Information resources: Technical information useful in stories.

[Jemini]

I thought it would be a good idea to start compiling a list of technical information learning resources to give writers information about things that they might like to include in their stories. I actually have only 1 thing to add myself to this list, so I will be looking forward to what others can bring to the table as well. What I have though is a real big one for anyone wanting to write fantasy medieval as their genre.

Shadiversity.

Shadiversity is a Youtube channel of a guy named Shad (of course.) He is a hema practitioner and major buff on medieval European weapons, fighting techniques, and castle defense in terms of historical accuracy. (Hema, for those who don't know, is a recreation of medieval European sword fighting as best they can tell from studies of historical instruction manuals.)

He likes to showcase weapons and talk about their historical uses, he talks about castle construction, and he also has a series called "fantasy re-armed" where he talks about the actual most effective weapons that could be used by any given fantasy creature.

 

[jinxs2011]

Interesting. Might take a look at it later. Still, the amount and variety of information writers use (at least from personal experience) is quite large, and it will be difficult to keep that to a even somewhat short list.
For my own novels, I've looked up things such as the mannerisms of various animals and their interactions with humans, the effectiveness of various weapons on armour and shields, how to make a bow and arrows from scratch, obscure weaponry, how long it might take for someone to pass out in some sort of choke hold versus how long it would take for them to die, aerodynamics of a fork (unsuccessfully), wind resistance to list a few.

 

[MagicKing]

Thanks! Already watch him sometimes.

I like Terrible writing advice, it's fun.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3ogrx6d9oohf6D42G44j1A

Edit : Oh, technical as in physics and realism stuff. Mostly i just praise the lord google for mythology and stuff randomly as i go. That will eventually blow up on me but... it's life and i decrease that chance by watching things i find interesting randomly. Off the top of my mind I watch Styxhexenhammer for his occult stuff on youtube, turns out real life magic systems are quite detailed even if we don't see it working(or if they don't). I watch another but it's in portuguese.

 

[L0pez]

Medieval prices:
https://thehistoryofengland.co.uk/resource/medieval-prices-and-wages/
http://faculty.goucher.edu/eng240/medieval_prices.html

Medieval everything: (mostly England based I think)
http://localhistories.org/middle

Catapulting a human:
https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-s...-kms-up-in-the-air-without-killing-the-person

Tho yeah, these can be googled quickly.

 

[NiQuinn]

Forgotten Weapons (firearms):
https://www.youtube.com/user/ForgottenWeapons/featured

Random Stuff:
https://www.youtube.com/user/wired
(As to the link above, it has a nice pocket of vids where professionals note what wrong stuff they do in movies. Like, a professional lawyer critiques no nos in court scenes from movies/series. You just gotta look at their vids.)

Library for Onomatopoeias!
http://www.writtensound.com/index.php

Medieval name generator (found this in my bookmarks. I was surprised.):
https://www.mithrilandmages.com/utilities/MedievalNames.php

 

[Ninetailed_Furball]

Knowledge is the #1 way to improve any story I'd say, so here's a bunch of things I've been using for years:
Animalogic for micro documentaries about various animals: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwg6_F2hDHYrqbNSGjmar4w
AsapSCIENCE for quick and sometimes weird science info: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC552Sd-3nyi_tk2BudLUzA
SFIA for the #1 resource on hard Sci-Fi: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZFipeZtQM5CKUjx6grh54g
Minute Physics for real physics of stuff 2-3 minutes at a time: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUHW94eEFW7hkUMVaZz4eDg
Minute Earth for earth facts of every kind 3 minutes at a time: https://www.youtube.com/user/minuteearth
Now You See it for deeper understanding of movies (and storytelling in general): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWTFGPpNQ0Ms6afXhaWDiRw
SciShow for science everything that anyone can understand: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZYTClx2T1of7BRZ86-8fow
Tom Scott for the weird and wacky of the world (seriously, if you think something you read in fiction was impossible, some of his tops those): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBa659QWEk1AI4Tg--mrJ2A
Hello Future Me for writing analysis and guides: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFQMO-YL87u-6Rt8hIVsRjA
Lindsay Ellis for film analysis: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG1h-Wqjtwz7uUANw6gazRw
Overly Sarcastic Productions for mythology summaries and trope analysis: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCodbH5mUeF-m_BsNueRDjcw
Primitive Technology (and a million other similar channels) for how primitive stuff are actually made/done: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAL3JXZSzSm8AlZyD3nQdBA
Spacedock for fluff and analysis of sci-fi ships and related stuff (great for understanding how to describe technology): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfjaAUlTZRHJapJmCT6eyIg
Templin Institute for descriptions of tons of sci-fi/fantasy elements and the occasional analysis (great for inspiring worlds/civilizations/organizations): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpqCsO-fb2_OzVxm7J9MslA
Aleczandxr for analysis of characters/groups/scenes of various anime: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUUYiPd9TKE62mUn-lJ29AQ
Extra Credits for history and mythology summaries (and the occasional game thing): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCODtTcd5M1JavPCOr_Uydg

I recommend checking as much variety of things as you can as a writer (not just my list, but the stuff other people posted as well). The better well-rounded your knowledge is, the better of a story you can write.

And don't just check writing stuff and straight up facts, but also check things from other genre and occupations as well. You'd be surprised at how much things from not only movies and games apply to written stories, but paintings and music can be used in writing.

 

[FantasyDeath]

Wuxia/Xianxia:

Wuxia-Xianxia Terms of Address - WuxiaWorld

www.wuxiaworld.com

Wuxiaworld

Chinese fantasy novels and light novels!

www.wuxiaworld.com

Chinese Honorifics: https://exiledrebelsscanlations.com/dictionary-of-honorifics/

Politely Addressing People in Chinese: http://www.fluentinmandarin.com/content/how-to-address-people-politely-in-chinese/

MMO Terms Glossary: https://mmos.com/mmo-terms

Chinese Etiquette & Protocol: http://www.protocolprofessionals.com/articles_china_print.htm

Chinese Greetings: https://www.travelchinaguide.com/essential/chinese-etiquette/greetings/

Cultivation: https://xian-ni.fandom.com/wiki/Cultivation

Science/Space stuff:

StarTalk

Science meets pop culture on StarTalk! Astrophysicist & Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, his comic co-hosts, guest celebrities & scientists d...

www.youtube.com