World-building Tip: Consider the Culture

Every year, we’re lucky to have great sponsors for our nonprofit events. Campfire Technology, a 2022 Camp NaNoWriMo sponsor, creates writing software to help storytellers write better stories faster. Get 30% off lifetime purchases with Campfire’s coupon for Camp NaNoWriMo writers! In this post, writer Adam Bassett shares a helpful tip for creating the world of your story:

The most important part of writing is, obviously, the writing. However, it can be difficult to put words on the page if you’re not prepared before tackling that hefty 50,000 word goal you’re setting for yourself. There are a few things you can do to make life easier while writing—but first I’d like to tell you a bit about one of my favorite paintings. I promise, it will make sense.

The Arnolfini Portrait

Jan van Eyck was ahead of his time. It’s hard to fully express how incredible and impactful his oil paintings were. His Arnolfini Portrait (1434), sometimes called the Arnolfini Wedding, has been a bit of an enigma for art historians. There’s very little information about the people pictured here, so it’s unclear what their relationship was. Some guess that they are shown here greeting a spectator, while others believe it might be a wedding ceremony (hence the alternate title). Some believe the woman here might be pregnant, but we know that it was quite normal for women to be holding bulky gowns like this during the 15th century—so it’s hard to be sure.

Beds, mirrors, even the oranges in this room were really expensive at the time, and if you had any you were likely to want to show it off. These objects also hold a lot of other meanings. The red sheets on the bed represent fertility, and the mirror is adorned with scenes from the Passion of Christ.

Despite the mysteries here, we can discern a few things about the Arnolfini Portrait: it is littered with symbols of wealth, status, religion, and love. It is a product of 15th century economics and fashion, with just enough mystery on its canvas to keep us talking about it.

Preparing Your Characters and World-building

I think we can apply a lot of what Jan van Eyck did with this piece to our writing. I tend to see a lot of people talking about world-building in respect to the magic or physical setting, and about characters regarding how they operate in the plot. All of that is absolutely important, but I would argue we’re forgetting all too often to consider the culture.

The Arnolfini Portrait is so interesting in large part because it depicts things whose meanings are embedded in 15th century Europe, many of which have multiple interpretations. If you can take some of this time before NaNoWriMo begins to look into your settings culture(s) and where your main cast fits into that culture—or how they are ostracized from it—you can imbue everything around them with meaning when it comes time to finally write. Their sword might not just be a deadly weapon, but what if it’s also an heirloom to show off, or if they have to hide it because swords are taboo? Perhaps they have an interesting way to style their cloak, or you could have a one-off remark about oranges as your main character travels through a market. All these small details can be planned if you take the time to better understand the cultures present. It helps your setting feel lived-in, your characters more real.

So how do you apply these details? Well, the easiest place to do that is in Campfire’s Manuscript Module, where you can check your character, plot, and world-building notes without ever having to leave your text editor. It’s free to try, and easy to access on any browser or via our desktop application! Check out Campfire for free at www.campfirewriting.com and start preparing for NaNo. Good luck!

Adam Bassett is a UX/UI designer, writer, game designer, and freelance illustrator based in Tennessee. You can find more discussions on writing and worldbuilding at Campfire’s YouTube channel Around the Campfire, or read his interviews with folks like Ed Greenwood and Lillie Lainoff on Campfire Learn. If you’re looking to organize your writing notes better, try out Campfire Write for free!