World Building means making a map
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| Rough Map for AFT |
It wasn't long into plotting out the basic story, and writing the first few pages, that I realized I needed to make a map. Not just for readers, but for me!
Creating a new world is fun, but it takes a lot of mental energy to both create it and then keep it straight (where was that mountain range again?)
I had made a general plan on where the story was going and I had three or four different locations where key events would happen - I had them going through a mountain, pulling a jail break at a rogue Castle, meeting the Council of Wizards...all of these things happened in different locations as they travelled across the land. Easy enough to keep track of, I thought.
We start at the Wizard's manor. We end far south in the hellish land where the evil resides. The Halflings come from the North. The Council is just south of the Manor. The Mountain caves are nearby. Then the Castle and The Capital are near the evil lands. I had a rough vision in my mind...but again, it was like doing mental reps envisioning this made-up land over and over. It would be much easier to sketch out a rough draft as an external reference (save the brain for writing).
Doing this was kind of fun. I've always like maps and making up my own maps, so it wasn't a chore to me. Even though it is very basic it does a great job of showcasing the big picture. Like plotting out the big events in the story. The rough map was like, well, like a real- life map showing me the way from point A to point B. Using it helped me feel a bit more confident that I could get my vision across.
Putting the world on paper was a much needed step that helped me build the world, in all it's nitty-gritty. For instance the Halfling land is fairly close to the Manor, but I had the idea that it would be uncommon for Halflings to be near the Manor. The Manor should be out of the way. To show up there meant the Halflings would have had to overcome a tough journey through mountains or forests...which is why I threw in a mountain range and a forest blocking a direct route to the Manor. I also redirected the main road to angle away from the Manor. These were small details that I had to actually see on paper, before I made a blunder on the page.
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| Writers, get the ideas down on paper! |
The map also pointed out that I hadn't actually named most of my locations. I knew what these places looked like, how the characters were going to get there, what would happen...but I needed some names. The visual of the map might help with writer's block. The name of the Mountain Cave could be a reference to its location - the Neck, or the Squeeze? That's if I can't think of anything else. Again, this map is giving me options. It's helping me move forward.
Do you Draw things out when you write?
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