Worlds are comprised of plants, animals, and geology. But if intelligent life forms live in that world, societies will also exist.

We humans are tribal. We prefer an overarching power structure leading us because someone has to be the leader. We call that power structure a government.

As a society, the habits we develop, the gods we worship, the things we create and find beautiful, and the foods we eat are evidence of our culture.

If your society is set in modern suburbia, that culture and those values will affect your characters’ view of their world. You will still have to build that world on paper. But the information and maps are all readily available, perhaps in your own backyard.

But what if you are writing a sci-fi or fantasy novel? You must create the background material to show your world logically and without contradictions.

• Authors must know how society…