For a while now, I've been creating an African-inspired world and recently, I've thought about making changes to it, such as changing the name of it. The name is Nyika, which is the Shona word for "the world," but that doesn't suit well for me and is not impressive enough. The African world I'm trying to create borrows from the cultures of West Africa and the ancient Nok peoples and the ancient civilization of Ife. However, I'm stumped on creating a creation myth for the story and as well as the capital for this land, and I originally wanted it to be named after Zamunda, but Coming to America already has that since I wanted to honor the franchise with a similar-sounding name to that. Culture, I'm struggling with that, and Africa is known to be a diverse one and the oldest up to date. My African-inspired world trades with other nations and remains a strong one with the Kingdom of Azurite. Similar to that of Azurite, it is a constitutional monarchy with the current one being traditionally descendants from the first Queen herself, but they don't intermarry and it is a big taboo in general. Arranged marriages are common in the noble family, who want to keep the royal family alive, but outside marriages have been common as well, but often frowned open. That's what I've come up with regarding culture and a bit of the world's history. Some of this world is also inspired by Somalia, Uganda, Angola, Nambia, and Zambia. What else I can put together for this world?
@vintage_fairy, I don't want to come off as mini-modding or just a plain old asshole, but let me remind you that you have been creating a lot of discussions centered on your own personal projects since you joined. There are two points that made me uncomfortable about this: 1. We are not supposed to do your writing for you. Asking for inputs and suggestions from others are fine, but nine threads over three months seems a bit much. Please do your own research and homework. 2. I know you're excited to share your progress and that enthusiasm naturally drives your participation in this forum and I'm happy for that. I've been there, as well (still is, but I think older age has mellowed my willingness to share). For that, I invite you to share your progress on the Progress Journals forum. I'm sorry if my post sounds combative. It could be that I'm the only one who felt this way, after all, but at least I've said my piece. Happy writing!
I'm so sorry about this. I guess I've gotten carried away a bit there and it's okay. You're not being combative at all.
I agree with Travalgar's point that "what can I write about" can only be a question for the OP. It might be worth the OP going into some detail to check for any sensitivity points. These occurred to me from the description just as potential ones:- - is this treating Africa as monolithic? e.g. when Namibia and Somalia are on opposite sides of the continent. And "Africa is known to be a diverse one" - is the interest in customs around intermarriage, and arranged marriages, and inheritance of titles potentially problematic? (I don't recall this being a feature of the OP's other posts about Euro-American gem kingdoms) - "trades with other nations and remains a strong one" as if that's surprising. And does "trades with" carry a hint of patronization? As in when one "trades with the natives". - how come the African kingdom gets associated back in time to the 7th-Century BC Nok, but the Euro-American gem kingdom isn't likewise associated back to (e.g.) the Beaker people?
Research, research, research. A while ago, i wanted to write a short story about Lake Victoria that shares its shores with Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya. I did A LOT of research on the different ethnicities and languages and myths from the Lake Victoria region. I had an entire physical folder of notes. No one else can do the research for you because you're the only one who knows what you are looking for. Also, keep in mind that, because you've found countries you are inspired by, those countries have various ethnicities and tribes with different customs. For example, in my research into Uganda, there are over 13 MAJOR ethnic groups of various religions and dialects. The groups around the shores of Lake Victoria (Buganda and Busoga) are different, for example, than the groups that border S.Sudan (Acholi and Karamoja). While these groups are in Uganda, they are very different... The Acholi people are a part of the Luo nation and are primarily catholics and the Baganda are Bantu and practice traditional religion and Islam (amongst others) (You can see where you'd need to do some serious research...) In my opinion, thats the fun of worldbuilding.... Reading, learning, and creating something new Also, i recommend reading Parallel Myths by JF Bierlein. Its a book of similar myths from religions and traditions in a multitude of cultures. The creations myths are VERY interesting and something you could draw inspiration from. I created a creation myth for my WIP after reading this book.
We don't generally do this publicly but you started it - i must have missed the bit where we added you to the mod team...If you have to start a post by acknowledging that you're going to sound like a pseudo mod and/or an asshole...its probably a good hint not to say it at all You reported the "issue," we ignored the report because nine threads over three months is nothing... its not then appropriate for you to start telling another member what to do. Vintage fairy - you've done nothing wrong here, please feel free to continue to start threads about your project in the appropriate forums, and also to participate in threads started by other people. People discussing their projects and how they work and getting others ideas is what keeps a writing forum alive.
I'm not familiar with African culture all too much, but here's some interesting details you could think about: Voodoo has always been a fascinating element whenever I've come across it. The mythos and rituals are pretty cool. Dancing is very important to most African culture that I've noticed. It's a very communal thing. People who immigrate from Africa have a strange sense of being on time. They can be predisposed towards turning up late. This feels a bit racist stereotyping, but it's just a generalised sense of the people I've worked with and it's not supposed to be offensive. Just an observation and I think it has to be something to do with the cultural norms: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_time Similar to countries which have siesta being normal because it's too hot to do work at the mid day heat. Another thing is that African culture is not monolithic. People don't readily see themselves as African but more as the country they originate, which is fair because there are vast cultural differences as well.
