7 Suggestions for Mapping Your Fictional World

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7 Suggestions for Mapping Your Fictional World

Anybody Can Write a Novel

Chapter 1 “World-building” – Section 3 “World Mapping”

With Links to Supplementary Material

So you now know what sort of Story you want to create, and have written a Timeline for the History of your world. Now, you must decide what parts of that created world you want to use. This step can be as specific or general as you would like—from creating a cartographic masterpiece, to sketching a doodle in progress. But either way, I've got some suggestions that should help with the process.

Suggestion 1: Create an appropriate map for the type of story you are creating.

Whether the entirety of your story takes place in multiple galaxies, or inside one building, you will need to have a reference so that you know where your characters are at all times, give them a reasonable amount of time for travel, and maintain uniformity in your story. Doing so provides visible artistry and precision to your writing. Create a sketch of all the maps your characters will travel through. If you're using Earth or Alternate Earth, this can be as simple as printing a map from the internet.

Suggestion 2: Use your map as an extension of your plot outline, and use a pencil.

Perhaps you are working on a plot outline (which we will be looking at soon), or perhaps you already have a draft and are editing it for publishable quality. Either way, you will want to use your map and mark the path of the characters, as well as to annotate which chapters happen at which part of the map. Doing so will improve the pacing of the story (so that you don't spend a chapter going 5 miles, and then the next three chapters going a quarter mile, without reasonable cause), create a sense of newness in each chapter, and help you to keep your characters mobile. I advise using a pencil because these boundaries are very subject to change as different obstacles show up in the story. Meaning, you will need that eraser.

Suggestion 3: Note the natural environment of the World, as the characters traverse it.

Be sure to write down the physical factors that will affect traveling through your mapped area. What season is the story taking place in? Is there rain? Are there animals that will get in the way? Sources of food? Asteroids? A locked door? Is the world hot or cold? Think of and mark every physical factor that your character will notice, especially those that will serve as an obstacle.

Suggestion 4: Address the question of language/dialect/culture in travel.

Too often, I see bad sci-fi and fantasy, where every group of people has the same culture. And if they don't, they have the same way of speaking. And if they don't, they all speak the same language. Remember that if you want to be taken seriously as a writer, you must use your Timeline and figure out how many cultures one could realistically expect to come across, or give a reasonable explanation for why they wouldn't.

Suggestion 5: Be subtle in your exposition of your World Mapping.

Remember that a story is told through the eyes of the Point-of-View (POV) character. And that character will only note oddities and mapping details if they are of particular interest. Also, you don't want to overload your audience with the tedium of what it took to write the book. Be kind to your readers and either provide a map and/or concrete details of interest that are believable, and general ideas of space and time. For example, I will less likely to accept that the main character walked 12.4 miles, than if you tell me that the character felt like they'd walked 20, but they thought it was probably more like fifteen. Of course, if your character is for some reason obsessed with precision, I could certainly believe exact details given in that context.

Suggestion 6: Use a World Creation Sheet

I have found the most expansive World Creation Sheet that I was able (though you all may have better ones and should feel free to share them in the comments). Look at it, and fill in as many applicable answers to the questions as possible. People have put a lot of thought into this art, and have given us all the tools we need to help avoid as many plot-holes as possible. This will serve as the final piece of your World Map. (For more reasons to use one, feel free to visit my other Article on the Topic.)

Suggestion 7: Fill in as much as you can, but be open to editing.

Remember, nothing you write out is set in stone. In my experience, most of the final details of my Mapping and World Design came after my first draft. So be open about playing with your maps, and changing things so that they can best serve the story.

Feel free to share links to images of your own maps in the comment section.

I hope this article in my chapter on “World-building” is helpful in defining what kind of story you want to create. Next time, I will be focusing on creating an outline for your story. Please let me know if you have any relevant questions on the topic of “World-building” or anything you would like me to address.

Feel free to comment with other suggested resources. Any questions about writing? Things you want me to discuss? Comment or send me a message and I will be glad to reply or feature my response in a later article. If you enjoy my reviews, please feel free to share my articles with friends, add it to your favorites, become a watcher on my page, or send send a llama my way!

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