The map is always one of my favorite parts of a fantasy novel. Having majored in geography in college, I love seeing the terrain and place names of the world the author has created.
For The Strandlock, that world is a place called Spira, and it has its own map, a guide to the journey the story will take the reader on. The map is hand-drawn, which is consistent with the technology level of the culture in the book.
Mapmaking
When I studied cartography in college, I never imagined that one day I would be using those skills to create a map for my fantasy novel. My training was based on hand-drawing skills, so I brushed up on those techniques. I watched several YouTube videos about maps drawn for fantasy games. I learned about styles to portray mountain ranges, water bodies, towns, and vegetation.
Map Details
Spira’s map includes mountains, plains, forests, and the coastline. Key locations in the story were labeled. A north arrow was added, too.
Verifying the Map
With a preliminary sketch of the map drafted, the next step was to compare it to the travel descriptions in the manuscript. If the text said Tima traveled west, that had to make sense based on the map. Since the geography of Spira had been guiding the story since the earliest drafts, they matched. That allowed the drawing to proceed to ink.
Tools Used
The map was drawn on mixed-media paper. After sketching the map in pencil, I inked it with archival Pigma Micron pens. A metal ruler helped create clean lines, and the finished image was scanned and adjusted digitally.
Practice
I created several sketches to practice layout and lettering. Some worked better than others, but each taught me more about how I wanted the map to look.
Individual details like mountain ranges and trees received extra attention. Each map iteration came closer to capturing the details I wanted to display on the finished piece.
Final Version
I drew the final version of the map on a larger scale to make the lettering easier, then reduced it to fit the print page size. While not perfect, the finished map resembles something that one of the characters in the story would carry–a practical guide to a world filled with dangers and adventures.
A map shows where the story of The Strandlock takes place, but it doesn’t tell us what life is like there. In the next blog, I’ll share some of the plants, animals, and cultures that bring the world of Spira to life.
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