Interpreting Rebirth: Building Cycles in Your World
Haly looks at different cycles of rebirth, with examples from her own worldbuilding, to help you better build cycles into your fictional worlds!
Over and Over, Again and Again
The sun rises and sets, the moon waxes and wanes, and before you know it the warm lingering summer has faded into crisp autumn chill. The first whiff of pumpkin spice has barely scented the air before winter descends with frigid darkness. Then, one day, you look around and see the greening of the land as everything is covered in a haze of tightly furled buds.
Rebirth is the point in a cycle where a new round is begun. The cycle of a day begins at midnight, while the cycle of daylight begins at dawn. The cycle of a flower’s life begins with a fertilized seed, and the cycle of a work shift begins at clock-in time.
Incorporating the idea of rebirth goes beyond just the big assumptions like days and years and sex and seeds. It’s re-purposing a thing for a new use. It’s a revolution brewing within the unhappy ranks of the workers and students. It’s a cultural or spiritual renewal (such as the Renaissance Period, which literally means…rebirth).
Let’s look at some examples.
Recycling and Re-purposing
Steampunk, cyberpunk, magi-punk. While it’s true that some people will just throw ‘-punk’ on the end of a word to try and make a new genre, there is actually a set of tropes that go along with a punk-style setting, and it’s all about rebirth: re-purposing technology and components into new things.
Punk genres are very do-it-yourself; think of all of the ‘genius inventor in a junkyard’ interpretations you’ve seen (young Anakin Skywalker), or the scrappy engineer who’s always keeping the ship just this side of disaster through his quick thinking and clever application of old technology in new ways (hellooooo, Scotty).
Within Argentii: the desert island of Tilth is home to a society that is divided along strict caste lines. This caste system has restricted the flow of everything, and the working caste of the island have developed a very punk way of making their lives work.
Revolution and Restoration
Worlds are imperfect places full of cruel people, injustice, and corruption. People all over the place are happy one moment and miserable the next, just like people in the real world. Somewhere in your world, someone is being oppressed, even if you don’t know it yet.
Still, there is only so much misery that people can take, even in fiction. Eventually, they will band together and rise up to fight for equity in their culture. Enter, the revolution!
Revolutions are a form of rebirth that usually involve some level of violence — even if that violence is metaphorical — in search of restoration. Restoration of equity, restoration of power, restoration of dignity, restoration of access to food and clean water.
Returning to the island of Tilth in my world of Argentii, a revolution has begun to brew in order to remove the evil cult. That cult, by the way, is seeking to restore dragons as godly beings in the minds of the people. The people, on the other hand, want to restore their dignity and the ruined ecology of their island.
Renewal and Revival
Sometimes, everything old is new again. Fashion is an amazing example of this principle in action, with styles coming back around in 20-30 year cycles, then renewing again with the revival of something else.
Culture, philosophy, and even religion are all rife with opportunities for renewal and revival. New ways of seeing the world, new perspectives, lead to new ideas lead to new ways of thinking and expressing those thoughts. When the people of our world let go of superstition in favor of reason, or when they restore a societal value that was let to slide.
One of Argentii’s driving forces is Shiv’s desire to revive the library that was lost to the conflagration. Her determination to maintain the intellectual renewal that came with the United Era is one of the things that has made maintaining my view of the world so difficult. She is not motivated to explore the world, and so I have to start writing from the perspective of someone who is!
Ask the Bard
Tomorrow is Worldbuilding Wednesday, and your weekly chance to ask questions about worldbuilding! Tag me in a note, hit my DMs, or leave a comment below. I’m here to help you over those pesky worldbuilding hurdles.
Also, please take a moment to re-stack this post — or, if you’re reading it as an email, forward it to a creative friend in your circle! Because the most important things are the things we build together!
Coming This Week:
Worldbuilding Wednesday: Send me your questions for this week’s “Ask the Bard” worldbuilding advice column!
Throwback Thursday: Decay
Feature Friday: Polishing for Competition
The name of my series is Cyclic Chain. It's meant to be a representation of cycles, some good, some bad, and how we can break free. Of course, the first couple books will only have hints of the answer. 😆