From the prep calendar notes:
Setting: Cultural Setting
Describe the cultural, political and/or religious setting in your novel, regardless of whether the cultural setting is fictional, historical, or modern.
(1) What do your societies believe?
(2) In what practices do they engage?
(3) What laws or rules of society are in place?
(4) Who/what enforces the laws and rules and how successful are they?
(5) What technologies are in use?
(6) How does the setting impact your protagonist(s) in their pre-story lives?
(7) How does the setting impact the plot of your story?


From a personal experience level, I think it should be pointed out that very few societies are monocultural. Most societies are an amalgam of various cultures and peoples. Going back to ancient Egypt, and they had Nubians fromfurther south along the Nile, peoples from the Mesopotamian region, and, later, Mediterranean peoples all in their society. The people did follow the rules and laws of Egypt, but their religions were their own, and some of these deities were even amalgamated into Egyptian belief. The Greeks were not one country, but a series of city-states filled with people from all over the Mediterranean world. And Rome was such a melting pot that actual Romans were in the minority across their Empire.

So, when world-building, ask why these other peoples came? Trade? A religious centre? Afestival of some sort (think harvest festival)? Joint sporting games? Something else?

The few societies that could be deemed monocultural were either completely isolated city-states, or were based on religions. Theocracies tend towards the tyrannical, where everything is based on the religion, and human experience is not valued.

Also, think about government types. We are used to democracies and monarchies, have seen dictatorships, see one-party systems, but there are many more. The most common other forms of government apart from those mentioned in the past have been plutocracies (rule by the wealthy), triumverates (rule by three powerful people), stratocracies (rule by the military, often with a puppet government in place as well), and kraterocracies (rule by the strongest). There are other government forms - a lot - and some research will give you an idea of what works for you.

Looking through a fantasy lens, it should be remembered that increase in technology leads to a decrease in a reliance on magic. This was a rule of thumb coined by Robert E Howard in the early twentieth century, and it holds. Why get a wizard to fight the monster when you've got a gatling gun?

Also, remember the seven-day working week was not universal. It was based on numerology and one of the Babylonian creation myths, as adopted by the Jewish people. Some cultures based their things on cycles of the moon (very common in the far east) or other arbitrary numbers.

Don't forget festivals and holidays and celebration days. They were normally established around astronomical events - solstices, full moons, etc - and originally had a strong cultural impact on the society, which could well have changed and diminished over time.

Hope that helps someone.