《How to write a book》Mapping your world

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This chapter isn't just for those of you who have decided to create their own world, it's also for those of you who are using an existing world. It's important to know what the world that you're going to use looks like, feels like, smells like and sounds like to make sure that your story is correct and realistic. You don't want other people to find silly mistakes that could have been prevented by mapping your world.

First answer these questions:

> What language do the inhabitants speak?

> What are the habits of the inhabitants? (Write about eating, sleeping, living, position of men and women, holidays, workdays, raising children, education, politics, economics, technology, magic, religion etc.)

> What kind of social position do your characters have in this world?

These questions apply to self created worlds, and existing worlds.

Keep this in mind: your world should fit your plot.

Now that you know what your world is like you need a map so that you can actually see where things are and what the distances between them are.

WHEN CREATING YOUR OWN WORLD

Open paint on your computer, or grab a piece of paper, a pencil, and an eraser. The first thing you'll have to draw (you'll be able to do this no matter how bad you are at drawing) is the shape of the country or countries that are important in your story or book. Make it big, but leave a little space on the sides so you'll be able to add neighbouring countries.

Draw very simple mountains, lakes, rivers and seas, then add the capital (just a dot, either big or small) and other important cities. If you want your story to take place in a small village, you can add this as well. Don't forget to add forests, deserts, ice plains etc. Just be creative, and add whatever is useful to your plot.

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If you're a bad drawer, just add an index of colours/patterns so you'll be able to understand what everything is. Now that you have the geography finished, you can (if you want to) write down where certain supernatural beings are concentrated if they exist.

Now grab some more pieces of paper and draw close-ups of places that are important for your plot. Draw important cities, villages, houses etc. each on a different piece of paper.

If you don't want to create a whole new world, but do want it to be a fictional world, you could use the earth as your example and just change little details, like the names of countries.

USING AN EXISTING WORLD

If you want to use parts of our world, you have to do almost the same as the people who create their own world. First you have to research the places where the story or book will take place and make maps of these places. You can find the maps of cities and villages on Google Maps, but houses you'll have to create yourself. Remember to create houses that fit with the person living in it.

If you've done all this you won't be having trouble placing your character into your world. It will make your story seem realistic, even if it's fiction.

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