Race VS Culture

@godlyfantasy12

HMMMM

I think I understand what you’re saying but I’m not exactly sure so bear with me. XD

Sooo…

Do you know the scientific naming classification (can’t think of the name) we have in real life for creatures? That might help some.
Other than that I’d say like within the species of shifters there would be sub-groups for what animals they shift into, right?

Culture is culture, regardless of who takes part in it. Probably cultures would differ slightly between different types of shifters (housing, especially for the animal forms). Probably communication.

That’s all I can think of right now.

Hope that helps!

I’d say, concerning the Shifters, just have ‘Shifter’ be the race, and consider the different animals they shift into as subspecies.

Subspecies: “A category in biological classification that ranks just below a species and includes a physically recognizable and geographically separate group of individuals whose members can breed successfully with members of other subspecies of the same species where their ranges overlap”

– Merriam Webster

And therefore, each subspecies can have their own subculture.

Subculture – “An ethnic, regional, economic, or social group exhibiting characteristic patterns of behavior sufficient to distinguish it from others within an embracing culture or society.”

– Merriam Webster

So basically, if you are having problems with the hierarchy of races and cultures, just slap on a ‘super’ or a ‘sub’ as a prefix and call it a day. ‘Super’ means over, while ‘sub’ means under. ‘Super’ isn’t really used in biology, but if it helps you see the big picture, you could use it.

And 100% create a culture for every species, whether big or small. But don’t work yourself into a burn-out by adding too much. Unless you’re going to be writing about a specific species a lot (like that faerie type that Paxton belongs under), you won’t need to know absolutely everything about them.

Brandon Sanderson says it like this: ‘Write your world-building like an iceberg. A hollow iceberg.’ As long as you give the illusion of knowing EvErYtHinG, your readers will think you know EvErYtHinG. But you don’t actually NEED to know EvErYtHinG. Just know enough.

@godlyfantasy12

Great question!

I definitely agree that race is more outward appearance, but culture is the way of life of a certain group of people.

I see your problem concerning classifying Shifters and such. 🤔 I would say to put them in both. The Wolf Shifters would be their own culture and their own race. But they still are in the race of Shifters. Take America for example. America is a diverse country. There is the American race and the American culture, but in America, there are many different races and cultures as well.

You may have more than one culture or race, but all under one main culture or race.

Does that make sense? I think I’m kind of piggybacking off of what @whalekeeper and @thearcaneaxiom said.

@freedomwriter76

I don’t worldbuild. 😂😂😂

This is one reason why I write historical fiction…because I don’t have patience for worldbuilding. 😬😂❤️

So, you’re not entirely wrong, but I wanted to point something out that I learned from a writing book called Dear Ally. No matter what genre you write in, you still worldbuild nonetheless. It’s just on a much smaller scale. While Riker and Leon live during an era that did exist and already happened, you are still crafting their world. Does that make sense? I’m pretty sure that’s similar to how she put it in the book. (But I’m not entirely sure 😅)

I’m not trying to like call you out or anything. Just wanted to share that cuz I thought it was interesting. 😀