Tip Tuesday: Maps and Calendars

Map of Middle Earth

I write science fiction novels that cover a lot of time and terrain. To help me keep track of all the movement I use actual maps and calendars.When I do world building and future history Maps and Calendars are a critical tool.

Maps:

Scrivener makes it easy to keep maps handy. Even if you do not publish the maps it really helps keep me straight on several fronts:

• Climate. The Solstice 31 Saga takes place on the Earth like planet called Baytirus. I based the weather on upstate NY. I even created an annotated map that had all the major cities, rivers, lakes, even the gorge was based on the St. Lawrence river.
• Distances. People can only walk so far in a day. What is the range of a horse? How fast can shuttle fly? 
• Landscapes. Describing a setting makes a story rich and draws the audience in farther. In my head I know the climate, the kind of trees that make up the forests, the mountain heights and even the geological make up of the ground. 
• Cities. What makes a city grow. Is it a port city? Is it on a river? Is it in the mountains? Maps inform the descriptions.
• Street Maps. Actual street layouts of cities make action easier as it moves through them. I even decide on the maps the kind of architecture in specific areas.
• Floor plans. Lastly, I even make floor plans of building and interiors of space ship and space stations. It all inspires me and keeps the blocking in my story consistent.

Calendars:

Lord of the Rings Calendar

Like maps, calendars keep the action organized. I use actual calendars to make a timeline of a story. The Solstice 31 Saga takes place over a period of about 150 years. I had to use calendars from the beginning because the series of events that all came together on December 22, 2631 all needed tracking. Each character had a timeline:

• Different plot threads of a story that all happen during the same days and time.
• Following various events in a story that are critical to specific characters.
• The duration it takes to travel various distances.
• If your story cover a lot of time, it keep the aging of the characters straight as well. If ten years have gone by that cute pine year old girl has changed in many ways!
• Calendars turn into clocks wen seconds count.
• During the outlining phase, I annotate both dates and locations in the margins.
• Calendars keep flash-backs organized.

You don't need any fancy tools for either maps or calendars. I use Outlook for the calendars and annotated JPGs for maps. It does not take much time at all to create these during your planning phase.

--These tools will help you finish things.