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Poetry, Songs, and Lore
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Creating worlds and crafting stories can be an enjoyable and rewarding process. However, crafting your world down to the smallest detail can take time and energy, and sometimes it’s hard to figure out how everything fits together in your universe. This is where lore comes in. It’s a great way to add depth and weight to your world without taking too much of your precious writing time away from the story itself. World building is one of the most important parts of any story. It’s also one of the most daunting things to think about, especially if you’re new to the world-building game. This guide will give you everything you need to know about creating your own worlds through song and poetry and lore.
What is Lore?
Lore is the body of knowledge, myths, and stories that a culture or group has accumulated. It can create a sense of identity and belonging, as well as to teach lessons and impart values. In terms of world-building, lore can help add history and depth to your fictional world. For example, Tolkien’s Middle Earth mythos is rich in folklore and song lyrics that illustrate different aspects of his created world such as its creation mythologies, languages, magic systems, etc. Characters are often seen singing or reciting songs which offer an insight into their character while simultaneously enriching the story’s background.
There’s no secret to great lore, but there are definitely some things you can do to make sure your world-building is as strong as it can be. For starters, focus on creating a detailed history and backstory for your world. Think about the major events that have shaped it, and the people and cultures that inhabit it. Then, start writing poems and songs that help tell the story of your world. Not only will this add depth and richness to your world-building, but it will also give you a creative outlet to explore your world in new ways. You’ll likely research parts of your world that you may not have had time or thought to before, which means more detail and work added into your stories. And if nothing else, poetry and songwriting provide an excellent opportunity to get yourself invested in what you’re building! To really make it feel like home, try using a language native to your characters in both verse and prose. It might take a little extra effort at first, but the sense of accomplishment you’ll feel after using their language fluently will totally be worth it.
Poetry
Poetry is an art form that uses language to evoke emotion, create imagery, and tell a story. We can write it in any form or style, making it a versatile tool for world builders. Poetry can enhance existing stories without taking away from the plot line. Adding poems increases reader interest because readers want to know more about these people who were given this gift of words. The most important thing is that if you decide to include poetry in your novel or story — make sure it fits with the rest of your work!
First person narrative
A poem from the perspective of one of your characters will bring life to them and their feelings about their situation. You can also have them write poems about other characters, places, moments in time, etc.
Reminiscence
Poems about the past provide insight into why the character is where they are now. They’re great for revealing backstory. Try including poems as part of ritual ceremonies, songs sung by bards, and so on. Alternatively, you could have characters writing a poem before setting out on an adventure to get motivated.
Political Messages
Whether written by someone at court or by rebels plotting against their rulers, we can convey political messages through poetic verse. These often try to sway people’s opinions using metaphors and analogies while using double meanings when applicable.
Exposition
Poems that reveal information about the world’s mythology, religion, politics, etc. If someone has been exiled or punished by another faction within your society, this is a great way to show how they feel about themselves and their own worthlessness, as well as how society views them.
Ballads
Ballads were traditionally sung by bards, minstrels, or troubadours, and often used to tell tales of love, loss, or heroism. They can be one-stanza poems telling a moral lesson, or long epic poems with many stories woven together into the tale. Traditionally, they are lyrical poems with refrain lines sung in a narrative manner, usually in several parts. They may also be dance songs and instrumental pieces played on an instrument. Ballads are a great opportunity for world builders because they add depth to your world by giving it lore and history.
Make it Sing
Songs carry information, history, and tradition. They have always been a part of human culture. From Homer’s epics to Shakespeare’s sonnets, folk tunes passed down over generations, Viking sagas carved into runes on rock faces, the Great American Songbook made popular by Sinatra, Cole Porter and Gershwin – all contain important elements about who we are as a species. As human beings, we respond viscerally to music, which allows us to enjoy it and share it with others. Music is primal. Its melody and rhythm affect our very being on every level of our being. It has the power to soothe us when things get tough or excite us when times are good.
Music stirs deep feelings within us, as well as memories. Memories of our own lives and memories of those around us we’ve shared in our past. When building a fictional world, try incorporating music to help create emotion and mood. Think about what kind of instruments might be found there and what sorts of styles would most likely to be popular. Is there any sort of prohibition against certain types of instruments? What does this prohibition mean for people living in this society? If there is no prohibition against any sort of instrument, then you’ll need to think about where these instruments come from – do they trade them with other societies? Do they make them themselves?
Lore is Universal
Rich lore helps create a fully realized world that readers can get lost in. Examples of great works with extensive lore include Patrick Rothfuss’ Kingkiller Chronicles and Scott Lynch’s Gentleman Bastard series. These are both fantasy novels which require extensive world-building—but it still holds true for any genre or medium. Horror, in particular, springs to mind. Often children’s songs or nursery rhymes can also provide a wealth of information about the culture they come from, such as traditional stories and legends, myths and beliefs, historical events, customs and traditions. With the right care, they can be rather creepy, too. Writers have seen brilliant success with incorporating folklore into their books. These authors relied on their research to build a believable world and understand how certain mythologies impact society—or even shape its values.
Characters Make the World
Lore, poetry, and songwriting can help you build a richer history for your world. By creating songs and poems, you can add weight and depth to your world-building. More than that, it can add depth to your characters. A well-woven tapestry of lore can drape characters in the dignity of heritage and the nobility of heroism. In this way, lore not only creates the backdrop for fantasy worlds, it also creates an opportunity to explore deeper themes like heroism and legacy by adding nuance to the lives of characters overlooked in other types of storytelling.
These techniques aren’t just for sci-fi and epic fantasy. We can use them in every genre, from historical fiction to romance! And if you’re stuck on how to create great dialogue, lyrics are the perfect way to breathe life into both character and scene. If your protagonist is in danger, then what better way to show her courage than through verse? If she’s lost love, then what better way is there to express her sorrows than through lyrical prose? You don’t need high-brow lyrics or eloquent verse—you need words that get at the heart of your story. Sometimes even writing something short can inspire because words don’t have boundaries—especially with telling stories.
World-building is a lot like baking in that way. A wealth of ingredients is available. You need to choose them wisely and add them in the correct order. When you’re done with all the measurements, it’s time for some hard work—some oven time. Just as baking takes patience and dedication, world-building takes time too. There’s no instant gratification here! If you’re not careful or don’t do your homework, it will show when your world is ready to be tasted by readers. The best thing about adding weight and depth through lore is that once it’s baked into your world, it becomes an important part of what defines its culture and landscape. Give the reader a world to get lost in – its past, present, and future.
-R.E.