Mapping Your Story’s Setting

[image error]As writers, we do our best to know our story’s setting as intimately as we know our characters. We can visualize the buildings, rooms, and geographic landscape. Maybe we even know the climate well enough to feel its heat or cold, driving rains, or windblown snow. But if you were actually dropped into the setting, would you be able to navigate from your protagonist’s home to another character’s – without accidentally changing direction more than once in the manuscript?

Don’t worry. Not every writer thinks of this when they begin a rough draft, much less decide on a story’s setting. However, knowing how to get around in that setting is incredibly important, for both you and your readers. So how can you keep place-related details straight and avoid making mistakes in the text? By creating a map of your setting.

This recently happened to me as I was working on my WIP, which takes place primarily on a fictional college campus. At one point, when the protagonist was walking from her dormitory to one of the academic buildings, I asked myself, “Which way does she need to walk to get there?” That prompted a host of other questions, like “What is the name of that academic building?”, “How close is the library?”, and “What does she see when she drives from her dorm to the campus’s front entrance?”.

The following night, instead of writing, I drew a campus map, with everything you’d likely find at a small college, down to the parking lots and street names. It’s no masterpiece, but I’m grateful I took the time to make it. In fact (*deep breath*), I think I’ll even share a photo of it here:

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Did I have fun making this map? You bet. But did indulging my curiosity serve a purpose? Absolutely. And if you’re writing about a fictional setting, including one inspired by a real-life location, you might want to consider mapping yours as well.

The Benefits of Mapping Your Story’s Setting

Even for writers who aren’t artistically inclined, the benefits of mapping a story’s setting outnumber (and outweigh) any drawbacks. A setting map can help you:

Remember the location and names of important places and objects of interest within the setting
Determine which way characters travel to get from Point A to Point B, as well as the distance between those points
Maintain consistency of names and directions in the story, and thus avoid confusing readers (and yourself)
Better understand the role of topographical features (or natural elements that often appear in maps, such as hills / mountains, coasts, bodies of water, and forests) in the setting
Make your vision of the setting more concrete, rather than keeping it all in your head

That last bullet underscores the most important reason for creating this kind of map: It makes the setting more real. By committing these details to paper, you’ve also committed to knowing the setting deeply. Then you can apply that knowledge to the story so that readers can feel like they’re driving the same roads or following the same sidewalks as your characters.

Seven Pointers for Creating a Map of Your Setting

As interesting as it might sound to draw a map of your setting, it’s important to approach the process carefully. In fact, before putting pencil to paper, you should already have an idea of what readers will find in the place you’re about to sketch. So here are the steps I took before and during my mapmaking process. Maybe this method will work for you, too.

Research real-life maps before you get started. First, I studied campus maps of real colleges in my local area (including my alma mater) that are about the same size in acreage and student population as my fictional college. This helped me decide how to structure my map and what features (buildings, streets, parking lots, etc.) it should include.
Determine the number of features. Knowing how many of each feature you’ll need can prevent unintentional overcrowding on your map. I already had a rough estimate of the college’s student population, so I used that number (as well as the statistics I’d found during my research of local colleges) to figure out a reasonable number of academic buildings, dormitories, and other structures.
Start small. If you’ve never created a map before, it might be overwhelming to start with a large are like a country or continent. Instead, focus on a smaller area such as a town, state, or other immediate region where the events of your story will take place. You can even draw a floor plan of a house or other building, if that’s more appropriate.
Gather your tools. Use pencils instead of pens, and have a pencil sharpener and a good eraser handy. That way, if you make any mistakes, they’re easy to remove.