Mapping things out

One of the most important elements of a compelling story is setting. The locale for your tale is almost like a member of the cast, lending its personality and helping to establish the tone.

As with all other aspects of the project, the setting must be agreed upon by both writing partners. Shouldn’t be too hard, but it’s a good idea to sketch out some maps so you know you’re both working from the same image. Knowing how long it would take to get from A to B can be a vital plot point. If one partner pictures the stadium at the south end of town, and the other sees it as the central fixture of the downtown district, then they’ll surely run into difficulties lining up their edits.

This week Kent drew up detailed maps of the city (see, we told you he contributes!), an exercise that also allowed us to use some of the extra name ideas left over after we chose the appellation for the town. Now that we have that well in hand, with color-coded neighborhoods and labelled points of interest, we’ve moved on to laying out the complex of buildings where most of the events will unfold. It’s based on a real place, and we’re planning a field trip to get a real feel for it and get inspired. Believe me, this is not a place you’d want to visit solo, so it’s further proof that a writing collaborator is a good thing to have.