How you can write lore that can deepen your fantasy world
We can all turn some good fantasy stories upside down –Harry Potter and Lord of the rings come to mind. A good fantasy story is haunting. It attracts you and makes you feel like it is real, even though it is obviously not.
The problem with building the fantasy world
The best way to achieve this immersion is to build the world, which can be a tedious and intimidating process. After all, creating a whole world is no easy task.
But what if you don't want to spend a lot of time building the world? Your characters are seldom to leave, ready to ignite that magic and go on this quest. You want to use these magical devices and mysterious technologies and get into action right away, but you also don't want to spend five pages explaining the history of the kingdom that created the devices, or how and why the ancient technologies work the way they do function.
But how will your readers know without you what you are talking about or how amazing and deep is this world you created? Not to mention a world that is so complex. How are you ever going to fit everything into your story without making your book a big exhibit?
The solution: write a lore
The key lies in lore. Tradition is defined as "a set of traditions and knowledge on a subject or group that is usually passed down orally from person to person. "
Lore exists in cultures with long and complex histories, which is extremely common in the imagination. In fact, I don't know of any fantasy story that doesn't contain at least one ancient, complex culture.
So why lore?
The biggest advantage of using lore to build a fantasy world is that a lore doesn't have to be long or detailed. Tradition can say a lot with very little.
In addition, it can arouse far more curiosity than dry exposure. It invites readers to ask questions about the world and wonder what else might be hidden in the story.
That's because Lore is a story your characters would tell.
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Write a fantasy novel? Skip the boring exhibition and share a piece of your world's lore. You will communicate your make-up of the world through a story your characters would tell.
One story in one story
Suppose a writer created an island kingdom. Around the kingdom in the sea live hideous mermaids who are known to hunt sailors. Avoiding overseas trade, the people of the kingdom have developed technology to fly across the ocean instead of sailing to avoid the mermaids. This is an attitude towards mermaids that is quite different from the usual tariff.
The author would like to start the story with the protagonist, who is a young pilot who is nervous about his first mission over mermaid infested waters.
At the beginning of the story, the protagonist expresses his concern about flying over the water and his fear of mermaids. This immediately raises questions – why is he afraid? What about mermaids? Is it a fear that only he has?
The answers to these questions can be provided with character conversations and exposures, which is perfectly fine. However, a cumbersome representation or a detailed dialogue to explain a background situation carries the risk of slowing down the plot of the story.
The author wants readers to be instantly informed of the dangers posed by mermaids, but also doesn't want to bore them. Instead of a long prologue, an extended dialogue or a verbose representation, they insert a short story into a story before the first chapter:
It is said that the island's third king pioneered the flight project after losing the first and second kings – his father and brother – to the lanky swimmers of the sea. He had great faith that the answers would be heavenly, after far too many sailors and traders met their fate in the dark waters and ended up in the mermaids' bellies. At the time, his ideas seemed absurd, but he was so eager to inspire his people that he himself piloted the maiden flight of the very first flying machine. And inspire them, and so his work continued.
But that was the fourth king's job, as the first flying machine had significant design flaws and the brave third king ended his very brief reign in the mermaids' bellies.
This little story immediately casts a spell on the reader and opens up opportunities instead of listing boring facts or giving a history lesson. Now the reader understands the pilot's fear of mermaids and the loose backstory of how his profession came about, and when the pilot says a quick prayer to the spirit of the third king to bless his flight, the reader immediately knows why.
The magic of lore
Writing lore can do more than just explain the backstory or build the world. It breathes life into your story and advises your readers that there are many layers waiting to be peeled off.
Readers don't want a class in your expansive world – instead give them a story that a character in your story might tell.
Have you read fantasy books with particularly good traditions from around the world? Share in the comments!
WORK OUT
It is your turn to practice lore writing. Write a short piece of lore that takes place in a world of your creation. Try to think from the perspective of a character who lives in the world. The lore can be about many things, such as:
- A strange tradition
- An old war
- A common ritual
- A monument
Take fifteen minutes to write. When you're done, share your lore in the comments and leave feedback for your fellow storytellers!
J. D. Edwin
