Writing lore a day?

[Lunaairis]

I'm working on a collection of tiny lore books for a game, but I'm having trouble figuring out what bits and bobs I should write.

Things like a news paper clipping, parts of a holy book, poems? I would be great full if people could throw some ideas my way. I want to make a list so I can work on them for the next month.

 

[DeathtoTrite]

Primary sources of history, letters, speeches, historian commentary, census data, radio broadcasts, descriptions of battles... not sure how good these are, but they're what I came up with on the fly.

 

[WooHooMan]

I would recommend making fictional literary cycles like the King Arthur stories or the Trojan War stories. A totally fictional story about an in-universe mythical hero could be good. Heroic myths are like the gold standard of lore. Specifically, you could write an essay about these myths in-character.
Fictional etymology can be good/interesting/easy. That's how Tolkien started.

 

[Saigonnus]

I was recently world building and needed something similar. I was outlining the military aspects of the culture and decided a bit of flavor text would be great. I made up a couple quotes from an ancient general. I did the same for their religious beliefs and cultural mores.

Holy books, memoirs of an ancient hero, scrolls written by great thinkers might be a good start. Writings or drawings etched in stone tablets, walls or mosaics are other mediums to consider as well.

I think they should be relevant to whatever you are writing at the moment when you need something like this.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[MineOwnKing]

Differing mythologies tied to the constellations and moon phases and how they influenced agriculture, love, war etc.

 

[Lunaairis]

I was recently world building and needed something similar. I was outlining the military aspects of the culture and decided a bit of flavor text would be great. I made up a couple quotes from an ancient general. I did the same for their religious beliefs and cultural mores.

Holy books, memoirs of an ancient hero, scrolls written by great thinkers might be a good start. Writings or drawings etched in stone tablets, walls or mosaics are other mediums to consider as well.

I think they should be relevant to whatever you are writing at the moment when you need something like this.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have Ideas on what they would be about. I have puzzles that need certain information. I'm just trying to figure out possible documents they could be given to the player, for them to learn it.

Etched stone tablets is a good idea. Part of the game takes place in a museum so I can get away with a lot of snippets of history there.

 

[WooHooMan]

I think in-universe fiction is maybe the most unexpectedly useful way to do lore. You can tell a lot about a culture by the fiction they come-up with. Don't get too wrapped-up in mysticism and history.

 

[thecoldembrace]

I use quotes a lot from various sources to talk about events, people, cultures and wars in my world. People love to read quotes, little snippets in time that they can feel attuned to rather than reading through a ton of wordslog.


-Cold

 

[Svrtnsse]

If it's a modern-ish setting, things like newspaper broadsheets, adverts and commercials may be interesting. Celebrity gossip between songs on the radio.

 

[Lunaairis]

I use quotes a lot from various sources to talk about events, people, cultures and wars in my world. People love to read quotes, little snippets in time that they can feel attuned to rather than reading through a ton of wordslog.


-Cold

When makings quotes for your setting do you just come up with one? Or do you seek influence from existing quotes? or just rip off existing quotes and say someone else said them?

 

[Lunaairis]

If it's a modern-ish setting, things like newspaper broadsheets, adverts and commercials may be interesting. Celebrity gossip between songs on the radio.

Yes it is modern-ish. I completely forgot about advertising! And now I'm kind of tempted to write a radio show to play in the background of this game. XD

 

[thecoldembrace]

When makings quotes for your setting do you just come up with one? Or do you seek influence from existing quotes? or just rip off existing quotes and say someone else said them?

I come up with my own that pertain to what I am writing about. If I want a snippit of how someone views another culture, a short quote can fill in a lot of information in a very short period of time. Sometimes I am influenced by other quotes I have read here and there but, most of the time those are someone else's thoughts and not mine, I rather have mine.

-Cold

 

[wordwalker]

There's a trick I use for things like this.

I take the phone book's index of its Yellow Pages (or to be less dated, any website with a really long list of career categories) and pick several at random and see which speaks to me.

• Animal control? Sure, how have the creatures nearby been gathering or fleeing because of Something In The Air?
• Air conditioners? Probably not, but maybe a bit of magic makes the AC work more easily. (Or in fantasy settings, some plot point might come because castles in summer are too hot to stay in.)
• Casinos? Hey, gambling's just begging for something to make it even more volatile...

It's a perfect ready-made trick for any kind of minor plot point or bit of color that needs to be random instead of thematic.