Painting Away The Pain

(a worldbuilding roast. with love.)

So. You’re building a fantasy world, and you’ve just invented: → Three types of ceremonial jewelry → A spice that tastes like cinnamon if it were bitter and cursed → A holiday where everyone wears gold and screams at dawn

Cute. But that’s not culture. That’s aesthetics.

And if your worldbuilding is all outfits, dances, and spice blends with vaguely mystical names, your story’s probably going to feel like a cosplay convention held inside a Pinterest board.

Here’s how to fix that—aka: how to build a real, functioning culture that shapes your story, not just its vibes.

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🔗 Culture Is Built on Power, Not Just Style

Ask yourself: → Who’s in charge, and why? → Who has land? Who doesn’t? → What’s considered taboo, sacred, or punishable by death?

Culture is shaped by who gets to make the rules and who gets crushed by them. That’s where things like religion, family structure, class divisions, gender roles, and social expectations actually come from.

Start there. Not at the embroidery.

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2.🪓 Culture Comes From Conflict

Did this society evolve peacefully? Was it colonized? Did it colonize? Was it rebuilt after a war? Is it still in one?

→ What was destroyed and mythologized? → What do the survivors still whisper about? → What do children get taught in school that’s… suspiciously sanitized?

No culture is neutral. Every tradition has a history, and that history should taste like blood, loss, or propaganda.

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3.🧠 Belief Systems > Customs Lists

Sure, rituals and holidays are cool. But what do people believe about: → Death? → Love? → Time? → The natural world? → Justice?

Example: A society that believes time is cyclical vs. one that sees time as linear will approach everything—from prison sentences to grief—completely differently.

You don’t need to invent 80 gods. You need to know what those gods mean to the people who pray to them.

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4.🫀 Culture Controls Behavior (Quietly)

Culture shows up in: → What people apologize for → What insults cut deepest → What people are embarrassed about → What’s praised publicly vs. what’s hidden privately

For instance: → A culture obsessed with stoicism won’t say “I love you.” They’ll say “Have you eaten?” → A culture built on legacy might prioritize ancestor veneration, archival writing, name inheritance.

This stuff? Way more immersive than giving everyone matching earrings.

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5. 🏠 Culture = Daily Life, Not Just Festivals

Sure, your MC might attend a funeral where people paint their faces blue. But what about: → Breakfast routines? → How people greet each other on the street? → Who cooks, and who eats first? → What’s considered “clean” or “proper”? → How is parenting handled? Divorce?

Culture is what happens between plot points. It should shape your character’s assumptions, language, fears, and habits—whether or not a festival is going on.

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6. 💬 Let Your Characters Disagree With Their Own Culture

A culture isn’t a monolith.

Even in deeply traditional societies, people: → Rebel → Question → Break rules → Misinterpret laws → Mock sacred things → Act hypocritically → Weaponize or resist what’s expected

Let your characters wrestle with the culture around them. That’s where realism (and tension) lives.

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7.🧼 Beware the “Pretty = Good” Trap

Worldbuilding gets boring fast when: → The protagonist’s homeland is beautiful and pure → The enemy’s culture is dark and “barbaric” → Every detail just reinforces who the reader should like

You can—and should—challenge the aesthetic hierarchy. → Let ugly things be beloved. → Let beautiful things be corrupt. → Let your MC romanticize their culture and then get disillusioned by it later.

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📍 TL;DR (but like, spicy): → Culture is not food and jewelry. → Culture is power, fear, memory, contradiction. → Stop inventing spices until you know who starved last winter. → Let your world feel lived in, not curated.

The best cultural worldbuilding doesn’t look like a list. It feels like a system. A pressure. A presence your characters can’t escape—even if they try.

Now go. Build something real. (You can add spices later.)

—rin t. // writing advice for worldbuilders with rage and range // thewriteadviceforwriters

Sometimes the problem isn’t your plot. It’s your first 5 pages. Fix it here → 🖤 Free eBook: 5 Opening Pages Mistakes to Stop Making:

🕯️ download the pack & write something cursed:

I'm sorry at all fanfic writers. It's official in stone all loyal space marines are aro/ace. Except space Wolves apparently but then again they tend to drift from the norm.

Here are 10 actionable storytelling tips for writers to get to know their characters better:

1. Create Detailed Character Profiles:

Write out a comprehensive profile for each character, including their background, personality traits, physical appearance, and quirks. This helps to flesh out their individuality and makes them more real to you.

2. Conduct Character Interviews:

Write out a list of interview questions and answer them from the perspective of your character. This can include questions about their past, desires, fears, and daily life.

3. Write Backstory Scenes:

Develop scenes from your character’s past that might not appear in the main story but inform their motivations and behavior. This can include significant childhood events, first loves, or pivotal moments.

4. Develop Character Arcs:

Plan out your character’s development throughout the story. Consider how they change from beginning to end and what events catalyze their growth or decline.

5. Explore Relationships:

Write scenes or dialogues focusing on your character’s interactions with others. This can reveal how they relate to different personalities and social dynamics.

6. Utilize Character Diaries:

Have your character keep a diary or journal. Writing entries from their perspective can provide deep insights into their inner thoughts and feelings.

7. Engage in Role-Playing:

Spend time role-playing as your character. Respond to hypothetical situations or daily routines as they would, helping you understand their decision-making process and emotional responses.

8. Write Monologues:

Create monologues where your character speaks directly about their dreams, struggles, and philosophies. This can help clarify their voice and mindset.

9. Build a Character Playlist:

Compile a playlist of songs that resonate with your character’s personality, story arc, or current emotions. Music can evoke a deeper understanding of their internal world.

10. Use Character Maps:

Create visual maps that chart your character’s relationships, key life events, and emotional highs and lows. This can help you see patterns and connections in their story.

These tips can help you delve deeper into your characters' psyche, making them more vivid and relatable in your writing.

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Why don't those who want this thing make their own IP ?

And obviously the fans seem to love it too, it all sold out:

40k has always had "our politics" in it, because it was fucking made by anti-Thatcherites in the 1980s. The game is the product of anti-authoritarian, mostly leftist hobbyists, in the golden age of punk.

FemStodes could have been in the books from the start, and when it came time to write some new books for them to support their launch as a new army in 40k and 30k, the fucking in-house writers at Black Library WANTED to add FemStodes but were told "NO" by the marketing executives just because the kits didn't come with female heads. But that was it. It's not that they never existed until now, it's that they COULD NOT WRITE ABOUT THEM FOR PRODUCTION REASONS.

But like, seeing the outrage over female Custodes. I'm urging, no begging, GW to release them.

I want every crying, “lore expert” who never read a single book, but just binged some loretuber who read straight off a wiki that never held canon info in the first place, (man im heavily dyslexic and I have no spare time to speak off, but even I at least get the audiobooks), I want these dudes to just burn their armies in rage. (and leave the hobby, dont forgett that very important part)

“Dont make Warhammer political”, get the fuck out of here. 40k was created by a bunch of nerds so angry at Margaret Thatcher they created a satire so heavily influenced by Monthy Python that I'm convinced John Cleese got paid off in cool minis to keep him from suing them.

Warhammer didnt go woke, it was always made by the left. We look at the older stuff and forget that it was created in a different(worse) time, and they have consistently tried to do better.

Look at old Forum posts about Graham McNeill. “Wäääh, why is he always writing about women, communist cuck McNeill” (not those exact words but general sentiment)

Like, I give McNeill so much shit today for how all women he writes about face horrible fates (but to be fair, what men doesn't have a terrible fate too). But I have even forgotten that some of this stuff is about 25 years old.

Seeing Warhammers official page block people who acts out in the comments about this, seeing them double down on the fact thar Custodes can have any gender. Seeing authors of the franchise, new and old back all of this. Im feeling Vindicated.

Gods, I wish this is the last straw for the alt-rights too stupid to realise they are being satirized.

And in the famous words of Games Workshop:

I have many WIPs but decided to focus on one for the "write a novel in a year" plan. January went by fine but February is giving a little bit more trouble. Is there any way to break it down to make the character, world and setting development easier?

We've got some great templates that can help available in the Reading Room! Here are some links to the articles and accompanying downloadables:

And if you need some more general breakdowns, here are some without templates: