Co-Geeking

History for Writers explores 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 what we’ve been talking about in 2020:

Thinking historically

• A Note to Future Historians
• Tolkien, Fantasy, and Race
• The Curious Case of Wikipedia, My Book, and Odoacer’s Mother

Thinking mythically

• Myths Are Fanfiction
• Myths and Marketing

Imagining other places

• Sigiriya
• How We Lost the Library of Alexandria
• The Vivid Colors of the Dome of the Rock
• Accessibility Ramps and Ancient Greek Sanctuaries

Living other lives

• Hospitality Tokens
• Toss a Coin to Your Mercenary
• Arcanus, Miles Arcanus

Writing other worlds

• Disruptive Technology: Iron
• The Functions of Law

People in the past

• Sappho: Making a Life in Archaic Greece
• Doricha: Mastering the Art of Cosmopolitanism
• Artemisia: Between Greece and Persia

Join us in 2021 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.