Creating a fantasy land

[hellborn]

I dont know how usefull you will find this but when i write fantasy i come up with the basic concept and then i draw a map of the land its set in, i lable towns and villages even the ones i may never use in my story and i lable places of intrest such as ruined castles and magical areas.

I find the map helps me to make the universe more real and gives me places to mention in passing to give the story more realism.

Give it ago and letme know what you think

[cornelius]

I have made a map myself ( can't post it, as mentioned in other threads). It's good to make several vrsions, and to write a short story around all the main villages. I 've included some of the info in my extracts (http://www.chronicles-network.com/fo...ght=chronicles ), they might a help you out a bit, a later version of my maps might help you more, but I'm still working on it

[dwndrgn]

I think this is a fantastic idea, and quite a few published authors I've read could benefit from this to avoid problems in the flow of the story. Let's do some practice. Obviously we can't actually build a map here online, but we can create a mental picture.

Here's what we need:
1. A world: someone needs to come up with a basic world-building premise with information such as; pre- or post-industrial, mythology based, something to work from.
2. Once we have the basic premise, we all will create a short description of a town/city in that world - giving important information like religion (each town can be as different from the others as we want, as long as we all follow the basic premise), areas (poor, rich, religious, mercantile, etc.), types of people and such.
3. Give physical descriptions - based at the bottom of a mountain range, on a river, in the midst of a barren plain...

Ok kids, you have your assignment - run with it!

[Teresa Edgerton]

Usually, I make a map very early on, if not the very first thing. It's not just a matter of figuring out where your characters are at any given time, it's also a matter of working out your geography so that you know what the climate and the landscape is like from place to place, and from there go on to develop the various cultures, etc. I think it was Tad Williams who once said, "Geography is destiny."


And the map doesn't have to be pretty enough for publication. So long as it's clear enough and detailed enough to help keep track of things -- and to stimulate ideas (maps are very good for that), it serves its purpose.

I've led a few workshops on world-building, and one of the first things I do is get everyone to participate in making a map. Then I start asking questions about what it all means. Where should we put our cities? What kind of society would develop here in the desert? What are the consequences of living in that little land-locked country over there? The answers to all these questions provoke further questions. Pretty soon, we're discussing things that no one in the group has thought about before.

[Prefx]

When trying to get published, does one send a map in with the manuscript or not?

I start out drawing the basics of the map, plotting the places I do know about and shading in some of the terrain. Over time I add in the details that might pop up (such as names, lakes, rivers, and so forth).

[I, Brian]

Personally I think a map is invaluable - not least because it allows for the introduction of realistic detail to the story that could easily be missed without it.

[Teresa Edgerton]

Originally Posted by Prefx

When trying to get published, does one send a map in with the manuscript or not?

When submitting a complete manuscript you could, I suppose, as part of the back matter. Although it's the words that will sell your story, and an editor might not want something extra to keep track of before the book goes into production.

Anyway, I suspect an experienced fantasy editor can tell if you've done your homework to that extent or not, whether or not he/she actually sees the map.

[cornelius]

I'll include it like LOTR and the Bible, in the back. I also want to make an encyclopedia with loads of extra info, sketches, maps and all...
Jeez, I'll know what to do the next fifty years...

[sanityassassin]

I think a map would be invaluable to make sure there is no major mistakes in the plot like sending the charecters in one direction with there destination lying in the other.

I would like more maps in books it helps give a sense of scale and helps understanding as long as they are not overlly complex

[cornelius]

tryed to post the first draft, failed. I officialy declare a war to my scanner...

[littlemissattitude]

Heh heh. This is why I prefer to set even fantasy in the real, contemporary world. The maps already exist, so that I don't have to make them.

Seriously, I do like to have an idea where my characters will be at all times (probably part of my OCD), and I attempt to set anything on this planet in landscapes that already exist, and I feel that it is important to get the geography correct if I do this. Other writers have done this, some very successfully (Tim Powers, for one) and others not so successfully (Clive Barker, who desecrated the place I grew up by using it in a novel and then screwing up the geography). In light of this, perhaps it is wiser to set stories in an invented world, but it's something I simply don't like to do.

But, yeah, maps are a good idea, I think.

[Teresa Edgerton]

But making the maps is fun. Particularly now that it can be done (and undone, and redone) so easily (and attractively) with a good drawing or mapping program.

[littlemissattitude]

I've no doubt that it is fun, Kelpie. I'll have to give it a try sometime. I used to make maps all the time when I was a kid, but they were always of places in the real world. And goodness knows my dad instilled a love of maps in me when I was young. Sometimes he'd get out the world atlas (we had a really good Britannica atlas that came with our encyclopedia set) and we'd spend a couple of hours just playing with the maps.

[Teresa Edgerton]

Yes, well, perhaps I should have mentioned, as one obsessive/compulsive personality to another, that making up maps of imaginary places can also be addictive.

[cornelius]

making a map is great, I made several copies , and I must say I am getting the hang of it. I kinda won and lost the war against the scanner, I could scan them, but can't put the fyles on notebook to send them to this forum