Map-Making: A Guide (Part 1)
Map of My World – CLICK TO ENLARGE IMAGE
Created With Photoshop
I. Why Create A Map?
To answer this question, read World-Building: Map-Making (Part 1)
II. Where To Begin? How Do I Create A Map?
To answer this question, read World-Building: Map-Making (Part 2)
III. Let’s Start Building
I’ll take you step-by-step and give you examples by showing you how I created my world in Photoshop.
A. Create Your Landmasses and Oceans
If using a program that uses layers (such as Photoshop), start by creating your ocean on one layer and then all your landmasses (including islands and the poles) on a second layer.
CLICK TO ENLARGE IMAGES
On the above map/s there are two layers: the ocean in blue and the landmasses in tan. This is a very basic beginning of a world map. Later, we’ll rough up the edges of the continents and refine the landmasses and islands (even add some). For now create as many landmasses as you desire. Maybe you want a world full of nothing but island chains, or maybe just one super continent. It’s your world, so you have free creative reign.
B. Create Your Biomes/Ecosystems
The next step is to create the various biomes that will make up your world. Here is a simplified list of Earth’s biomes:
Distribution of Earth's Biomes
1. Tundra – Polar desert, no trees, only top four inches of soil thaws in summer; winter average temps around -20 °F, summer temps rise as high as 50°F.
Tundra Distribution
2. Taiga (Boreal Forest) – Coniferous forests found throughout the high northern latitudes, between tundra and temperate forest. Short summers, long winters.
World’s largest land biome.
3. Temperate Deciduous Forest – Well defined seasons of warm and cold; varying ranges of rainfall; fertile soils, many different tree species, understory shrubs and herbaceous plants.
4. Tropical Rainforest – Near Equator, high rainfall and humidity; soils devoid of nutrients; lush, layered canopy with high diversity of life.
Forest Distribution
5. Grasslands (Prairies, Savanna, Steppe) – Interior of continents and within rain shadows; hot summers, cold winters; frequent droughts and fires. Mostly grasses, some woody plants, little trees; supports large numbers of herbivores.
Grassland Distribution
6. Desert – Within a belt along the equator, stretching from 30°S to 30°N in latitude and in rain shadows of mountains. Very little and unpredictable precipitation. Warm deserts–mild winters; cold deserts–long winters with temperatures well below freezing. Nutrient -poor soils, sparse plant cover; rich in reptiles and rodents, most animals are nocturnal.
Desert Distribution
Earth's Biomes by Percentage
Forests – 38% + Grasslands – 23% = 61% of Earth’s Terrestrial Biomes
As you can see nearly two-thirds of earth’s biomes are covered by either forests or grasslands. In addition, grasslands, savannas and woodlands are part of a continuum that are divided arbitrarily, which leads to great variations in the estimates by different authorities of the area occupied by each type. As the following graph shows, there is considerable overlap of these biomes.
Overlap of Grasslands and Woodlands/Forests
Read Map-Making: (A Guide) Part 2: Here
Read Map-Making: (A Guide) Part 3: Here
Read THE FULL GUIDE: Here
Holy Moly, Batman. Look at all the work involved in your writing project, and the visuals you give us are outstanding. If National Geographics sees this you will have an immediate job offer. Are you ready to be “raptured” away.
Dave
1Thanks Dave, but there are those whose worlds and maps are far more developed than mine. Plus I can’t take full credit for this particular map. While I created the world map a few years ago with a program called Campaign Cartographer 3 (CC3) [Map Here], most of the Photoshop map was drawn from the CC3 map by Robert Altbauer. However, I’ve learned a lot about Photoshop and map-making since and I’ve continued to add to the map myself, hence the guide.
2Compared to Chris’s world, explaining 25,000 years of multi-cultural vampire folklore in fully plausible, scientific and rational terms is as easy as counting from one to ten…
I sit in my computer chair, astounded by the complexity of Zenita
Outstanding world-crafting, Chris!
3Ah Daven, you’re so flattering. I look forward to seeing such world-building in your future installments. The world of the “Pures” seems both highly fascinating and thoroughly developed (at least in your head). I expect to see a fully realized map of your world too.
4Indeed, this is why I have to pay close attention when you’re educating us about map-crafting.
All I’ll have to do is paint clouds (ala Rick Ross), because the Pures’ home planet has a 50km+ stratosphere of gaseous clouds that filter out ultraviolet rays, which encloses a troposphere (ground level up to approx. 50 Km) of 71% Nitrogen, 19% Oxygen, and 10% trace elements.
They were scouting Venus as a possible “outpost” just before their ship crashed on Earth. Whoops!
5Chris,
6Great advice. I’m just about to start this step myself. I’ve even purchased Photoshop. When I first started my book, I had to create a map to make sure I got all the directions right, remembered all the towns, rivers and most importantly in my book, a mountain barrier. It never got farther than a hand sketch, but I wanted to do a nice one for my website.
Thanks!
Having read your story, Beckie, I really don’t think you need a map. Your story worked fine without it. But, of course, you would want to keep track of things for yourself.
7Beckie, while you probably don’t need a map, it can be a lot of fun making one, and you may learn an awful lot about your story and your world-building in the process. And while some people may never look at your map, there will be those who not only appreciate it but who also are pulled further into your world. Best of luck in creating your map. Hope the advice helps.
8To be honest with you, I like Chris’s website, with the whole of his world laid out. I want not only to add a map, but folklore, character histories and all sorts of things. Since I also make jewelry, I was going to add a line of character based silver pieces. In my spare time, of course.
9Thanks. Your idea for your website sounds cool. Let me know when you get your site up and running. Can I put in a few orders for some jewelry I’d like to see created for my world?
That would be awesome.
10Um… I balance numbers all day long, and I can reconcile multiple accounts down to the penny, but your attention to detail floors me every time.
Combined with the fabulous creativity brewing on the other half of your brain, it’s no wonder you draft such an amazing story!
11Well Lisa, as to your first point of learning to write on a deeper level, it’s hard to say what that means without seeing your work. It could involve anything from the depth of your character (perhaps they are too flat, not three-dimensional, lacking in something that allows the reader to connect), to their emotions, or to the writing itself. However, my suggestions of where to start would include any of the following: join a critique group, pick up a few “how-to” writing books from accomplished authors/agents, attend some workshops and/or conferences, and just keep writing (every day if you can).
Finding a good critique group can be difficult, but there are a lot of good ones out there. You just need to start poking around the internet. There’s a number of good posts on WOTB about critique groups, including ours Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. But writing on a “much deeper level” is something that just takes time. Practice and churning out words. And in truth, if you are serious about publishing and a career in writing, writing novels gives you a much better chance than does writing memoirs. Memoirs are one of the hardest things to get published, unless you’re already famous. So I would agree that turning your manuscript into a novel is the logical choice. Besides, changing it to a novel allows you to fictionalize things that may not be as interesting as real life. With fiction, anything is possible. Plus we authors always pick the best and worst of our lives to insert into our books. Life inspires fiction.
As to map-making. I’m not sure I agree with the advice given to you that you should make a map of your journeys through your memoir. Detailed maps of the U.S already exist and you can easily plot that journey on a pre-made map. Perhaps such advice has been given to you because that journey seems unclear, undefined, or underdeveloped. As to that I cannot say. What I can say is that each of the places you visit must come to life. The reader must feel as if they are with you on that journey. When you look out across the foggy coast of Oregon, your reader must be there to see it, smell it, heart it, feel it, taste it. Here’s a quick example:
Towering Sequoias stretched to the sky like skyscrapers, thin fingers of sun poking through the dense canopy above to touch the giant snails and bright yellow slugs that clambered over the moss-covered rocks. A warbler twittered in the branches above, and I was reminded of my days back home in Boston, just me and dad lying in the grass beneath the maples. The smell of life was all around me. The malodorous scent of fallen leaves, of damp earth, of mushrooms that clung to the base of trees that seemed prehistoric. When I was a little girl, dad would setup a tent in the backyard and we’d spent the night pretending we were camping out in the redwoods. Mom had grown up in Eureka and had talked about the redwoods all the time. They had seemed so majestic. Before she passed, I promised myself I’d come and see them. And seeing them now was like seeing through her eyes.
What you may need to do is jot out your journey for yourself. Plots the points you stop at in your story, and then research those places. What is life like there? Each place must be authentic. If a reader from Jackson Hole Wyoming picks up your book and reads through it, and finds that you stop in his hometown, he must believe that he has traveled back there with you. He must say, “Yeah, I remember walking down those streets, drinking at that bar when Jimmy tried taking my girlfriend.” Or whatever he might say.
Hope this helps. If you need anymore advice I’d be glad to help. Just follow this link to send me a message and we can then correspond through email: http://christopherdeldridge.com/comments.php
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