Cultural Kaleidoscope: Crafting Unique Societies in Your Worlds
Haly takes you through her thought process -- and offers advice -- on constructing unique cultures for your world.
Just another manic Monday!
It ended up being one of those rare days when not only did my husband not have to go in, but I ended up getting off early! So I got to spend some time this afternoon putting out a few maps I’ve been holding on to, my way of saying, “Hello, Spooky Season!”
There will be a second post this afternoon (web only) where I’ll reflect on my first 100 posts in 100 days on Substack! 🎉🥳
This is the last week of World Anvil’s Institutions of Learning challenge, co-sponsored by Hero Forge! It’s not too late to get your entry done and there are some really cool prizes to be won. Go and check it out!
Crafting Fictional Cultures
Yesterday, I took you on a brief exploration of what culture is and laid out three aspects of western culture that I feel drawn to: individualism, technological innovation, and pop culture. Today, I’m going to walk you through my thought process when developing a fictional culture. Think of it as a napkin-drawn map that might help or can easily be tossed if you have a better way.
Start with the Obvious
When most people think of building a culture, they associate it with a nation or a continent or even an entire species (the Klingons, for example). While this is not the only reason to consider building a new culture, it’s certainly a decent enough place to start!
As I began building Argentii, I knew that I wanted there to be a divide between east and west. I knew that this divide would lead to cultural differences. And I knew exactly what I wanted the first key difference to be: technology. One side has fully embraced technology, and the other prefers to trade convenience for craftsmanship.
So, start with the most obvious thing: what makes this culture different from its neighbors? What is the one big value that stands out and touches every person’s life in some way? Education? Caste? Democracy? Religion? Tradition? Ancestral worship?
Funnel Down
Those big, abstract concepts are important to nail down early, because they will inform all of the choices that you make moving forward. Continuing with my Argentii example, once I knew that technology was the big divide, I had to determine what that technology would be, and why it would be so divisive.
Once you’ve nailed down a few of the key cultural ideas, start to get more specific with them. If you have a culture based on ancestral worship, how does that touch their daily institutions? How are they educated about this culture, at home, or in some formal educational setting like school, temple, or madras? How does it affect their economy? Their family traditions? Their outlook on their neighbors? Their interactions with people who don’t worship their ancestors? How does it affect their fashion and entertainment? How does it affect their level of technological innovation?
Don’t Touch Everything
When I began this week’s topic, I looked at a list of 10 key signifiers of western culture in the 21st century, and almost immediately felt overwhelmed. They were all so spot on, and each seemed so very vital and important… which in the end said more about how accurate the list was and less about how to use them in this article! And so I chose three of them that felt important to me.
Do the same with your cultural world-building, choose a small handful of important abstracts, and then use those to inform the smaller details of your society. Every time that you have to make a choice in your world-building, it should be with your cultural ideals in mind — even if you’re countering or subverting them.
Yes, dear kindred, it’s another case of knowing the rules before you can break them. But I’ll talk about that more tomorrow.
In the meantime, take 2 seconds and share this post with a friend in your creative sphere!
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The only way that our weird little collective of creative kindreds will grow is if YOU share it with people you know! People who will make this community shine with enthusiastic kindness. Yanno, people like you! Go ahead. Click that button. ✨💜
Coming This Week:
Tuesday: Counterculture: Tension, Intrigue, and Drama for Your World
Wednesday: World-building Wednesday and a new edition of Ask the Bard! Don’t forget to join me LIVE on Substack at 4:30 pm Eastern (1:30 Pacific, 9:30 UK).
Thursday: Final check-in on School of Cat for World Anvil’s Institutions of Learning challenge.
Friday: Fiction Friday will see a new installment of The Graveside Letters of Jolene Williams. (Link will take you to the index for this serial prequel to my WIP, Cornfields of Avalon.)
Saturday: Quick Six: Cultural Touchstones
Sunday: New week, new theme!
Monday: ??? ??? ???
