How to Write LORE for Stories (Fiction Writing Advice)

Рет қаралды 26,652

Күн бұрын

Learn what Lore is and how to create it for your stories.
Get Brandon's horror/thriller novel BAD PARTS: amzn.to/3esTFYC
Follow Brandon McNulty:
WEBSITE (Join my mailing list!) - brandonmcnulty.com/
TWITTER - / mcnultyfiction
FACEBOOK - / mcnultyfiction
SUBSCRIBE to Writer Brandon McNulty here: / @writerbrandonmcnulty
DISCLAIMER: Some of my videos and/or descriptions contain affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. This helps support the channel and allows me to continue to make videos like this. This does not affect my review of products. All opinions are my own. Thank you for the support!
#WritingAdvice #WritingTips #Writing #author #betterstories #authortube #booktube #authortuber #howtowrite #BrandonMcNulty #WriterBrandonMcNulty #BadParts #WritingCommunity
Credit to SkyDilen for my video intro.
=======================================
CHECK OUT MY OTHER VIDEOS:
Mastering Scene Structure:
• Mastering Scene Struct...
Writing Scenes that Flow:
• Writing Scenes That Fl...
5 Fatal Mistakes that New Writers Make
• 5 Fatal Mistakes that ...
5 Time-Saving Tips for Writers (And Readers!)
• 5 Time-Saving Tips for...
5 Scientific Inaccuracies in Movies, TV, & Books
• 5 Scientific Inaccurac...
Query Letter Survival Tips
• Query Letter Survival ...
The BEST Writing Exercise Out There
• The BEST Writing Exerc...
How to Write a Book Pitch
• How to Write a Book Pitch
Writing Villains #1 - Start with Your Hero
• Writing Villains #1 - ...
Writing Villains #2 - Goals
• Writing Villains #2 - ...
Writing Villains #3 - Motivation
• Writing Villains #3 - ...
Writing Villains #4 - When to Introduce Your Villain
• Writing Villains #4 - ...
Writing Villains #5 - Plot Points for Villains
• Writing Villains #5 - ...
Writing Villains #6 - Impacting the Hero
• Writing Villains #6 - ...
The Anatomy of Story REVIEW:
• The Anatomy of Story R...
Save the Cat Writes a Novel REVIEW:
• Save the Cat Writes a ...
=======================================

Пікірлер: 113

@PuppetMaster-Blade 2 жыл бұрын

Another way to write lore is Write a lorebook just for yourself. Pretty much an encyclopedia of your world, and when a scene or element of your lore comes to play take bits and pieces of what you wrote down. Helps alot, especially when you're doing an epic fantasy or something with indepth lore

@WriterBrandonMcNulty 2 жыл бұрын

Yeah sometimes people call those Story Bibles. I haven't written one myself because most of the stuff I write takes place in contemporary times. How long was the one you wrote?

@PuppetMaster-Blade 2 жыл бұрын

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty its always being added to and updated, but currently i have about 400pages of notes or small stories

@WriterBrandonMcNulty 2 жыл бұрын

@@PuppetMaster-Blade Whoa--nice! How do you keep it organized?

@PuppetMaster-Blade 2 жыл бұрын

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty Thats the secret.. I don't 😅. Whenever something comes to my head i write it down, something could be from 1,000 years ago but the next line will be something from the present 😅. None of the writings make sense other than to me, its all gibberish and broken sentences. Perhaps when I'm done writing my first book I'll organize my "story bible".

@-V-Lore- Жыл бұрын

Oh I have that. It's written on a notebook

@noname76787 Жыл бұрын

i prefer to have lore to be written enough so I can have confidence when writing the story. It especially helps with consistency and makes the world feel more alive.

@WriterBrandonMcNulty Жыл бұрын

Just curious, how do you decide what lore to create before you write the story? Do you build around a certain theme?

@noname76787 Жыл бұрын

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty firstly i have to start with inspiration what kind of theme i want to write. and then start from world building-important characters-lore back and forth. after reaching certain level of readiness then i start plotting-fixing those 3 back and forth. im more into outlining person

@WriterBrandonMcNulty Жыл бұрын

@@noname76787 Cool, thanks for letting me know. I'm always curious how other writers operate

@azazelthefallen3380 Жыл бұрын

A) Major Historical Events/Conflicts leading to current situations of- 1. Magical Research 2. Magical Warfare 3. Rulers of the daylight 4. Rulers of the shadows 5. Organisations with aims working in the shadows 6. Resource Farming Institutions 7. Professions that came along with all these 8. Religions and Belief Systems that followed 9. Magical Ambitions and aspirations varying on various social levels and conflicts arising from them. 10. Economical condition 11. Flow of resources 12. Various fantasy Races, their past beliefs leading to a history of conflict, current stances and situation. (Just came with these on the spot and they could be incorrect/ lacking, so help this newbie fix them or add new things.) [FOR FANTASY+ACTION GENRE]

@WriterBrandonMcNulty Жыл бұрын

Good list of things to consider while writing lore

@reinotsurugi 11 ай бұрын

That Luke Obiwan chat was such gold. It totally painted a picture that stimulated so many images for me. It was short but so right on, a really great example of how to do it right.

@claudiag8823 Жыл бұрын

Even if it hurts; you're right. No Lore for Lore's sake. Especially with fantasy, I find that very hard because I want to incorporate all the great ideas I had for my world. Leaving something out because it doesn't contribute to the story will rip me to pieces, but I also need to admit that it is neccessary

@K7ANIMATION698 7 ай бұрын

😂😂😂

@stevensandersauthor Жыл бұрын

I love the way you give information in an efficient, succinct way, always less than 10 minutes. There are a lot of terrific KZfaq channels on writing, but yours has become my go-to. Keep ‘em coming!

@WriterBrandonMcNulty Жыл бұрын

Thank you!

@ludovico6890 Жыл бұрын

I write crime fiction, mostly, but i discovered that in entails a lot of world building and lore. You've got the various police forces and mob groups, the important players, etc.

@txLALA 2 жыл бұрын

Favorite movie is LOTR, and I can't pick a favorite. Three-way tie between the elves, dwarves, and rings.

@WriterBrandonMcNulty 2 жыл бұрын

LOTR is a treasure trove of lore. I wouldn't know what to pick as a favorite either

@johnnyryan656 Жыл бұрын

That sports game analogy was brilliant btw

@WriterBrandonMcNulty Жыл бұрын

Thanks!

@Dhips. 2 жыл бұрын

The lore or history is important for my story, but finding ways to implement it is hard. I don't want it to seem like info dumps or history class of the world it's in.

@WriterBrandonMcNulty 2 жыл бұрын

Find ways to bring it up in present-day conflicts/arguments. Make it relevant to the here and now of what your characters are going through

@smw9319 Жыл бұрын

I’m making mine like a narrative history.

@ScarletFang423 Жыл бұрын

Thank you for making this video! It is definitely a insightful and good one. Keep up the good work

@WriterBrandonMcNulty Жыл бұрын

Thanks!

@franx22748 2 жыл бұрын

THIS ACTUALLY HELPED ME SO MUCH THANK YOU

@WriterBrandonMcNulty 2 жыл бұрын

Anytime!

@easternpa2 2 ай бұрын

Thank you for this explanation. I've been wondering how to tackle lore (or if I even need to). My main character doesn't like how the place he calls home is changing, nor is he fond of the "new crowd" moving in. Now I understand why I need to flesh out why he doesn't like the new people and why he blames them for the problems that coincidentally arrived when they did. I need to understand "the old days" so I can see why one might not be too happy with the way things are now.

@poptartpanda3081 Жыл бұрын

I’m hoping to get a book published that I am currently writing. My book is really meant to have a deep history. This video has helped me so much! I was able to make a great history for my setting and characters. So thank you!❤

@WriterBrandonMcNulty Жыл бұрын

Awesome, best of luck!

@K7ANIMATION698 7 ай бұрын

What book is it about just curious

@pompeiiizzy265 Жыл бұрын

I usually think up lore and then a story around it, like how it affects the people surrounding the stuff

@ButterCookie1984 2 жыл бұрын

Great explanation of lore!! Thank you. I am creating werewolf lore with heavy research. Subbed.

@WriterBrandonMcNulty 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks! Glad to help

@ajkonecny6830 11 ай бұрын

Really enjoyed the video! I've definitely got some ideas on Lore for my sci-fi adjacent series that I'm currently brainstorming. So I've been thinking of writing a sci-fi series with some bits of fantasy in it and I've grown up with shows like Gravity Falls and The Owl House for some ideas. And for video games like Five Nights At Freddy's has been an inspiration for me. I do have a watch list of TV shows and movies old and new that I'm watching for more interesting ideas. Example of movies would be: The Thing, The Blob, Terminator, Alien, Matrix Avatar,ect. For TV it would be shows like: Avatar Last Airbender, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul,ect. I know theres more shows and movies but those are the few that i could think of.

@TheDuncanStudios2000 3 ай бұрын

GvK (Godzilla vs Kong) My favorite part of some lore in that movie is the ancient war between the Titans! And the Hallow Earth lore, I can't WAIT until Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire comes out! There's gonna be SO MUCH LORE!!!!!!!!!!!!! Side note- I'm currently working on a lore for a book I'm writing, I have a TON of it! The book is set in my superhero universe on another planet. I have at most 64k+ words of just lore (more or less info dumping), of my book alone... And that book ties into my Defenders of Earth superheroes too! I can't wait until I'm finished with it all! I plan on making some of these stories into films!

@germanlandart1242 2 жыл бұрын

This was really useful. Thank you.

@WriterBrandonMcNulty 2 жыл бұрын

Glad it helped! Thanks for watching

@surendra_varma 2 жыл бұрын

Love your explanation.!!

@WriterBrandonMcNulty 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching!

@tylerourada9719 Жыл бұрын

My favorite movie is Jaws. The most interesting bit of lore is Quint talking about the USS Indianapolis.

@WriterBrandonMcNulty Жыл бұрын

Phenomenal scene. I did a video on it: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mcx9ktOF3ayddJs.html

@joshcrackedboooi2392 Жыл бұрын

i just bullshitted stuff that works with the magic system in my comic and the current saturation in my comic. that was how simple lore was for me, make up stuff that worked with my magic system and the current situation lol.

@WriterBrandonMcNulty Жыл бұрын

Awesome, best of luck with it!

@Bobber_Foote 2 ай бұрын

“THE LOOOORE!” -MatPat

@peterheyes8552 2 жыл бұрын

Video request please. Can you do a video on writing good dialogue? You could show examples of good dialogue vs bad dialogue.

@WriterBrandonMcNulty 2 жыл бұрын

Sure thing. Anything specific you want me to cover? Dialogue is a pretty broad subject, so I want to make sure I'm targeting your areas of need

@peterheyes8552 2 жыл бұрын

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty I would like to learn how to write engaging dialogue that does not bore the readers. Just anything that you think would help us write damn good dialogue with some literary techniques

@WriterBrandonMcNulty 2 жыл бұрын

@@peterheyes8552 Gotcha. I'll mull this over and drop a dialogue video in the coming weeks

@fhetty Жыл бұрын

I actually am committing fully to the latter. It started with an idea for a contemporary fantasy story. However I just recently read the entire Silmarillion and became fascinated with building an entire historic time-line/lore for the universe my original story is set in, the way that Tolkien had done. I'm still going to write my original story, but now it's but one event, albeit important point in a much, much larger history of events in this universe.

@WriterBrandonMcNulty Жыл бұрын

Nice. Best of luck!

@fhetty Жыл бұрын

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty Thanks! I'm doing it in a unique manner, producing it in video format on a KZfaq channel. I might hit you up later on to check it out. I value your opinion.

@evan_game_dev Жыл бұрын

not writing a book or making a movie but I'll definitely use this advice, thanks. in case you are interested, I'm making a video game

@WriterBrandonMcNulty Жыл бұрын

Awesome... I'm playing Hollow Knight right now, and that's got some great lore in it

@TreeAgon Жыл бұрын

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty Video Games have (sometimes) the best lore in my opinion. Because of the players perspective, especially in open world games, it’s easy to build lore

@SuperHeroStoriesUnlimited Ай бұрын

This might sound crazy but i peiced together my storys lore after creating the whole world and stories

@josephrowlee 10 ай бұрын

Great video! Thanks for explaining! Answer: Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith. Lore: The Tragedy of Darth Plagus the Wise. LOL!

@brianedwards7142 11 ай бұрын

My all time favourite movie is Brazil. I've filled out a 27b stroke 6.

@WriterBrandonMcNulty 2 жыл бұрын

What's your favorite movie? What's your favorite piece of LORE from that movie?

@potatomanboooi3105 2 жыл бұрын

attack on titan and the origins of the titans.the only problem was the lore kept raising the steaks but the ending the lore just fell down the drain but it doesnt change how good it is.

@WriterBrandonMcNulty 2 жыл бұрын

@@potatomanboooi3105 Still need to check that one out

@desertgecko4549 2 жыл бұрын

My favorite movie lore is about townsfolk who have issues with shady deals they make with an outsider. Which movie? Oh, it hasn't been adapted yet. But soon I expect someone will snare the rights and write a decent screenplay for a major studio.

@WriterBrandonMcNulty 2 жыл бұрын

@@desertgecko4549 Shame that one hasn't been adapted yet. I'd give up my left hand to see that one

@desertgecko4549 2 жыл бұрын

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty Give it time. _Bad Parts_ is certainly worthy of the big screen. I have the leading lady picked out for you: Ashleigh Cummings, who played Vic McQueen in _NOS4A2._ As I read your book I envisioned that Ash as your Ash, but it wasn't the name that did it -- I didn't know the actress's name at the time.

@connorcoltrane1777 10 ай бұрын

One of my favorite books is Dracula, and the most interesting bit of lore is the mention that Dracula may have studied magic in the Scholomance.

@WilfriedSDV 2 жыл бұрын

Hi and thank you for this clear explanation ! This is by far the more clear i've found on the topic (and under 10 minutes so congrats and thank you :) ) I'm completely noob to everything about creating stories, and i was wondering if there was something you would recommend me to build a 10 000 feet view and allow me o understand everything that needs to be done to create an actual universe and then from there be able t ocreate all kind of "support" (books, comics, movies, video game eventually...) I'm not planing to do all of that (books, comics, movie, video game) but i would like to create a story that is strong enough to have the potential to be put into the form of a book, a comic or whatever. Actually i'm learning Digital Painting fro mscratch with a course, and i would like to combine my Future Digital PAinting skills with my future Story-Crafting (and Story-Telling) skills to be able to create universe that i would be able to visually represent, but also good stories with good intrigue, and then from there decide which medium i want to put my story into... Do you have any idea ? And just out of curiosity, do you offer courses or things like that ? I really would like to have a systemic approach, like everything at the same place, everyhing about the linguo, everything to understand how X interracts with Y and how Z is a part of Y etc...

@WriterBrandonMcNulty 2 жыл бұрын

Glad this video helped! I'm sure you can find some Worldbuilding cheatsheets on Google, but the best advice I can give you is to find your story's Central Idea and build your story world from there. I did a video on this a few months back: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/edGFpNWIy9KzZIE.html And at this time I don't run any courses. However, if you ever want me to do a video on a particular topic, I'm happy to.

@WilfriedSDV 2 жыл бұрын

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty Ok i'll check your video and go from there, thanx again !

@WriterBrandonMcNulty 2 жыл бұрын

Anytime!

@naturalgoldenjazz Жыл бұрын

video idea: fnaf lore breakdown but not in depth cus yeah.... just the story structure

@theAnalogManifesto 2 жыл бұрын

Is that Uzumaki by junji ito? My favorite!

@WriterBrandonMcNulty 2 жыл бұрын

Yep. Love his work, and Uzumaki is my favorite as well

@theengineer_0 2 жыл бұрын

Me whose starting to create my own lore: yeah thanks for explaining man

@WriterBrandonMcNulty 2 жыл бұрын

Glad the video helped. Best of luck with your writing!

@wolfie_snowflake 6 ай бұрын

Im tryna make my own fictional fantasy novel and I have half a notebook of lore/world building, nowhere near done.

@azazelthefallen3380 Жыл бұрын

How do I learn about military warfare basics?

@WriterBrandonMcNulty Жыл бұрын

Check out nonfiction books on the subject. "The Art of War" might be a good place to start.

@Dagalagging Жыл бұрын

LOOOORE

@potatomanboooi3105 2 жыл бұрын

thank you so much.today i read the dialogue in my comics sketching stage and i added so many useless speech bubbles where it doesn't matter and now i don't have an eraser to remove them so i'm just stuck there cringing at bad dialogue that assumes the audience is stupid.

@WriterBrandonMcNulty 2 жыл бұрын

No problem! And dialogue changes more and more as you understand the story. Sometimes when I write dialogue, it's as though the characters are telling me what's happening in this world I'm trying to understand

@potatomanboooi3105 2 жыл бұрын

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty the way i wrote the dialogue made it seem like the audience would be stupid.because i realised why would i need her to say i'm hungry time to eat or have thought bubbles of her thinking about manipulating a shop owner for free bread lots of those could be show instead of tell.then the tell part could be the shop owners friend yells at him for giving free handouts.atliest it removes the assumption that my audience is children.also im working on one of my old stories again because i need to take a break from the superhero one because i kept adding ideas and straying away from the main plot and with the old one it followed a better story structure.

@WriterBrandonMcNulty 2 жыл бұрын

@@potatomanboooi3105 I find that bouncing back and forth between stories is a creativity booster. You learn from one story, then test out new ideas/techniques on the other, and good things happen

@potatomanboooi3105 2 жыл бұрын

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty yep,it made my demon comic easier to work on

@WriterBrandonMcNulty 2 жыл бұрын

@@potatomanboooi3105 Awesome, keep rolling with it

@flytrapJester Жыл бұрын

I have a lot of lore for my story but I get confused by it like I know the there's some kind of fish that these aquatic people worship and one of my characters that a child learns about it and also there's some fungus that can affect people

@WriterBrandonMcNulty Жыл бұрын

Have you started writing the main story yet? Sometimes that will help you decide what lore you need

@flytrapJester Жыл бұрын

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty kind of it's like a bunch of small clips from my story keeps playing in my head

@WriterBrandonMcNulty Жыл бұрын

@@flytrapJester Gotcha. Try to figure out what your story needs. That'll help you determine what lore to focus on and develop

@flytrapJester Жыл бұрын

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty have you made a video covering how to make good backstories for characters

@WriterBrandonMcNulty Жыл бұрын

@@flytrapJester I did a video a while back on using backstory. See if this helps: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/atN1rLN1u762mnk.html If not, let me know what you need and I can see about doing a new video

@prathameshrana2099 23 күн бұрын

So in simple words lore characters talking about history.

@THECYPHERGOD 8 күн бұрын

Currently on chapter Fifty three and still going. That's all. Just saying.

@dimesagnumopus2643 Жыл бұрын

Wait whats an example of a central idea

@briansimerl4014 Жыл бұрын

How to avoid getting comments/feedback like "show don't tell" as it runs right up against Lore? Lore is by definition tell, don't show, usually. But I find it's very effective. Perhaps it is a key exception.

@GoldenEyed112 2 жыл бұрын

me who already made a 55 page lore: why am i watching this? (btw good vid)

@WriterBrandonMcNulty 2 жыл бұрын

Haha thanks!

@gavinp5940 2 жыл бұрын

Dark souls man

@WriterBrandonMcNulty 2 жыл бұрын

Have you played Blasphemous? It's like Dark Souls in 2D. I just beat it a couple weeks ago and loved it to death. Lots of lore too

@Sillysanwhich 10 ай бұрын

LOOOOORRRREWEE

@loriki8766 10 ай бұрын

No lore only for lore's sake? Don't fandoms love lore? Like people learn languages that don't exist, ie Klingon. They write fan fiction because they can't get enough lore. And people name their poor kids Hermione or Khalessi or Drogo. In fairy tales, the lore is half the story and readers eat it up.