Most writers are familiar with the term “Worldbuilding”.  It’s the creation of a world, the establishment of population, history, culture, and any other rules that go along with the world/universe.  When creating a world, the writer has to know what drives the people, their beliefs and backgrounds, and the history that shaped the world as it is when the reader finally enters the world when they open that book.  Some of the worlds and universes I can think of where this all plays a part are: Shannara, Discworld, Temerant, and Star Wars.

Star Wars is an excellent example of ongoing worldbuilding.  The universe exists, but now as it grows, new cultures are developed, new planets and races. A lot of world building still takes place for each new planet and their history gets added to the database of galactic history.

As I was thinking about my I own stories, I wondered, what if a writer is using our world for their story?  The world and population are fairly established. Alternate histories will require more worldbuildjng because the “alternate” history changes our civilization. But there are others where it’s more establishing the lore that makes the premise work.

Jim Butcher’s “Dresden Files” series is one example where the lore is required the most in order to shape the world for Harry Dresden to exist.  Harry Dresden, Wizard for hire, works in Chicago.  The city is in essence just as I know it, but there are wizards, and other supernatural creatures that also inhabit the city. To bring about the feel of reality, there has to be some lore that comes into play that helps explain why they are there and the relationships that exist between the various groups. The rules of magic are set up the explain why Harry Dresden and electronics do not mix well.

The reasons are based on the lore that is woven to establish the credibility that Wizards, werewolves, vampires, and more inhabit the city along side humans. Once the lore is established then the stories can be fleshed out, and when the books are picked up, it’s like you’re right there in Chicago with Harry Dresden.

Weaving the lore that helps establish the credibility of the story enhances the experience. However, to do that, one must first have that lore in mind.  For me, I’m doing some world building, but I’m doing more lore weaving than worldbuilding, because the world I’m using is our modern day world, historical England, and Ancient Atlantis.  Historical England requires that I do some research into the time periods I’m focusing on where my Druids first come into play.  Ancient Atlantis requires the most worldbuilding since I’m using lore and imagination to create Atlantis in a way I envision it to be. For the modern day, well, a lot of those places are drawn on places I’ve been, want to go, or feel my stories would fit best.

In order to explain how Druids are able to use magic, why Faeries roam the mortal realm, or why Roland is a “Childe of Atlantis”, I must first establish the history and lore. Some of that lore is then woven into the tales I write, but in order for me to do that, I need to know what it is. For me, that means creating Druidic tomes that tell parts of the Druid history.

Some of those tomes also help explain why the world is populated by more than just humans. The rules of the different forms of magic are established as I develop the lore. Sure, there are embellishments that change parts of the world, but it’s necessary to makes the tales we tell work, and when done well, the reader rarely questions it.

As a reader, we may not think of worldbuilding, or lore-weaving, when we pick up a book and become engrossed in the adventures they take us on. As a writer, these things become more important in the planning of the adventures we wish to take readers on.  What aspects we focus on the most depend on what we have in mind and hope to achieve. I feel that worldbuilding, and lore-weaving go hand in hand, but which part do we focus on more?  Again, that falls upon how much work we have to do. Are we creating a whole new world, or taking something that already exists and adding to it, or changing it enough to make our stories work in the world we choose to set them in?  From there we can decide what we need to do.

For now….it’s back to writing more lore for my Druids.