Introduction
We’re finished with the mapping section of the world-building discussion, so now we’re going to look at building societies and the factors that go into that! The mapping you did in the previous sections will come into play here, so if you haven’t read those articles yet, you’ll want to do so and come back to this.
This week’s discussion centers on the location factors that shape a society. We touched on this briefly in the global mapping sector, but now we’re going to take a closer look because location plays a big role in what kind of society is built there.
Location’s Role in Societal Structure
Yes, location can play a role in the structure of your society or culture. If the place your cultural group is located forces them to be hunters and gatherers, then the society may develop as a male-dominant society because, usually, the men tend to be the ones hunting and providing for the women and children.
If the infrastructure of the location has allowed the society to develop into more of a farming and trading setup, things might be more even because women (unless government or family structure dictates otherwise) are capable of doing various jobs or working alongside the men. They aren’t as reliant upon their guy to provide. It doesn’t mean that they won’t. It just means that things will probably be more even with the two parties acting as partners instead of one dictating everything.
Lots of other things can affect the way your societal structure develops here, but location and what is available to shape the people’s way of life will have some influence on this as well.
Location’s Role in Dress and Daily Life
The way location plays a role in these is probably more obvious. If your environment is a steamy jungle, you’re not going to dress like an Eskimo. The reverse is also true. No one in an arctic environment is going to go out wearing a loincloth or cotton shift. It just doesn’t end well. So where the society is located will dictate how they dress.
It also dictates daily life. As I mentioned above, some societies might be set-up for hunting and gathering while others may be focused on trade and agriculture. These two ways of life are very different and result in very different average days for the people living those lives. Knowing what type of location you have and what impact it makes on lifestyle is extremely important because it’s going to determine a lot about a character coming out of that culture.
Location’s Role in Shaping Characters
This one very directly relates to your story. The skill sets of your characters will depend to a large degree upon where they live. If they’ve never lived anywhere with snow or ice, they’re probably not going to know how to ski or how one might go about tracking in the snow. On the flip side, someone who never lived in a jungle environment wouldn’t know how to gather food, figure out what plants were edible or poisonous, or find clean water.
Not only that, since location shapes the culture they grow up with, the things they’re taught and what they feel is appropriate or inappropriate will vary accordingly.
Characters from temperate or cold zones might look as a character who dresses in nearly see-through cotton dresses as being either crazy or scandalous because they would never wear anything like that, even inside out of the cold. The character from the warmer climates would look at the character from a cold zone and think the same thing about some of their traditions and manners.
This is something that’s important to consider as you’re building the society. Make note of places where cultures will differ and might clash. By taking these notes now as you build the necessary cultures or societies, you’ll lessen your work later when you build characters from those places. You’ll already know what basic things they should think are right and wrong, strange or normal, and crazy or sane just based on the culture they’re from.
Location’s Effect on Infrastructure
This is another place where location has a big impact. Living in a zone prone to tornadoes will necessitate infrastructure that is much different from a society that deals with sandstorms.
The main thing to think about here is what the location’s climate is like and what kind of weather might be endured. From there, determine what kinds of features the buildings and structures of the society might have developed to deal with this.
Places that endure terrible storms might end up building houses that are squat and low with slanted rooftops to help with wind-resistance. But a place that deals with constant flooding might build their houses up on stilts to keep the lower levels from being flooded every time it rains.
These are just a few ways that infrastructure might be adapted for location. Take time to figure out what your societies’ infrastructures need to look like for their locations.
Conclusion
As you can see, location impacts a great deal about the society you end up building there. Considering these factors will help you to avoid inconsistency or lack of believability later on in your story.
Do you have other thoughts on how location can affect the societies built there? If so, feel free to share those in the comments!