How to develop believable countries?

So, here's the problem. I'm writing a story where I need a lot of world building, but every time I try to develop a country it just seems fake. What do I need to think of to make sure these countries are something other than land?

 

What is it exactly that makes them seem fake to you? Could you give an example?

This is a really broad question. Believable countries have geography, history, cultures, languages, religions, and governments. If you could narrow it down to areas where you're having trouble maybe we can help you, or if it's more of an "I don't know where to start" issue, point you toward some worldbuilding 101 resources.

 

Perhaps this is a typical answer you don't want but when I develop countries there's two ways I do them.
1) I consider the country itself an entity and fill in every background detail I can so that way when it comes time to write the information feels natural when put on the page. I know this can be overwhelming, but I find it fun for the most part.
2) If that isn't your thing, you can reference countries that exist or make it seem very similar to one that already exists and then only point out the details where it's different.
Best of luck!

 

To me, this is such an interesting thread, because creating fictional countries is so inteestesting. Whereas my characters and their relations always feel painfully fake.

If start by considering their culture-geography, it’s difficult to say which comes first, but ultimately they do influence each other, so you need to consider them simultaneously. For instance, do these people live in extreme climate? That breeds tough people and harsh societies. Are they secluded by terrain or surrounded by other friendly or hostile nations? That will influence how warlike the general non military population is. How well connected is their land on a logistical level? That will mean different types of government and the degree of corruption.

It really never ends. You could keep adding depth.

 

My answer - don't try too hard.

Often countries are developed by writers that rely on some sort of gimmick that is either completely illogical, or just feels natural. Just be ordinary. Come up with some new ideas, breathe you own personal touch based on countries that exist - or have existed. Because those countries were built on systems, societies and cultures that were successful (or successful for a time, at least - which may be relevant if you are planning to highlight instability!)

But the main thing is not going crazy with trying to be innovative for the sake of being innovative.

Study our own history - whatever takes your interest - and use that as the catalyst for new ideas.

 

I'd recommend to find some kind of real-life country and use it as a base model with some changes according to the needs of your story.

 

Yeah, I agree with this.

Most people are ordinary, so you have the concerns of the common people. Then you have the form of government, which will largely reflect the values or at least the circumstances of the people who live in that society. You have the religion, but real religions get tied up in validating cultural norms, which is why they change so much from place to place, so it still comes back to what the people are like.

 

Would making a map of the country help to visualize the area where the people reside. Just a thought...

 

It is more important of what it seems, since a lot of the needs and the stances of a country to make itself believable are determined by its geographic localization... And from that you can write tons of info and backgrounding.

 

Really, you just need the outline and basics to start with. When the characters are involved in the country or with its people, their experiences and understanding will make it 'real'.

 

It also depends on what kind of a 'country' you want to create and develop. What kind of a setting is in question? Is it a medievalesque world? If you're creating a kingdom, for example, I'd recommend you to start by outlining its history, social structure, type of government, cultural peculiarities, etc.

Don't be too ambitious, let the country you're creating come alive through the eyes of your characters, and most importantly, the information you include should always be relevant to the story, so that the reader will not feel you are flooding him with data he doesn't really care about.

 

My main warning would be: Don't make them a Nation Of Hats.

The original term is 'Planet of Hats', because sci-fi writers are the worst offenders, but it can happen anywhere. Let's take Bothans from Star Wars as our example; During the briefing about the Endor raid Mon Mothma mentions that getting the information they needed cost the lives of 'many Bothans'.

Fair enough.

Now, writers for the Expanded Universe (the novels, comics etc.) somehow interpreted this as meaning that, rather than the installation from where the information was stolen being on a planet chiefly inhabited by Bothans, the entire Bothan species was somehow a race of spies, well-known for their knack for espionage. Quite apart from the inherent silliness of anyone who is known for spying being let anywhere near a position where they could get access to sensitive data, they took one line of dialogue and turned an entire culture into a one dimensional cardboard cut-out.

Another example from popular culture is the common perception of the Norse, who have been made in to a Culture of Dubiously Horned Hats. 'Viking' is pretty much their word for 'pirate' and not all of them were that, how could they be?

A civilisation cannot arise and survive one the efforts of one occupation alone, not farmers, not soldiers, not priests. There might well be a dominant group, but don't make everyone we meet from that country one of them. Presumably there must be Bothan schoolteachers and Klingon firemen, just as there were Norse merchants and craftsmen?

Of course the people from a country are likely to share certain beliefs or values- that's why it's a country and any country where that isn't true will eventually fragment with varying degrees of violence depending on the nature of the disagreement- but they don't all have to express them the same way or even at all and some might disagree quite fervently with some of the beliefs of their fellows.