Depending on what kind of writer you are, worldbuilding history can either be the most boring or exciting thing you’ve done so far in your book. Although I enjoy creating a fictional history, I know many writers don’t like to plan a lot before writing. I’m happy to inform you that I know a simple worldbuilding history framework for both those who like to plan and those who don’t.
The magic about worldbuilding history is that you can make it as simple or as extensive as you want. With this 5-step framework, I’ll show you soon, it allows you to be flexible while creating a rich fictional history.
With that said, we can begin worldbuilding history.
What Does it Mean to Worldbuild History?
I know you’re excited to begin worldbuilding history, but first, ask yourself: What does worldbuilding history mean?
If you don’t know the answer, don’t worry. It’s not as complicated as it might sound.
If you’re creating a fictional world, you might have already created a country, culture, and language for your fictional world. But to make it truly real, you have to create a fictional history that explains how your fictional world came to be.
Let me paint you a picture, you’re writing a dystopian world where evil AI lords rule over humans. The history you would need to create is basically the backstory to how the AI took over the world.
What Does Worldbuilding History Involve?
Worldbuilding history is the backstory of your fictional world. It’s also the foundation of your fictional world. It shapes the story before the readers even turn the first page.
It’s like a background update on your phone. While your characters are on their journey, the history is subtly influencing the plot. It affects things such as their job, where they live, who rules their nation, what food is available, and their political beliefs.
It includes:
- Major events.
- Wars.
- Natural disasters
- Cultural shifts.
- Political changes.
If you haven’t already begun worldbuilding, consider other aspects of your fictional world. Take a look at these other guides to worldbuilding, fictional world 101.
How Worldbuilding History Makes Your Fictional World Better
In many ways, worldbuilding history makes your fictional world better. That’s why you’re here. But I bet you didn’t know all of the reasons for worldbuilding history.
Strengthen your plot: A fictional history connects past events, as a result, helps you be more intentional about the meaning of your story.
Better Consistency: The culture, government, cities, and other components will fit together like a puzzle. You’ll be able to spot any plot hole from a mile away and make different literary elements fit together.
Believable: When your story is consistent, it’s much more believable. You’ll follow the same set of rules for the entirety of the story and avoid talking yourself into a corner. An unbelievable story ruins the reading experience for your audience.
Worldbuilding History Using a Simple 5-Step Framework
You have waited enough, but you don’t have to wait another second. Here is the simple 5-step worldbuilding history framework.
- Major event.
- What changed.
- Consequences.
- Related events.
- Show history through characters.
You can build an entire history from scratch doing this. Furthermore, if you want to include more than one major event, just repeat the process until you’re satisfied.
Read how to accomplish each step below.
Step 1: Start with One Major Event
To be straightforward, start with one major event. That’s all you need right now. The event has to be important. In other words, this event changed the average person’s daily life.
Here are some examples:
- A war that changed borders.
- Catastrophic magical disaster.
- A technological breakthrough.
- A revolution.
If you have already created a city, you can link the event to it so it also has historical significance.
Step 2: What Changed
For the event to matter, it has to change something. That’s how it ended up being history. So grab a pen and begin brainstorming.
Ask yourself:
- Who gained power?
- Who lost power?
- What beliefs changed?
- What new rules were created?
Step 3: Add Consequences
No event happens in isolation. At first, it built up, then something triggered it, and there was an aftermath. Your story is taking place in the aftermath; this is where your history shows up.
Therefore, you have to think about these two things:
Short-term consequences: From immediate reactions to a couple of years later.
Long-term consequences: Generations to millennia later.
For example, a war breaks out, and the winning country colonizes another nation. In the coming years, political tension reaches a climax, and a rebellion breaks out.
Step 4: Create a Handful of Key Historical Moments
The key to worldbuilding history is to create a handful of key historical moments. Since you’ve already created one major event, you can add 2-3 other historical moments that either preceded or followed the event.
As I mentioned earlier, nothing historically speaking happens in isolation. There’s always a reason why the event happened, and there are consequences that follow. In this case, it’s other key historical moments.
To begin, do this:
- Choose one major event.
- Pick 2-3 before or after events.
Step 5: Show History Through the Lens of Your Characters
Believe it or not, your characters are a living consequence of your fictional history. People are products of their environment, including where they were born, their family, the resources available, and the political issues they face.
Show the history through the characters’ beliefs, behaviour, and goals. Show it through how they describe a vase and how they treat strangers. Letting the characters be a living proof will tell your readers more than any paragraph of explanation could.
Common Mistakes
Enough of what you should do, let’s talk about common worldbuilding history mistakes you should avoid altogether.
Creating Too Much History
You don’t need an entire history book. The only reason you’re creating a fictional history is to create a multidimensional world.
You only need enough to write a cohesive story. Don’t let the worldbuilding part distract you from actually reaching your goal: writing a book.
Info-dumping
Your readers don’t care about your story’s lore. Nobody does. That’s the reality of writing a story. Your readers first have to care about your plot and characters; if you begin going on about some wars, you lose them.
If you want to explain something, that’s fine, just do it in moderation. And while we’re on the topic. Here is a foolproof way to avoid info-dumping.
Irrelevant Details
Another thing your readers don’t care about that you shouldn’t include are irrelevant details. I hate to say it, but you will definitely confuse a good amount of people if you mention that the doorknob was created in the 13th century by court fool Alexander.
If you’re going to share some historical facts, keep them relevant.
Putting the 5-Step Framework into Practice
You now know a framework for worldbuilding history in only 5 steps. You can use the framework to create as many or as few historical events as you want.
Creating a fictional history definitely becomes more enjoyable with a process that works for you, and that’s the most important thing. We writers often worry about how the finished product will look, and we almost forget how much we enjoy writing.
