Worldbuilding is about building both the hardware and software that supports a story. Culture is the software. How we interact with the hardware, how we view it and use it, and what kind of subcultures grow up around different views and uses, those are the kinds of cultures we want to explore.

Today’s Story Studio guest, Vered Ehsani, who was raised in Canda and now lives in Kenya, believes that we all need to get out of our own cultural ghettos and explore beyond what we know. Even in what appears to be a homogenous culture, there are always off-shoots and subcultures. Pretending cultural differences don’t exist feels flat and disingenuous. Include cultures beyond your own in your stories, not as a token or a political gesture, but because it reflects how vast and multitudinous the world genuinely is. It will make your story world richer, more authentic, and believable.

Go to sterlingandstone.net/stonetable to sign up to learn more about Vered’s forthcoming book, Creating Culture, and other nonfiction books.