Mappy! Map! Maps!

No I am not talking about Mappy the game with the mice and the cats, I am talking about real pirate-like papery maps. I've always heard and read posts about how great maps can be for fantasy authors and even just any old author whether their story is in Wonderland or a small town in the middle of nowhere. Either way maps are helpful, says almost every writer everywhere.

I've tried drawing maps before but since I'm such a horrible drawer I could never pull it off. Especially that when tried to draw them I expected them to turn out perfect and looking like something that an expert pirate could have done. But it wasn't until I started reading The Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Heilig that I realized the importance of the map.

The Girl From Everywhere is about a girl named Nixie who was born in Honolulu. Her mother died from childbirth and her father returned to find a dead wife and a daughter that needed caring for. Heartbroken he sailed away with her and Nixie grew up on a ship. But not just any ship with just any old dad. No, her dad is a Navigator. As long as they have a map for it they can travel anywhere from Honolulu in the 1900's to the land from One Thousand and One Nights. Nixie loves maps and is an expert at reading and authenticating them.

Anyways, I highly recommend the book but what I want to get at is the importance of the map in this book. Heidi Heilig featured I think about three or four maps in this book and they are all really interesting to look at and so I decided to give the map a try for my Weapon Icean book. I realized that for book two I'd need a better understanding of what Amparo City looks like since Delphi -- my main character -- will be spending a lot more time there in book two. Since I had a few new journals from my birthday I decided to crack one open and start it out with a map of the city.

I researched a map of New York City and Indianapolis (Indianapolis because I live in Indiana and that's the city I'm most familiar with) and by using those I created a sort of hybrid of the two. By doing so I realized just how important maps can be and I am now officially obsessed with them. I need to make a map now for every. Single. Place. In. Every. Single. Story. Period. I just have to because they are super fun to make and beyond helpful in the world building processes.

It's madness how much I have begun to love maps!

Before I made the Amparo City map I was pretty blind and clueless as to what this city where Delphi spends most of her time looked like and then afterwards I felt like I had a whole new world to really explore and to delve into full of landmarks and parks and businesses and museums. It was a real rush. But it didn't end there. I also made an overall map of the Tower, the Protector's headquarters where Delphi spends even more of her time and that really put the whole story into perspective and helped me to see Delphi's world and her home.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that for a very visual hands on person like myself maps can do several different things for you. First it helps you get down on paper what your world looks like, helps you process and helps you worldbuild and get into perspective where your characters are living and doing things. But wait! There's more! Maps also can give you plot ideas. If you make a map of your city you can be like "Oh wow! This park would be an awesome place for a fight scene" or "Wait a second, this could be a great place for a really important scene between my two characters."

Most of all though it helped me to draw closer to my characters and get to know them better. Home is where the heart it is and that saying is very true. You can learn a lot about a person from their house and also from the town, city or even state that they live in. By drawing this map and name landmarks and creating streets and places I grew closer to Delphi and really got to know her ten times better than I did before.

Also for all of you perfectionist out there (like me) your map doesn't need to be extravagant and incredibly detailed. You don't even have to draw the little buildings or the rivers and mountains and stuff. Lines and dots and words do just fine.


The Tower (Protector Headquarters)

Amparo City Map

As you can see my maps aren't all that detailed or beautiful but they are helpful and productive.
So, my advise to you: Draw a map! It's fun and insightful in both worldbuilding and character building. Have a great week everyone!

What do you guys thinks of maps? What are some other projects that you do to help you worldbuild and character build?