Co-Geeking

History for Writers explores world history to offer ideas and observations of interest to those of us who are in the business of inventing new worlds, cultures, and histories of our own. Here’s where we’ve been in 2016:

Living historically

• Gift Exchange
• Land Tenure
• This is not the Food
• Catch!
• Klingons, Homer, Falstaff, and the Dread Pirate Roberts: Understanding Honor
• The Attack on the Hermas
• In Which Our Heroes Go Clothes Shopping

Thinking historically

• The Misuses of Myth
• How We Got Here, or A Field Guide to World History
• The Trouble with Primary Sources

Race and identity

• Race and Culture in Hannibal’s Army
• The “Celts” and the Victorian Hangover
• Racism and Ancient Aliens
• Becoming Egyptian
• History, Disability, Inclusion
• Representation is for Everyone

Language

• Text as Art
• Ancient Models for Writing About Language Barriers

Special Series:

Recommended Reading

• Medea
• The Golden Ass

Fantasy religions

• Religious Sites
• Sacrilege, Blasphemy, and Heresy
• Religious Experts
• Faith and War

Connections

• Rome and the Arctic
• Egypt and Denmark

Travel

• Large Groups on Foot
• Animals
• Water

Architecture

• Great Zimbabwe
• Inca Rope Bridges and the Importance of Landscape
• Stave Churches
• The Great Walls of China

Join us in 2017 for more history from a SFF writer’s perspective.

History for Writers is a weekly feature which looks at how history can be a fiction writer’s most useful tool. From worldbuilding to dialogue, history helps you write. Check out the introduction to History for Writers here.