If you’re writing a fantasy story or are using Preptober to get ready to write a fantasy story, there’s a good chance you’ve entered a stickier part of the fantasy genre: world building.

Whether you’re creating a fictional town or building an entire fantasy planet a good chunk of world building is going to be figuring out what happened before your story takes place. While you don’t need to know every detail, you do need to know at least some of what’s happened.

I’ll note here that it’s generally advised to avoid putting dates and numbers directly in fiction. Though it’s generally to avoid a reader realizing X can’t have happened in only Y amount of time, it’s also for a writer’s sanity: you will inevitably fall down a rabbit hole trying to research something obscure like Victorian laws or how far rabbits actually hop.  Adding in dates and figuring out time and travel distances are easy ways to trip yourself up. Save a headache and your search history and avoid them if possible.

This week’s one-week writing challenge is all about the history of your fictional world. As with our previous character building challenge, you have seven days to try and complete the exercise. Your deadline is Sunday, October 25th.

The Challenge

Similarly to the character challenge, this week’s challenge is slightly different depending on your process. You will however, be working from the same prompt list regardless. There are five sections below, each with a selection of events that could impact your world as a whole. You should choose at least five events to include, but you are free to choose whichever events from whatever sections you like. You’re also free to alter the events as needed. For instance, your world may not need a new material, but could need a new magic discovered. Use these as inspiration or add your own

Remember to consider when your story takes place! If you plan to set your story during the Iron Age for instance, you likely won’t need to worry about the invention of vaccines but may need to focus more on the social or political events that are happening in your world.

You may also find that one event’s impacts can directly or indirectly lead to another event elsewhere on the list.

Panster or Discovery Writers will be aiming to complete flash fictions up to 1,000 words for any event listed below. Plotter or Architect Writers will be working to complete a brief timeline of major historical events and should write 1-2 paragraphs about the event and the impact it had.

1. Technology or Magic

• A new material is discovered or made
• Magic or science is first classified
• New tools are invented
• Magic (or certain kinds of) becomes taboo
• New technology replaces a previously difficult process
• Magic is used to replace a technology

2. Medicine and Health

• Cure for a major disease is discovered
• Cause of a major sickness is discovered
• A Medical Professional proposes a new theory
• A Non-Medical professional proposes new cures
• New practices improve health

3. Politics

• A new kingdom or country is founded
• An old empire is defeated
• Rebellion collapses a government
• An unjust law is passed
• An oppressive law is repealed
• A new government or ruler is installed
• International war breaks out.
• An international war is ended.
• New groups of people move into an area
• An established group of people is driven from their homeland

4. Religion

• A new church or religion is founded
• A religious order is dismantled
• A new deity forms
• Certain religious become forbidden
• A religious item or artifact is destroyed
• A religious item or artifact is rediscovered

5. Social

• A new school is founded
• A new style of art is created
• Waves of immigrants enter a new country
• People protest a law or common practice
• A lost piece of history is rediscovered
• The economy enters a boom
• The economy collapses

Which section are you pulling events from? What’s one event you’re excited to write about? Let me know in the comments below!