Now that we have our premise, we need to look at where our world has come from. If you chose the last method of world building you will have one step already completed, but there are still plenty of gaps that you need to fill. So, for those of you who haven't done it already, we will begin with how your world was created. It could have been done by divine intervention, by complete accident, or anything in between. Feel free to write as much or as little as you like on this topic, depending on how big a role you would like this aspect to have in your story. Remember, just because you know how this world was created, doesn't mean its inhabitants do. They could be completely in the dark, have a rough idea, or have an intricate knowledge to rival your own.

 

 

From here you can expand to any religions that exist in your world. Are they accurate? Do they centre around gods, people, places, or objects? Which religions rival each other? Look at whether there are different parts of your world with different beliefs or whether they all mingle together. This can be intrinsically linked to politics, laws, and wars. Kings could be elected by Gods, whether in reality or in the mind of the King, or laws could follow religious ideals. Wars are often linked to religious beliefs, or under the pretense of religious beliefs in order to gain power or to sway the views of the people. 

 

Another historical concept to think about is education. What kind of schooling systems are in place, and have they always been the way they are now? Depending on your world aspects, you may have different types of people that need to be educated, such as magical versus non-magical. They may attend special schools, or they may attend the same schools, with those who are magical as typical jocks, as typical outcasts, or mingling evenly amongst others. Whichever one you choose, think of how it came to be that way. If they are outcasts, is it because someone who famously had powers fell from grace or caused some catastrophic event that brought shame to the idea of magic? Or could it be that non-magical folk vastly outnumber those with abilities and oppress them due to fear, jealousy, or something else? If the schools are separate, what relationship do they have with each other? Are they even aware of each other? And finally, what is considered fundamental knowledge in this world? What are the core subjects as a result?

 

Finally, we're going to look at what you consider to be the most relevant history. So what events have led to your world being in the state it is at the beginning of your story? Is there a war just beginning or just ending, or has one been going on for awhile? What other world events are happening that your protagonist may not be currently involved in, but could impede his journey in some way? Are there any events that he or she is looking forward to in order to improve the current situation somehow, like a fair that is bringing a King to town that could be spoken to or assissinated, or a competition that they can compete in for a particular prize? And one of the biggest questions that you should ask: why is what is happening happening now? What stopped it from happening earlier? Later?

 

Hopefully some of these questions are beginning to expand your world into something a little more recognisable. It may all still seem a little fuzzy, but in the next lesson we're going to focus on something a little more tangible: people!

 

 

Footnote:

Here is a quick summary of the major themes these questions address that you may want to expand upon, as well as some extra themes that could influence your history.

 

Religion - God/s, accuracy, rivals, prevalence, positives/negatives, ethics, rituals, politics, recruitment, contradictions, factions

War - Recent, historical, current, kind (eg. civil, guerilla), cause, outcomes, effect on other themes (eg. culture, religion)

Politics - Popularity, system (monarchy, democracy, etc.), dramatic changes, public opinon, methods of election, propaganda and governmental influences on popular opinion

Culture - Gender roles, prejudices, majority/minorities, what is offensive/polite, social status, economic status, family relationships, fashion, popular entertainment

Education - Assumed knowledge, required minimum schooling, secret knowledge versus public knowledge, structure of education or lack thereof, perceived value, propaganda in education

Technology - Advanced, unadvanced, out-of-place (eg. a computer in the 1700's), origins and reasons for advancement (eg. warfare, a lack of something necessary), implications, effect on society, uses and misuses

Relevent History - local/national/international, events that correlate to current situation, conflict/peace, annual events, major victories (eg. sports, celebrities, academic, magical)

Laws - Relation to religion, how they came about, assumed morals, differences between towns/countries, abuses of the system due to biases

World Origin - Divine creation, scientific foundation, evolution, magical, unknown, disputed