March 31, 2025 · 6:00 am

Idea to story part 9 – technology and world-building #writing

Today, we’re going to look at how the available technology affects the believability of our narrative. Eight weeks ago, we began our series, Idea to Story. The previous installments are listed below, but over the course of the series, we have built our two main characters, Val (Valentine), a lady knight, and the initial enemy, Kai Voss, a court sorcerer. Both are regents for the sickly, underage king.

We also have our ultimate enemy, Donovan Dove, Kai’s half-brother, and most trusted advisor. The basic story arc has been plotted (an enemies-to-lovers romance), and we have a working title that speaks to the genre of romantasy (fantasy romance), Valentine’s Gambit. We may keep the title, or we might not.

When we began this journey, we allowed the characters to tell us the story as they saw it. They showed us snippets of their world, and we started placing the set dressing in each scene. Our characters’ place in society has been determined, so we have an idea of their preconceived notions and cherished prejudices.

At the outset, the characters and the plot leaned toward a pseudo-medieval type of society. A large segment of the fantasy genre is set in a pseudo-medieval era. The most common failure I see in this type of fantasy is the assumption that only minimal technology can exist in a medieval era.

Yes, sewers were often open trenches, but while much of the available tech was reserved for the upper classes, it did exist. One can only admire our ancestors. Their creations are the foundations of what we consider modern amenities.

So, let’s talk about the level of technology for your novel. No matter the genre or era you set it in, no matter the world, each occupation has a specific historically available technology. What tools are available to them?

  1. Hunter/Gatherers?
  2. Agricultural/farming?
  3. Greco-Roman metallurgy and technology?
  4. Medieval metallurgy and technology?
  5. Pre-industrial revolution or late Victorian?
  6. Modern day?
  7. Or do they have magic-based technology?
  8. How do we get around, and how do we transport goods? On foot, by horse & wagon, trains, or space shuttle?

Our sample story is set in a pseudo-medieval era, so what sort of technologies are available to Val, Kai, and young King Edward?

We must do the research.

Sanitation: In Europe, how was public sanitation handled during medieval times? We can go back to the Etruscans for this, circa fifth century BCE. In the better parts of town, folks had covered sewers. According to Wikipedia:

Sanitation in ancient Rome, acquired from the Etruscans, was very advanced compared to other ancient cities and provided water supply and sanitation services to residents of Rome. Although there were many sewers, public latrines, baths and other sanitation infrastructure, disease was still rampant. The baths are known to symbolize the “great hygiene of Rome”.

Around AD 100, direct connections of homes to sewers began, and the Romans completed most of the sewer system infrastructure. Sewers were laid throughout the city, serving the public and some private latrines, and also served as dumping grounds for homes not directly connected to a sewer. It was mostly the wealthy whose homes were connected to the sewers, through outlets that ran under an extension of the latrine. [1]

These modern amenities traveled with the aristocracy to all the lands conquered by Rome and remained available into the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

What other amenities might our quarreling couple have? In the article,  Medieval Technology, Hanna Woody at Clemson University tells us that these (and many more) technologies we think of as modern appeared and were in use during medieval times. [2]

Thus, if the plot goes the way we planned, Val and Kai will have all the conveniences of a Tudor Castle, an herb woman’s forest cottage, and a mud hut. Valentine’s Gambit will be nothing if not classy.

If you are writing about a craft that you are unfamiliar with, DO THE RESEARCH. You will interpret your research and will either get it right or be way off the mark. Either way, it’s your story, but readers will point out where you got it wrong.

Are you writing science fiction?

TED Talks are a fantastic resource for information on current and cutting-edge technology.

ZDNet Innovation is an excellent source of existing tech and future tech that may become current in 25 years.

Tech Times is also a great source of ideas.

Nerds on Earth is a source of valuable information about swords and how they were used historically.

Digital Trends

If you are writing a contemporary novel, you need to know what interests the people in the many different layers of our society. Go to the magazine rack at your grocery store or the local Big Name Bookstore and peruse the many publications available to the reading public. You can find everything from mushroom hunting to culinary, survivalist, and organic gardening. If people are interested in it, there is a magazine for it. An incredible amount of information can be found in these publications.

If you seek information about how people farmed and worked in historical societies from post-Roman times through to the late Edwardian era, Lost Country Life by Dorothy Hartley is still available as a second-hand book and can be found on Amazon. This textbook was meticulously researched and illustrated by a historian who personally knew the people she wrote about.

Resources to bookmark in general:

www.Thesaurus.Com (What’s another word that means the same as this but isn’t repetitive?)

Oxford Dictionary (What does this word mean? Am I using it correctly?)

Wikipedia (The font of all knowledge. I did not know that.)

Looking things up on the internet can suck up an enormous amount of your writing time. Do yourself a favor and bookmark your resources, so all you have to do is click on a link to get the information you want. Then, you can quickly get back to writing.

Next week, we will look at science and magic and talk about how limitations offer opportunities for action.

PREVIOUS IN THIS SERIES:

Idea to story, part 1: novel, poetry, memoir, or short story? #writing | Life in the Realm of Fantasy

Idea to story part 2: thinking out loud #writing | Life in the Realm of Fantasy

Idea to story part 3: plotting out loud #writing | Life in the Realm of Fantasy

Idea to story part 4 – the roles of side characters #writing | Life in the Realm of Fantasy

Idea to story part 5 – plotting treason #writing | Life in the Realm of Fantasy

Idea to story part 6 – Plotting the End #writing | Life in the Realm of Fantasy

Idea to story part 7 – Building the world #writing | Life in the Realm of Fantasy

Idea to story part 8 – world-building and society #writing | Life in the Realm of Fantasy

 

Credits and Attributions

[1] Wikipedia contributors, “Sanitation in ancient Rome,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sanitation_in_ancient_Rome&oldid=1277682552 (accessed March 28, 2025).

[2] CC0 (Creative Commons Zero) license. To the extent possible under law, Clemson University has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to Science Technology and Society a Student Led Exploration, except where otherwise noted. (Accessed March 28, 2025.)

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