Newsletter 11/17

This Will Take Longer Than Seven Days Part 5
Culture Shock

Creating a vibrant believable culture (or several) for your fantasy story is one of, if not the, most important part of creating a fantasy world. It is the people of the world that your characters, and hence your readers, will be interacting with. If it is boring, so is the story. Fortunately, there are lots of places you can get ideas from.

First of all, study the masters of the craft. Not only will this give you a good idea what a good fantasy culture looks like, it will also give you an idea what has been done before, so you can more easily avoid cliches and a believable accusation that you stole something from another author. A culture based on medieval Europe isn't going to get you in much trouble, but a culture of small rural people that love the comforts of home and live in shires, well that's a bit close to something that's already been done. Some authors to look at include Tolkien, David and Leigh Eddings, David Gemmel and Robert Jordan. All these authors seem to be able to create detailed societies in great number and of great quality. There are dozens if not hundreds more authors that you can look to as well, these are just the best in my mind.

Now, when looking to make your own cultures, there are a number of relatively safe sources for research. Mythology is always a good starting point. Need a culture that lives in a cold, harsh climate? Take a look at Nordic mythology. Want a world spanning empire? Peruse the Roman section at the library. Would you like an autocratic theocracy? Maybe some of the middle American cultures would be a good starting off point, particularly the Aztecs. Need something a bit more exotic? Try Middle Eastern and Asian myths. African nations also offer a wealth of ideas. Mythologies generally aren't under copyright, so you have some leeway. Of course, you will want to make changes to suit your world.

You can also look at modern countries for many ideas about culture. If a nation is composed of members of a number of different cultures, Canada and the United States can give you some ideas what that might look like. Modern Sweden gives a look at a nation where the citizens are cared for from cradle to grave, something that could be interesting in a fantasy setting. Many Asian countries are in a transition period going from traditional culture to a more modern, global structure. You may find it interesting to base a story on that sort of idea.

Now, what are some things to remember when constructing fantasy cultures? Number one is, if you base the culture on something from reality, do it in such a way that you aren't insulting anybody. Granted the way our society works now, it will be impossible to avoid offending every body, but it's always best if you don't set out to deliberately offend some group. When you base your fantasy society on something from the real world, change the names and enough of the details that it isn't blatantly obvious where the original idea comes from.

Next thing to remember is the same as for many other parts of world design, things happen for a reason. It's often useful to work back from what purpose the culture has in the story. If it is a dark, evil society, then it's past should be steeped in treachery, violence and deceit. If it is to be a small nation on the verge of being crushed by the dark power, then it should be a sympathetic nation, and so have a history of kindness and good relations with it's neighbors. Start with the function of the culture, then go back and work out what history will best perform that function.

Make sure you think about as many facets of the society as will impact on the story. These include appearance of average citizen, government style, legal system, some specific laws, relationship with neighboring cultures, and attitudes toward foreigners. Try to stay relatively consistent. It is great to have one or two minor points that really clash with the rest of the culture, but for the most part, every culture should feel like a unified whole, not a random assortment of traits. So, if the culture is a benevolent monarchy, it probably won't have a secret police force, nor will it's citizens form lynch mobs every time a foreigner comes into town. If the nation is an autocratic dictatorship, however, foreigners are unlikely to be welcomed with open arms.

Cultures are definitely among the most critical design phases of a world, and are likely among the most complicated. In my experience, however, they are also the most fun. If you have a unique fantasy culture you'd like to share or get some critiquing on, please email me. Same goes for questions about specific cultural design problems. I'm always happy to answer.