Today's Topic - Fantasy Worldbuilding Cultural Fashion Show

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• Visual Appearance
  • Common skin colors
  • Common Eye color
  • Height and Weight
  • Hair
  • Once per races
• Dress
  • Common clothing
  • Color of clothing
  • types of materials
  • Common weapons
  • Traditional vs Modern

Today's Topic - Cultural Relations in Fantasy Worlds

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• Internal Factions
  • Pro culture
  • Anti Cultural
  • Self-Serving
• External Faction
  • Nearby Tribes
  • Nearby States
  • Trading partners
• Internal-External Factions
  • Same-Cultural different States
  • Cultural Growth
  • Cultural Separation

Today's Topic - Fantasy Cultural Norms

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• Values
  • Two-axis system
  • x-axis Harmony To Dominion over nature
  • y-axis Conformity to Divergence over people
  • What is the actual
  • What is the ideal
• Behaviors - Common expressions of the values
  • Common Stories
  • Greetings
  • Polite or rude
  • Idea
• This will be subject to change as time goes on.

Today's Topic - Worldbuilding Trap: Consistent = Fake

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• Thinking that Consistent means cultures always follow the same logic
  • languages will always have exceptions
  • Individuals will very from the cultural idea
  • Cultures are made of of groups of individuals who are always changing.
• Being consistent means that once you make a choice. You have to respect it.
  • If they people have to bow whenever they enter a room.  They have to do it.
• Work around
  • Create an exception to a rule.
    • Mary did not bow when she entered the room because the owner failed to greet her properly
  • Punish the character who breaks the rule
    • Mary becomes known as "the Rude" and never invited to parties in the city.

Today's Topic - Cultural Information in Worldbuilding

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• What I track when I create fictional cultures
  • Brief pre-state history
  • Important symbols
    • Basics on Music and Arts
    • pre-religious believes
    • Type of culture
      • Hunter gatherer
      • Tribal
        • Agriculture
        • Pastoral
      • Civilization
      • Other
  • Other similar cultures
  • This will be subject to change as time goes on.

Today's Topic - Evolution, Not just for your species!

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• Not a creation vs evolution discussion  about the real world. It is about things changing.
• Long-term
  • Species
  • Races
  • Chemical
  • Plants
  • Geology
  • Cosmos
• Short-term
  • Cultures
  • States
  • Languages
  • FACES - Characters change before, during, and after stories . . .unless they are dead . . . then they still might.

The Worldbuilder's Anvil is planning to add a weekly interview starting 3/7.  If you would like to request an interview please join my newsletter and respond to the email.  I look forward to hearing more from you.

Today's Topic - What is the state of your nation(s)?

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• What are states?
  • You should know the basics of one?
  • What is the cultural makeup?
  • What is the form of government?
  • How are the people taxed?
  • What is the history of important events?
  • What are important current events?
  • What relations do they currently have with neighbors?
  • Know the basic economics
• Do I need this if I am working on a fantasy version of earth?
  • Yes!
• Should Iwrite up other nations thatare mentioned when talking about my state?
  • I would, but it depends
• Should I share mine with the world?
  • Depends again?
  • The Gazetteer Writer's Manual: Creating Travel Guides to Fictional Worlds (World Building Series)

Today's Topic - Laphinnesehïrïm errr Languages

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• Why are languages important and intriguing
  • Languages are a common way for cultures to share ideas.
  • They flesh out cultures like nothing else
  • They add a high level of detail that can be shared with others
  • Must have resources on languages The Language Construction Kit
    and The Conlanger's Lexipedia both by Mark Rosenfelder
• What type of languages are there
  • Common spelling mock ups - town becomes jeff  so Newtown = Newjeff
  • Naming languages - you have the basics, lack grammar, rules, and phonics
  • A Full blown language - Think Tolkien or Klingon
    • Oral vs writing systems vs sign vs ???

Today's Topic - Religions in your Fantasy World

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• Myths to Religion
• Common Rituals
• Common Beliefs
• Common Symbols
• Common Stories
• Possible belief in the Supernatural
• Salvation is optional

Today's Topic - Races

• What are Races?
  • Depends on how you define it for your world
  • Common appearance of the grouping
    • Not body height, weight, and intelligence should vary based on nutrition
  • Shared Traits by then vast majority of the group
• What Races is not?
  • All living in one country
  • Photocopies of each other (Depends)
  • What I say

Today's Topic - Cultures

• What is a culture?
  • Shared Experience
  • Shared symbolism
  • Shared Beliefs and Norms
  • Language
  • Religion
  • Common Food, and Rituals
  • Art, Music, and Dress
• What culture is not?
  • A country (Most likely not)
  • A Race (Most likely not)
  • Fixed in time

Today's Topic - Wonders of Your World

• Why do I keep Coming Back to Wonders?
  • Because they stick out in the world
• Some are natural
  • Mount Fuji
  • Great Barrier Reef
  • Aurora Borealis
  • Great Riff Valley or Grand Cannon
• Some are Man-made
  • Great Wall of China
  • Stonehenge
  • Pyramids
  • Chunnel
• Some are over looked  as wonders
  • Great terrain features
  • Major States Capitals
• They are wonders as long have influence on central to the culture(s)
• They will change over time