From Eika on June 24, 2009 at 8:08 pm.  

Guilds and Associations. What's right with them? What's wrong with them? I don't know.

Since I'm writing in a world of thousands of species, why do I focus only on three or four, and use generic stereotypes to 'cast' the ones from other species I put in? Since there aren't nationalities, am I right to use different species as a way to separate culture, even if they live side by side and in constant close contact?

If it's a traditional guild, how do they decide who leads? Do people have to be grandfathered in, can they get in by nomination, or can anyone just walk in? Storytellers are an elite group, different from Weavers and more important to royalty; how will their customs and positions differ? Should their general group make-up differ?

I've been struggling with a lot of these questions, at least partly because the more I have to delve into these in my story, the more I become terrified they all sound exactly the same... or worse, that all Elves will eternally be stuck-up and all Centaurs endlessly patient.