K.A. Barker's Blog, page 2
March 27, 2014
Worldbuilding101: Society
Combine this with some busy (if amazing) times in my personal life, and that adds up to not a lot of blog writing. But that’s something I hope I can rectify, because today we’re looking at societies.
Apologies first off that this will, once again, be aimed at speculative fiction writers. This is because a) it’s the genre I write in, so it’s the one I feel most comfortable sharing my ideas in, and b) like it or not, contemporary and realistic fiction writers are stuck with real-world societies, and there’s not much advice I can offer to them besides keep your eyes open and read some anthropological studies.
Social Structure, eg. who’s sitting on the cushions?
Social structure is a great indication of how a society is ordered and what they value the most. As Timothy Leary says, “Civilisation is unbearable, but it is less unbearable at the top”. Most people spend their lives on an endless attempt to improve their lot in life, whether through business or marriage or going out and whacking at dragons with pointy things. Who in your world is able to grab the most amount of power? Is it the land-holding knights and barons? The senior members of a religion? The artists and craftspeople?
You’ll want to think about what in your society commands the most respect and control, because that’s going to filter down throughout the rest of the aspects of your society. For example, I have a country called Yäel . Here, because of an unfortunate incident in their past when the rest of the world forgot about them, the people treat capturing an image of someone as almost a religious experience. They get their portraits painted on special occasions in their lives and hang portraits painted with their ashes in commemorative halls after their deaths. Consequently, certain artists have attained an almost rockstar-like quality as they are sought after by wealthy patrons. Art and beautification is valued in this society. Perhaps it might be religion in yours, or sport, or trade and commerce. Whatever it is, its superstars are going to be high in your society.
Alternatively, which social classes are the lowest in your structure? Who make up the unwashed masses? Often times is can be far more fun to follow these people around and get a sense of the grimy underworld below the marble temples.
Religion
There seems to be a trend in many fantasy stories today to either exclude religion altogether or make its priests corrupt and money-hungry and its god/s either petty and uncaring or completely non-existent. While this cynical look at religion fits well in some darker-and-edgier worlds, I like to believe that there is a place for non-corrupt religions in fantasy as well.
Religion is a great way to show us more about a society, from the number of gods they worship to their specific roles and the nature of the worship itself. Most fantasy stories tend to fall into four main categories:
1. A single god. This one has definitely lost favour over the last couple of decades, but is still a viable option. The churches tend to be quite Catholic in their views, with plenty of traditions and social structures within the church itself. This god also mostly keeps to himself (and it’s generally a him) a lot more than the others.
2. A Greek pantheon. These gods are, in my opinion, the most fun. They are the archetypal big and loud family, with warring members, family in-jokes, too much history between them, messy fights and messier reunions. They tend to meddle in the affairs of mortals, taking champions and inspiring battles. Be careful when writing them because they have a tendency to steal the show.
3. Trinities. If female (and most are), these deities often take the forms traditionally given to the Moirai: the maiden, the mother, and the crone.
4. The Goddess. Tends to be a little more caring and less austere than her male counterpart. Is known for taking champions and inspiring young women to battle against the binds of patriarchy. If the world features more than one religion, it will often be the followers of 1. oppressing the followers of the Goddess.
Another aspect to look at is how the people worship. Is the focus on attendance or individual relationships with their deity? Do mortals take a deity as their patron? Is there a concept of Hell, and, if so, what is it? Lots of fun things to think about.
Ideologies
This one often intertwines with religion, but it can be separate: namely, what does your society most believe in? What informs them as they go about their day? They might be big, unshakeable ideas that permeate the whole of society, or small views that only certain members hold.
- What are the wives’ tales? Every society in real life has little bits of advice that are passed down through the generations, so why should speculative societies be any different? How do your people treat these wives’ tales? Do the young scoff at them? Begrudgingly treat them as useful? And how rooted in factuality are they?
- Superstitions. This one relates to wives’ tales, but is broad enough to split into a separate category. What do people avoid and why? This generally stems from religion, but can also come from an event in history. It’s amazing how many seemingly illogical superstitions actually make sense once you pull them apart. For example, the superstition that it’s bad luck to open an umbrella indoors probably originated in the eighteenth-century, when the stiff metal spokes of the early umbrellas meant that you were likely to poke someone in the eye if you opened an umbrella indoors.
- Since we mentioned upward social mobility a couple of paragraphs back, it might be a good time to mention whether or not this is actually a widely-held view in your society. Are social climbers admired for their tenacity or looked down on? Does society instead believe that, as was the prevalent idea in Europe for many centuries, they’ve been called into the station they belong in and any attempts to better it are, at best, unwise and, at worst, spitting in the face of God?
And I think I’ve blathered on enough today, so that will do for now. Let me know what your favourite aspect of speculative fiction society worldbuilding is in the comments or chat with me directly on k.a.barkerwrites [at] gmail [dot] com.
February 19, 2014
Worldbuilding101: Countries
Borders, And The Oodles of Dramatic Possibilities They Provide
Yes, oodles is a technical measurement.
Hopefully in your map-making stage, you’ve now got some natural features to play around with. Unless created by military incursion or magical malady, your countries are most likely to form their borders around natural landmarks such as rivers, mountain ranges, or even swamps. Look for some point that differentiates this piece of land from that.
Although if this is what differentiates your countries, build a gigantic wall of fire, sharks, and lasers, and pray.Borders are great because they provide instant drama:
What is the relationship between bordering countries? Even with the most friendly of neighbours, you’ll still get some tension occasionally, whether it’s from inexperienced (or bored) border guards flexing their muscles or bickering over which point in the lake Country A’s ships are invading Country B’s territory.
How stringently is the border defended? If you’re dealing with a dictatorship or a xenophobic society, for example, then your protagonists could face numerous guard houses, dogs, magical deterrents, walls, flaming pits of lava with crocodiles swimming in them. There’s nothing more fun as a reader than to follow your hero outwit and overcome obstacles. And a difficult border crossing can be one of the best. Look at how much trouble Frodo and Sam had getting into Mordor.
The physical challenge of crossing the border. If one of your countries is bordered by a mountain range that’s snowed in from October to March, then the tension is ramped up as we as readers eagerly devour the chapters to see whether our protagonist manages to clear the pass before winter. Physical limitations can provide some of the best moments of heart-stopping drama, so by all means bring on those ship-breaking storms, sinking quagmires, and impenetrable mountain passes.
For more on why borderlands are so much fun to play with, check out Limyaael’s amazing rant on borderlands.
So I’ve Got A Border and A Country… Now What?
A country generally has to have at least a capitol (generally the largest city, but sometimes designated by cultural significance, trade, or even created specifically for the job like Canberra), one or two other large cities, and a smattering of smaller towns, hamlets, and villages. But depending on your society, it could have none of these things, as I’ll unpack later.
S. John Ross’s Medieval Demographics Made Easy unpacks just how many people can be supported in each centre of population:
Villages range from 20 to 1,000 people, with typical villages ranging from 50-300. Most kingdoms will have thousands of them. Villages are agrarian communities within the safe folds of civilization. They provide the basic source of food and land-stability in a feudal system. Usually, a village that supports orchards (instead of grainfields) is called a “hamlet.” Occasionally, game writers use the term to apply to a very small village, regardless of what food it produces.
Towns range in population from 1,000-8,000 people, with typical values somewhere around 2,500. Culturally, these are the equivalent to the smaller American cities that line the interstates. Cities and towns tend to have walls only if they are frequently threatened.
Cities tend to be from 8,000-12,000 people, with an average in the middle of that range. A typical large kingdom will have only a few cities in this population range. Centers of scholarly pursuits (the Universities) tend to be in cities of this size, with only the rare exception thriving in a Big City.
Big Cities range from 12,000-100,000 people, with some exceptional cities exceeding this scale. Some historical examples include London (25,000-40,000), Paris (50,000-80,000), Genoa (75,000-100,000), and Venice (100,000+). Moscow in the 15th century had a population in excess of 200,000!
Generally, cities tend to pop up where there’s either lots of travel or lots of natural resources to support a large population – trade routes, coastlines, rivers, lakes (just follow the water). They’ll need plenty of trees for building materials and fires, and arable land to sew crops on – barley, vetches, oats, peas, and beans in the spring, and wheat and rye in the fall (though this will vary based on your country’s climate).
Belle obviously would have appreciated some larger cities in Ye Olde Generic French Country That Weirdly Enough Manages to Lose Its PrinceBut sometimes, depending on your society, you won’t even have any cities at all. One of my countries in The Book of Days isn’t even technically a country, just a series of territories owned by a people called the De Kena. Due to the fact that their lands are bordered by some highly unsavoury characters, they’re nomadic and their settlements are only as large as they can pack up and carry on the back of their horses. They’re separated into clans of 50-200 family groups, which shifts every couple of years as clans either win or lose territory from their neighbours. So a series of settled cities and villages wouldn’t make sense for this culture.
Some questions to consider as you create your countries:
How large do you want your population to be? Will it be like France, whose large fertile lands supported one of the highest populations in the medieval world? If so, you’ll need to consider food sources, water placement, possible trade routes. You’ll also have to decide how many cities/villages/towns your country will need and where to place them (think sources of water)
Or maybe you want a small population. What outside influences would create this? Is your country mostly mountainous? Is there population control in place? Is your country cursed? Or maybe, if your country is more technologically advanced, is the hard life of living in smog-choked cities and working in mines or factories killing both sexes young?
How is your society organised? This will greatly affect the cities or lack thereof. Is it a monarchy? A socialist society? A collection of friendly anarchists? I’ll touch more on politics in a later post, but the way that people group themselves is a large determining factor of both the population and the basic structure of your country.
What is their relationship with their neighbours? Inter-country politics can be some of the most fascinating aspects of a well-built fantasy society and, if you play your cards right, a source of both tension and intrigue in your novels. Heck, some court-based fantasy seem to be composed of little else.
Is there a native population? If so, how are they treated? Are they viewed as vermin to be exterminated? Feared? Revered? What about the products of a union between the native population and the invaders/colonists? How a country treats its mixed race citizens (both officially and unofficially) can tell a lot about its society.
What’s your favourite part of creating countries? Are your borderlands scheming cesspools of assassination and depravity or cultured learning centres with the best of both worlds? Let me know in the comments, or send me an email at k.a.barkerwrites [at] gmail [dot] com.
February 17, 2014
Worldbuilding 101: Geography
Since I’m primarily a fantasy writer, I apologise that this post will have a spec fic slant. If you write contemporary, you’ll have a whole other slew of problems that I’m very glad I don’t have to deal with… making sure all your streets are in the correct place and that you don’t put a Piggly Wiggly on the corner of Smith and Classon Ave when everyone knows it’s been a Walmart for years.
There are four main areas to focus on when worldbuilding: geography; politics; technology (or lack thereof); and society. You’ll probably be spending a lot of time planning out the specifics of your world, especially if you’re starting your own fantasy land from scratch, so don’t feel like you have to figure it all out at once. Sometimes the best ideas come out of the blue.
This post will focus on geography. Or…
What Are We Standing On And Why Is It Currently Exploding?
Geography is probably your most basic note in the worldbuilding symphony. The crotchet, if you will. It’s surprising how much your geography will influence the other three areas of your worldbuilding. A country composed mostly of impassible mountains and valleys, for example, will probably not have a large trading culture or sense of national identity. Instead, I’d expect each mountain hamlet to be almost xenophobic towards strangers and to teach the value of self-sufficiency and hardiness. If they have a monarchy, the ruler most likely wouldn’t have any real power to command his people.
So as you can see it affects almost everything. About now, I bet some of you are cursing your hatred of high-school geography right now (I know I am). It’s easy to draw some squiggly lines for a coast, plop trees down and a couple of mountains for flavour and call it a day. But how do all the geological features work together? If you don’t get this one crucial thing right, many readers might not notice it at once, but I firmly believe they’ll intrinsically sense the wrongness… and the last thing you want is readers starting off on the wrong foot before they even reach Chapter 1.
Geography For Dummies
To quote from the far more knowledgeable Matthew Lowes:
Large mountains almost always occur in ranges.
Rivers flow from mountains and hills down into bigger rivers or open bodies of water.
Forest can occur almost anywhere there is sufficient water for trees.
Grasslands and hills can occur almost anywhere.
Swamps, marshes, and lakes occur in flat areas with a lot of water.
Canyons are carved out by rivers or streams.
Major deserts are a regional function of the trade winds, but small deserts often form inland, on the far side of mountain ranges.
Springs and oases can occur almost anywhere.
Volcanoes occur in chains or regions of vulcanism. This usually happens closer to coastlines or islands.
Glaciers, like water, flow downhill, and glaciated areas tend to have broad U-shaped valleys.
Towns and cities need a source of fresh water. Larger cities often occur on trade routes.
If you’re looking at huge timescales and you want some billion year old ruins, the centers of continents tend to be the oldest geologic areas.
(Seriously, go check out his site – great info if you’re interested in fantasy or table-top gaming.)
Once you know the basic rules, it becomes fun and easy to piece together a unique fantasy map. But there are still a few other questions that can help with the process:
What landscape does my plot require? Will your protagonists join a trading caravan, for example? If so, you’ll probably want to consider the type of landscape conducive to trading – flat land, plenty of water and fodder for horses, many towns to stop at along the way (or enough sources of food that they’re able to forage for long distances). Do you need some drama? How about a river that they have to cross? Or a canyon that’ll provide a great place for an ambush?
Realistic travel times. Do you want the protagonists to spend most of your book travelling? If not, you’re going to have to look at your map sizes and scales. A healthy person can walk 30 miles a day, but that’s travelling fast and not stopping often. Horses? 50-60 miles a day, but that’s with a light rider and hardly any provisions. If you’re travelling with a group, it’s likely to be far less than that.
What kind of a society do you want your protagonist to come from/meet along the way? Steppes or desert are great geological reasons for a nomadic society. A country with flat land and many rivers is going to be able to support more farms, which means increased prosperity, possibly a vassal system, and most likely trade with other countries for luxury items. A good example of this is Ancient Egypt, which had vast wealth and traded as far away as Afganistan and Nubia.
Technological/magical influences. Technology can have a GIGANTIC effect on the shape of the world. You only need to look at Britain during the Industrial Revolution or places like China or the Middle East in the last 60-70 years to see this in action. I’ll cover this in greater detail later on, but for now: what’s the fastest form of transport in your world?
Courier horse? Then you’re going to need good roads and inns every 100 miles or less to service horse and rider, plus fresh horses at each leg of the journey. That means hay, which means farmland or an expensive trading concession.
Train? I hope you weren’t too attached to that hill, because it’s getting dynamited so the train can run through it. Likewise no doubt to many many forests, which will be cleared both to make the tracks and provide a space for the train to run through. Plus the metal, of course, which will have to come from a mine nearby or be shipped down (are there rough seas? Any coves or inlets to provide safe harbours for sea trading?).
Airship? Coal and tonnes of it. Where’s it all coming from? What kind of an area would the airship need to dock safely?
And magic can be even more unpredictable. Does the land have inherent magic that happens to flare up every year/week/day? Perhaps the people are constantly on the move because if they don’t, they’ll find themselves turned into chickens or with their skin on inside-out. Is there a vast swathe of nothing but twisted rock in the middle of your map? Perhaps it was the site of an ancient magical battle and the flora has never recovered.
The ‘fantasy’ of fantasy can provide a lot of fun opportunities to play around with your world and really make it your own.
Should I draw it myself or use a program?
This is a tomayto/tomahto situation. It’s really down to your personal preference. I drew mine out impressively badly, but things only really came into shape when I jumped on photoshop and graphed out my coastlines using this awesome technique. From there you can get to the fun part of arranging and re-arranging forests and mountains till your heart’s content.
There are many programs available if you’d prefer to get some help. Autorealm and Campaign Cartographer are probably the most well known. I haven’t tried either of them so I can’t recommend them, but they look pretty fantastic, so if you’re willing to spend some money, you might want to give them a try. I’d love to hear of other map-making software out there as well, so let me know in the comments.
And that’s pretty much it. This post has become pretty long, so I’ll move onto the other three aspects of worldbuilding in the next couple of days. Feel free to let me know your favourite world, or the most unique aspect of your own worldbuilding in the comments.
Recommended reading:
Michael James Liljenberg’s phenomenal Creating Fantasy and Science Fiction Worlds series. Read it. You will not be sorry you did.
