Sept 4th, 2020
So presumably you have decided how your world began. Whether by design or cosmic happenstance, the threads of history have begun weaving together. Now is the time to develop an idea of what shape those threads will take.
Building a timeline of your world's history is imperative at this point. How detailed you feel like being can vary to great effect, but it all starts with that one moment or creation. This is a topic I will address in a little more detail in World Building #3. I toyed with the idea of the history coming first but ultimately the world's style can have great influence on the histories of that same world.
In our world the industrial revolution happened around the mid 18th century, with the first steam engine being created in 1712. In a world where no steam engine is ever created, how would the world develop and how different would the world be? Relatively small differences can have dramatic impact when multiplied further along the timeline. This is the essence of the Butterfly Effect we've all likely heard of. Small difference, big change.
So, what exactly does this have to do with your world? Well its time to pick a genre or make up your own genre by using a combination of established genres. Maybe you could even create your own genre, although this is far beyond the scope of anything I could help with. Creating a genre is rarely a conscious choice, more of a reflexive reaction of the collective humans who read or experience your work and need to categorize it. If it doesn't fit into any established category; boom, you've created a genre. How to do this directly and with intent? I have no clue.
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What I do know a little about are the standard genres used in storytelling. Not a lot mind you, but enough to get you started, I hope. I intended to include some sub-genres in each category to help delineate the genres a little bit more, but that turned out to be ridiculous when I was reading about it.
Instead I will stick to giving you my own ideas on each category. Feel free to tear me apart in the comments or forums or wherever you would like, I promise I am no expert; hit me with all those opinions.
1- High Fantasy
These are your standard sorts of sword and sorcery, evil wizard or overwhelming darkness on a bed of martial historically inspired combat and civilization. And yes, that was a mouthful, High fantasy is very much about being "a lot." Not a dig at High Fantasy, this is probably my favourite genre, especially if you add a side dish of Steampunk or Science Fantasy to it.
This genre is also the most prevalent you will find at the gaming table. Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, Eberron and countless more worlds are all well steeped in High Fantasy. With fireballs and bastard swords, goblins and full plate armour; High Fantasy is everything truly fantastic about the fantasy style of storytelling.
Also known as Epic Fantasy (wiki link), these stories often revolve around the concept of Good and Evil, The Unknown Nature of the hero, and of many facets of morality. The protagonists often appear grossly outmatched at the beginning of the story, frequently with the heroes gaining in power in order to defeat the Great Evil threatening the world.
2- Low Fantasy
This type of fantasy tends to be more muted or mundane, often set in our world but with one or two little differences. Fairy Tales are a great example of this. There is something beyond the basic world, but most people are unaware of it or it is hidden from the regular folk. Ancient stories like Arthurian legends and The Odyssey can be considered Low Fantasy.
Low Fantasy is referred to as Intrusion Fantasy (wiki link) and is in essence an intrusion of supernatural of magical/fantastical forces/beings into a world very much like our own. Oddly, the show Supernatural is often Low Fantasy, though it can take on a High Fantasy bent later in the story. But ultimately, it is our world that Sam and Dean fight to protect from otherworldly and supernatural beings/things/Crowley.
If you could create a world similar to ours but with small magical additions, then Low Fantasy may be exactly right for you.
3- Science Fiction
Lasers and Faster-Than-Light travel are staples of this genre, though not crucial. A story set in the not-so-distant future can be science fiction as soon as some new piece of tech is involved, sometimes even just being set in the future is enough.
Star Wars is a great example of Science Fiction, though some arguments could be made for a Science Fantasy connection there, case in point: space wizards, I mean Jedi. Star Wars however is something I would consider Soft Science Fiction; the technology is not always based on real world concepts and ultimately things work because of made up reasons that just sound good. Am I bashing it? Absolutely not, this is just a definition don't worry.
Star Trek is generally considered your baseline for Hard Science Fiction. They at least try to explain what is happening with all their technology and all the different ways different societies get the same things done. Is it Hard Science Fiction? No, not really but if you aren't at least this good, you can't ride the Hard-Sci-Fi ride.
True Hard Science Fiction comes from Writers like Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Larry Niven and countless other writers and creators. The Expanse is a much more modern example of Hard Sci-Fi, with everything in that world relatable to, if not solely based on, real world technology. From the orientation of the crew to the forward momentum of the ships to off-worlders having difficulty dealing with Earth gravity. If it deals with accurate technology, at least in general, it is far more likely to fall into Hard Science Fiction than anything else.
4- Horror
This is a very wide category that holds everything from Lovecraftian mind-fuckery to bloody fanged vampires. The interesting part of this genre is that it dovetails very nicely with almost any other style of story. Science Fiction/Horror gives you the Aliens franchise. Horror/Fantasy can end up with an Underworld sort of feel to it.
The goal of horror is to explore a fear or set of fears we may not all have but we all know and understand. Apocalyptic Horror is our fear of the end of all things and Body Horror is a fear of abominations within ourselves.
Horror is a very versatile genre that frequently you can sprinkle onto anything else you create. Make it the focus or a nefarious background thought, either way Horror can make things much more intense and interesting.
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There are some stories, worlds and ideas that straddle one or more of these categories. Harry Potter for example, is a combination of Low Fantasy and High Fantasy. Though you could argue that entire world is High Fantasy just muggles have no idea. Steampunk is another crossover genre, combining alternate history, science fiction, fantasy and horror in some unique ways.
Regardless of which genre or style you choose, this choice will, and should, become a central part of your story. This will make it easier for those who experience your story to understand the intricacies within it. If someone thinks they are going to experience High Fantasy and you blind side them with something a little off-beat or just unique, you have a much better chance of having them enjoy and remember that story.
So put some thought into your story's genre as you start working out the historical timeline. You will find they have a lot more to do with each other than you might think.
Eric
There are a lot of links today, so be ready and have fun researching!