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Writer Wednesday Finding My Way Through Fictional Settings

Some lucky people are born with a GPS implanted in their brains. Others are DC, directionally challenged. Guess which group claims me as a charter member? Im hopeless when it comes to directions, as are most members of my family. Whenever we go somewhere new, we resemble the Twits in a Monty Python sketch, each person darting off in a completely different direction. (Even more tragically this sometimes happens in places were familiar with.)

When I wrote the first draft of my middle-grade novel, my dysfunctional affliction kicked in as I went about creating my setting. My story takes place in a fictional New England coastal town, loosely based on several Ive visited. I blithely plunked down buildings, parks, and historical landmarks wherever I took a fancy, with no regard to how they stood in relation to one another. Now that Im revising, Im finding that this carefree approach isnt working. Im as lost in my fictional world as I am in the real one--with no GPS to help me.

My solution has been to create a map to help me navigate my fictional landscape. A map forces me to decide where a house or statue or cemetery is actually located. Ive also added roads and streets. Now when my character drives or bikes to town, I know where shes going and how long it will take her to get there. Another benefit is that I must name these places.

Since I first learned to read, Ive always enjoyed fiction books with hand-drawn maps. Early favorites include Winnie the Pooh, The Wind in the Willows, and My Fathers Dragon. Treasure Island, The Phantom Tollbooth, and The Hobbit also have amazing maps. But not all maps feature fantastical worlds. For instance, theres William Faulkners map of Yoknatawpha County and Sherwood Andersons Winesburg, Ohio. Mystery novels sometimes include maps or floor plans. Im thinking specifically of Agatha Christie, Phoebe Atwood Taylor, Arthur Upfield, Ellis Peters, and Nevada Barr.

For an absolutely wonderful post on the subject, check out Maps of Fictional Worlds. Youll find oodles of fantastic links to all kinds of maps, from childhood classics to adult contemporary novels. You can get lost there for hours. So bring a GPS! for details click below