Welcome to week two of NaNoWriMo world building prep! This week, we're going to be talking about the idea of people in your world. Now, I am not talking about your main, major, or even minor characters. When we talk about people in the gaze of world building, we're talking about the average Joe or Jane that is walking about. They're not special, they're background, but they are just as important that you know about them. Without them, your main, major, and even minor characters will have a very limited group of who to speak with.
Just like last week, there will be ways to break it down into real world, Earth AU, and second world. There's an entire part of this world building that deals with mages and magic, which is very much Earth AU and second world, because, depending on who you speak to, the magic of this world is very limited in what it can do. Or what it's called, which we will not get into, but I will lightly touch on this when we get to that part of this week.
Now, people are just one half of this equation. We're also going to be talking about the customs that people use in their daily and not-daily lives. For the real world and Earth AU people, this would be something like how does your community deal with Christmas? Is Christmas celebrated? If not, what holidays are celebrated and are there any pockets of the world that try to celebrate Christmas? Now that's a very watered down version of the questions that the world building gets into but it's more to give you an idea of what to expect. Maybe there's another new holiday that everyone celebrates with glee that is more important but this is part of what you should be thinking about.
The second world people can do the same thing, but you need to take into the aspect of why. To take the example of Christmas, that's a tradition rooted in different parts of the world, with different customs, but basically celebrated within the same month / week / day. If you create something like that, then you need the background to back it up. I can go to the history of Christmas and know that it has roots in both Christianity and Paganism. Sometimes you're going to need the deep roots and with others, a simple "it was created in the honor of X hero" will be best. You need to make sure that you pick your battles with world building and customs / holidays, just like you do in writing with showing us the story that's in your head.
The reason why I brought up Christmas as an example is that, I know, for me, that's it's still celebrate in 2050. I even have a main / major character who is a C&E Catholic, meaning he's lapsed and only goes to Christmas midnight mass and the Easter mass. However, a reader who knows what that means with no explanation or perhaps a lapsed Catholic as well, can recognize that and possibly want to read more. It goes back to the little things in novels that make it something readers want to read and don't think about it while we do all the time.
In the end, people make your novel and their traditions and culture make the people. I hope this helps with making you think about the nitty gritty of your novel. Until next time, keep on plotting (and writing)!
Helpful Exercise: People and Customs from Patricia C. Wrede. If you're second world building and even thinking about magic, here's magic and magicians for another exercise if/when you have the time.
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