the details and ideas you can get for your own work.

         One thing I would advise against is getting ideas from other authors for this. Most of them adapted ideas from mythology and other sources, so you would just be getting your variation of someone else's variation of another story. Better to go to the source, which as mentioned before is probably public domain, and make the changes from there.

         Now, depending on how you want the story to read, you have lots of choices for sources. Greek, Roman and Norse mythology are all fairly well known. Using ideas from these will result in a lot of easy identification, but it has the disadvantage that it is more difficult to look original when working from such a well known base. If you want less well known stories, the British Isles has a rich and varied mythic tradition. So do the Scandinavian countries. Russia and other Slavic nations offer a rich mythic history that is not particularly well known. Native American Culture was originally made up of many nations and tribes and as such offers an enormous variety of mythologies to look at. Going even further afield, Asia and Africa also offer more exotic tales that are even less well known and still easily adaptable. Give it a try. Look for some interesting myths and work them into a story. Then send me an email or a note to the submissions page explaining the original myth, and possibly a means to read the original, and then link to your story. It may appear in the Editor's Picks next month.

Colin