• Stride One: Think About Geography
    • Mountains
    • Rivers
    • Borders (Natural and Political)
    • Settlements
  • Step 2: Don't Retrieve, Just Create
  • Step Three: Think About How Your Fantasy Map Will Appear in Your Volume
    • Practise it yourself
      • Drawing your own fantasy map
      • Map-making tools
    • Hire an artist
  • Y'all're ready to get-go drawing your fantasy maps

If you've read more than a handful of fantasy books, you can easily deduce that fantasy authors love maps. We assume that fantasy readers love maps also, which is why we keep putting maps in our books. I think information technology'south a safe assumption but, if it isn't, fantasy maps are here to stay anyway; of the top 25 fantasy books, almost half accept maps. (Truth exist told, I'd expected more than!) But, if you lot're not a professional cartographer, drawing an unabridged world can be daunting. So I've put together some hints, tips, ideas and tools that will help the fantasy author, Dungeon Master, or anyone else to draw their ain fantasy maps.

(Looking for the practical stuff? Skip downward to pace three!)

Step One: Remember Nearly Geography

You're writing fantasy, which means your world probable contains things that our would does non. Whether information technology'due south dragons, magic, or unusual landscapes where the laws of nature don't seem to apply.

But, for readers to believe in the fantastical elements of your world, y'all need to get the other fundamentals right. That's considering you're asking the reader to believe in something they know isn't existent. And readers are pretty obliging in that sense. They'll believe in dragons, they'll believe in magic, they'll believe in a canyon where gravity is screwy and mountains float on by, just Simply if you don't ask them to believe in likewise much. Once you lot ask for too much, the entire illusion is cleaved.

So, with that in mind, brand sure y'all get your geography correct. Hither are some common fantasy map mistakes that can rip your reader out of the world:

  • mountains that turn corners
  • rivers that connect two oceans
  • rivers that catamenia towards mountains
  • towns or cities in the middle of nowhere
  • borders that don't make sense

And hither's what y'all can do to make sure yous don't make the same mistakes on your map:

Mountains

The map of Mordor is an excellent example of how mountains don't work
Mountains don't plow corners!

Mountains are formed by tectonic plates colliding with each other. That means that mountains tend to exist in long lines (have a look at the mount ranges on Earth). Mountain ranges aren't going to turn corners because tectonic plates aren't rectangular. Even where they do have corners, they are a) enormous and b) irregular. Whatsoever mountains forth the edge of a plate are going to draw a gentle curve across your map.

Don't forget that at that place's state under water, then mount ranges would continue past a coastline to create islands.

For this reason, mountains don't tend be lonely (pitiful, Tolkien). Volcanoes can be lonely only because they've put in the work over time; erupted material settles effectually the volcano over time, allowing it to grow.

Rivers

Rivers have one goal: become to the lowest indicate possible, by the easiest route possible. The lowest signal is frequently sea level, and the easiest route possible is e'er down. So rivers tend to race away from mountains and end up in the bounding main.

This is also why rivers start in high places (mountains and hills).

Of form, rivers don't flow in straight lines to the oceans. That's considering they follow the path of least resistance. They'll tumble and meander around hills, rises, through canyons and crevasses. If the river enters and area with high terrain on all sides, it might form a lake. land gets flat and open with high terrain on all sides, they might course lakes. Rivers tin go underground as well; whatever gets them down faster.

Rivers also like to go sociable; they join together where possible and very rarely split. In fact, call up of rivers like tree branches, when the trunk is an ocean and the twigs are the starting points of your rivers.

Lakes are areas of state with loftier terrain on all sides, and are by and large fed by rivers or rainfall. The water volition ordinarily observe an escape route and form a new river to join the ocean.

Just like rivers, lakes tin can flood with torrential rain and dry during droughts.

Borders (Natural and Political)

Natural borders are barriers that are hard (but not impossible) to cantankerous. These tend to be places of high altitude (mountains), low altitude (canyons), and inhospitable geography (deserts, oceans, etc.). It's possible to traverse all of these things, but information technology's difficult. Even rivers tin can be a pain; unless they're very shallow, y'all'll need a bridge, which acts both equally a bottleneck that doesn't just wearisome yous down only is also easy to defend.

Armies march as far as they tin can, so everyone packs upwards and goes dwelling.

That'southward why political borders (i.east. the borders between kingdoms/states/realms/etc.) tend to coincide with natural ones. Armies march as far every bit they tin until they reach something that'southward hard to cross. A determined leader might make the effort but, at some point, the army can't observe an easy way to traverse the barrier, and and everyone packs up and goes home.

Merely where a edge is established by peacemakers instead of warmakers, your borders will expect a little different. Most statesmen won't call up most natural borders; they'll carve up the land in straight lines that are easy to draw. A lot of the problems we take in the modern earth have their root in the straight lines fatigued through cultures and people by a bunch of people stood effectually a map. It's awful in the real globe. But information technology could create some interesting strife in your fantasy globe. Something to call back nigh.

Settlements

People like convenience. And then they're non going to put down roots somewhere that makes their lives difficult. If y'all're about to put a city onto your map, think about why it'due south at that place. Is information technology virtually a water source? People need h2o, and they won't want to travel far to get it (considering that'south inconvenient). Unless, of grade, there'south another reason to build there. Mayhap in that location's a natural resource nearby? People won't desire to slog miles to get to a mine, so in that location's a reason to build a town effectually the mine and ship someone to fetch water for everyone.

Don't forget about trade. Points where roads intersect are perfect places to host beds for weary travellers, besides as introducing traders travelling the different roads.

Settlers will likewise recall virtually defence unless your world is specially peaceful. Rivers aren't simply a handy water source, merely they're hard for armies to traverse, and so a boondocks might nestle itself into a bend in a river, or with mountains at its back.

Step 2: Don't Call up, Just Create

Having spent some time writing about all the technical aspects of how to draw a fantasy map, I'll now tell y'all non to worry nigh them. Non at first, anyhow.

Drawing a fantasy map is an human action of creation. Some people wonder whether world-edifice or plot comes first; the truth is that you'll probably go the best results if you lot let both grow together.

So let all those facts about geography sit at the back of your mind and let your pencil go where information technology will. You can fix any geographical mistakes later on.

Because information technology might turn out that they're not mistakes. In his book How to Write Fantasy and Science Fiction, Orson Scott Menu relates how, in the process of cartoon a urban center map, he accidentally blocked off a gate.

"Except that I believe, when it comes to storytelling – and making up maps of imaginary lands is a kind of storytelling – that mistakes are oft the showtime of the all-time ideas. Afterwards all, a mistake wasn't planned. Information technology isn't likely to be a cliche. All you have to do is think of a reason why the mistake isn't a mistake at all, and you might have something fresh and wonderful, something to stimulate a story you never thought of quite that way before. So I thought – what if this gate has been permanently closed off?"

Card goes on to chronicle how he decides the gate was actually a magical archway to the city that was airtight off, and how this then mistake leads him to create a mythology of true gods that becomes the backdrop to his novel Hart's Promise.

So it might be that you accidentally create a river that connects ii oceans. Or a volcano that has no business being at that place. Just before you fix your error, have a second look; it might turn out to be a happy accident that makes your novel even better.

Step Three: Think Nigh How Your Fantasy Map Volition Appear in Your Book

If y'all're anything similar me, your fantasy map is an unattractive doodle that has no business being in front of man eyeballs. So how do y'all get it into your book?

Exercise it yourself

If your artistic talents are greater than mine (not much of a challenge), you could ever describe your ain fantasy map. If you choose this path, you'll accept two options: paw draw it, or use software. Whichever path y'all choose, you lot need to think carefully about what your map will look like. After all, the map you lot fabricated for yourself is probably stuffed full of details and notes. The map you make for your reader needs to be useful, aye, but information technology also needs to look pretty.

Drawing your own fantasy map

Given my complete lack of artistic skills, I turned to Howard Coates, the creative person behind the maps in the Realm Rift Saga books, for his advice on how to hand describe a fantasy map.

An excerpt from the fantasy map drawn for The Northern Wastes.
Graphical representations of elements brand a fantasy map nice to wait at.

"I choose to paw draw my maps because the looseness of real analogy gives information technology a more traditional feel which fits into the fantasy genre. I ever had in mind that these are representative of the maps Katherine would have in the book. A digital paradigm with perfect lines would not fit in the world created.

I utilise ink on card to create a textured feel. It may not come beyond in the concluding book, just information technology feels of import for the visual aesthetic to be authentic.

Each surface area is drawn separately and I use Photoshop to put the elements together like a jigsaw. This means I can remove or rearrange the pieces to add a flow to the map and prevent information technology being chaotic.

Incidental elements (landmarks that don't appear in the story itself) are a useful way to pause up any empty area and make the world feel more than real and lived in. Simply information technology'due south important not to clutter a map. Representative graphics, rather than detailed analogy, can be used for events or places to avoid bogging a map down in detail.

I likewise like to include unlabelled landmarks for the reader to discover later the story'southward over."

Map-making tools

If you don't experience upward to the task of drawing your fantasy map, you lot've got two options open up to you: use some software tools to aid you lot, or hire someone else.

I've used some of the following software tools in the by with varying success:

Wonderdraft

Campaign Cartographer

Medieval Fantasy City Generator

These tools are particularly useful for the D&D or wargame player who wants a map but doesn't want to rent an creative person to draw them (which would represent a item dedication to the hobby!)

Hire an artist

This is my option of choice; while software can offer a fantastic way to get a decent fantasy map into your book, cypher can beat the skills and artistic flair that an creative person can bring to the table.

Starting time your search on DeviantArt, Pinterest and Instagram. Exist sure to await for artists who are already drawing maps; although you might take luck approaching an artists who is drawing portraits or landscapes, odds are that they won't be up for the challenge.

And if you spot a good-looking map in a fantasy novel, take a await at the copyright folio; the artist's copyright should be listed there, giving you a name to hunt for and arroyo for your committee.

Or you could merely hire Howard Coates. He'due south pretty good.

Y'all're fix to start cartoon your fantasy maps

It's daunting, I know. Just don't await. Swoop in. Make some mistakes, acquire on the fly, and if you accidentally draw a mount range with corners, a river that connects two oceans, or a border that makes no logical sense, don't panic! Attempt to find a reason why your mistake isn't a fault after all, and you might find that you lot've accidentally created a bright new twist on your fantasy novel.