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Hey Saxon Scribes, as someone who never follows politics, I feel sheepish writing this, but I’ve learned a few things through experience and I wanted to leave you with a challenge.

Few things define a society like its government. Yet, for those of you like me who aren’t familiar with the ins and outs of politics, this can be unnatural territory. I would urge you to try.

Governments can impact every area of daily life. Are the road well cared for? Do you have to get approval before hosting a public meeting? What political issues are the gossips humming about?

Governments can also impact the plot. In many novels, the protagonist has noble blood, giving them a role in the government. Governments can arrest characters. They can start wars.

With all this, it’s important to have at least a basic grip on how your government(s) work. Here are a few questions to ask yourself:

1. What type of government is this? Empire, confederacy, city-state, republic, communist, etc?
2. How does the geography of the country and its natural resources affect the government, whether how it is run or what its policies are?
3. How are the local, regional, and national governments different and how do they work together?
4. How do the prominent national worldviews affect the government?
5. What are the major political parties in the country?

With that, I’d love to hear anything you’ve learned about developing governments for your story worlds.

I have a challenge for you. Come up with one new idea for how the government impacts normal life in your story world.

@ethryndal @corissa @raemarie @bama-rose @kate @r-m-archer @literatureforthelight @j-parkhurst @gabbyj @cassandraia @chalice @noahlitle @julianne @germaine-han @sesi @r-j-karas @rosemarylouise @msqueen8 @timothy-gullett @eden-anderson