Writer Tool; Maps!

   I’m pretty sure I’ve written about this before, but here it is again, the most useful tool when writing a story that takes place in a real world setting:

Google’s My Maps

   The my maps app is supper useful. It gives you all the power of google maps, except hello you can edit it. Let me count the ways I love thee;

-Drop pins on locations, title them and write notes such as ‘Bobbie’s House- lived here 1995-1998′. 

-Trace distances with the ruler. I use this function a lot to get ‘as the crow flies’ distance because there is a lot of helicopter travel in one of my books. You can also use it to to track on foot distances that you can’t get directions through, like if your character is walking through a national park.

-Save multiple maps for those of us who have multiple stories going on at once

-Save all your locations, and directions between locations if you like. Easy access to it at all times as long as you have internet

-One downfall, you can’t use the little man feature to drop down and look at a street view. But if you drop a pin on a building that has a formal address, a little window usually pops up with the info about it, and you can click a link that says ‘view in google maps’ which will allow you to see the street view. 

-I use it in tandem with Google maps so I can easily use street view and get info on buildings, then copy the address and pop it over into my maps and save it there. 

-It’s also free, that’s a no brainier right there.

-Helps you write about places you’ve never been

-It’s basically saved my continuity bacon, and I’m sure it could do the same for you.

   So in conclusion, GET TO IT :)