When I was a WL (wee lad) I reveled in the making of fantasy maps. I would make them just for the sake of making them. I would color them in with colored pencils (I only discovered the joy of crayons after I got over myself and became an adult) and would carefully delineate the continental outlines with respect to the plate tectonics ruling the shape of the world I was drawing. Do you make maps? Do you make them for your stories? Do they help you? Why?
I don't draw maps specifically, but I do roughly draw a setting. That way, it becomes way easier to describe it while writing. I feel it's just a lot easier when you have something to look at in front of you. I really like the idea of drawing a map before describing it in your writing.
I draw maps so I can get the traveling sequences between places right. Also, geography has a major impact on how civilizations develop and interact. I find knowing the geography of your world and its effects greatly improve the realism of it all, so maps help again. I've also heard of some people's stories born entirely from doodled maps (David Eddings, for example).
I have drawn a map for the story I'm working on, because it was the easiest way to get the continents clear in my mind, making it easier to describe them.
I'll admit to not being an expert on plate tectonics, but when I draw my maps(this indicates a yes for all qeustions), I do try to hold myself to a certain standard of realism. They are all for stories, though as a conworlder, I include plenty that doesn't affect the specific story. I think they do help me, with organizing plot, keeping background realistic, using proper description, and suggesting alternative routes to the plot goal.
I draw the maps first then plot the path of travel according to the map. I forget the path sometimes if I just try to describe it. Also, I like to write more than one story that takes place on the same continent. Ehh, I guess I just like to draw maps. About the plates, I have thought of it, though I never got around to doing it. The maps I draw are all very big. Why, I have one that is 68" x 66" (172.72cm x 167.64cm) and another I'm currently working on that's 42.5" x 77" (107.95cm x 195.58cm). These two are a part of a whole world map that I'm working on since I'll need a world very soon.
i used to make a lot of maps for dungeons and dragons campaigns. one time i made a map with a friend and we almost came to blows over ownership. that map gained instant historicity.
I used to, when I wrote fantasy. It was great fun. I was always captivated by the maps at the start of the Dragonriders of Pern books. But then, I was a strange child.
I love my brother to death, but I do at times wish I had had a brother like you, Matt. Menolly and her little fire lizards were some of my best friends as a child. I used to pretend that I was destroying Thread in my backyard with a water pistol. :redface:
I need at the very least 'association maps' or diagrams, schematics, or something that tells me what is where (even if not to scale) to tell the truth or the place becomes a blur in my mind. So yes, I really need a map of some sort to get a feel for what is going on.
I'd like to make maps, but I'm so dreadful at it that I can't. The best I can do is just come up with a general idea of things to keep my writing in order. I'm the same way with real maps, I've found; I can follow them with EXACT DIRECTIONS, which I've studied ahead of time, but when it comes to just wandering around, or trying to do things in reverse, or following them spur of the moment, or whatever, I'm horrible. And the only map I'm really good at following, in truth, is for a very small limited area (a nearby island I visit). Fortunately, the only times I've really needed maps are when my stories are loosely based on existing areas, like the island in question, so I can just use the real map and modify it as I see fit. What's tricky is when the area you want to map has some weird interdimensional properties and can change its size and area at will! My Island does that. Can't really account for it on a map. ;_;
I love drawing maps for my books. Stories have even come out of the maps, and I've gotten good ideas from them.
Have any of you ever had a story that had a large city involved and roughly mapped out the city? I'm not thinking fantasy, but modern. I'm curious, because I wonder if it would help me when writing my current story.
I don't draw up maps, unless I'm playing a game like D&D. But for writing, I just form a picture in my head if I need to keep track of spacial relationships. I suppose I might end up needing a visual aid if I were involved in a more complex sety of locations, but it hasn't happened yet.
If my story heavily depends on locations of things, I'll draw an Infocom map. Just squares connected by lines denoting where things are in relation to each other. And to answer WritaBurst, if I'm writing a modern story in a modern city and run into the same problem, I'll use the city map, or GoogleMaps.
I actually used to have fun playing around with maps for my fantasy worlds. They were useful in some respects. For example, they helped me keep locations straight in my head. Most of all though, they were just fun to make. An indulgance of my love for world building. I haven't doodled one in years, but I still enjoy examining the ones they have on the inner flaps of some books. Robert Jordan's are pretty awesome. In fact, I named my youngest daughter after a city located on a Wheel of Time map. (It weirded the family out, I think).
I've drawn maps since I was a little kid and I do love doing it. However I am frequently frustrated by the fact that its kinda hard to create as much detail as I'd like there to be. I try to make them all realistic and I do use them for writing , but I'd say if my books ever got publish someone ELSE would have to draw them better because they look like crap. LOL
Infocom taught me how to read. My parents didn't have any money but were both still in college as Computer Science majors. So we had a computer. Five years old and I was navigating DOS. Oh...those were the days.
Forgive the non sequitur, but that made me remember a story I once read called The Death of Dr. Island. There is an experimental film based on the same intriguing story. I would provide a link, but there is some significant nudity shown on the link.
