by Jill Williamson
Today is our last freebie printable post day. *frown*
When I start thinking about writing a new story, I think about history. I ask myself what time period might I set the story in? Even if I’m writing fantasy, and I usually am. Not all fantasy stories have to be medieval. My Blood of Kings fantasy was medieval. And many popular fantasy books are set in that type of a storyworld. But I’m working on a Regency fantasy right now, and I’m having so much fun!
Here’s a list of historical periods that are primarily from Europe and the Americas. But the inspiration doesn’t end there. Our earth has a rich history. Think of all the time periods and locations you could model a story in. Asia. Australia. Africa. There is a lot of history to use for brainstorming a storyworld. And if you write historical, that’s cool too.
Click here for the printable link: Historical Periods
The Stone Age – The Beginning to 2000 BC
The Bronze Age – 3600 BC–600 BC
The Iron Age – 1200BC–400AD
Barbarian Invasions – 300AD–700AD
Medieval – 400AD–1500AD
Renaissance – 1500AD–1700AD
Elizabethan (UK) – 1558AD–1603AD
Jacobean (UK) – 1603AD–1625AD
Caroline (UK) – 1625–1649
Interregnum (UK) – 1649–1660
Restoration (UK) – 1660–1688
Georgian (UK) – 1714–1830
Napoleonic Era (FR) – 1799–1815
Regency (UK) – 1811–1837
Victorian (UK) – 1837–1901
Edwardian (UK) – 1901–1910
Colonial – 1492–1775
Native American – 1492–1900
Revolution – 1775–1800
Turn of the 19th Century – 1795–1810
West – 1800–1890
Regency era in Europe/Federal era in the US – 1811–1820
War of 1812 – 1812
Antebellum – 1820–1861
Victorian UK/US – 1837–1901
Frontier – 1845–1916
South – 1860–1920
Civil War – 1861–1865
Reconstruction – 1865–1887
Turn of the Century – 1890–1915
World War I – 1914–1918
Interwar period – 1918–1939
Roaring Twenties – 1920–1929
Great Depression – 1929–World War II
World War II – 1939–1945
Post WWII – 1945–1950
Atomic Age – after 1945
Post-war era – 1946–1962
Cold War (Soviet Union and US) -1945–1989 or 1991
Space Age – after 1957
The Sixties – 1960–1969
Turbulent 1960’s/War in Vietnam
Post-Modern (Soviet Union and United States) -1973–present
Information Age – 1970–present
The Seventies – 1970–1979
The Eighties – 1980–1989
The Nineties – 1990–1999
The 2000s – 2000–2009
The Social Age – 2004–present
The Tens – 2010–2019
The Big Data age – 2001–present
What era intrigues you?