All About Mapping

I have always envied the mind maps of some of the greats. Some wrote on walls, other kept thoughts pinned up with thumbtacks and string that end up representing a work of art more than a plan and most recently one of my favourite writers, Kristin Cashore, wrote about her handmade cloth bulletin board she uses to keep track of her ideas. I wish I was more like them. But every time I try to keep a bulletin board or a scrapbook of inspiration like this it always ends up looking so contrived, like I spend more time thinking of how to organize my ideas than writing them down. I often vow to have better writing habits and often fail.

Instead I keep all my ideas in a notebook. After years of trying to be good about keeping a journal I finally found what was holding me back and it was such a simple fix! Lines! I absolutely hate lines on my pages! By accident I one day purchase a sketchbook instead of a notebook. I was already off at my favortie coffee shop with a latte in hand and didn't want to run back to purchase a lined one so I put pen to paper and just started to write. I was amazed by the fact that there were no boundaries. I could write as big or small as I wanted with the added bonus of there being no lines running through the middle of my pictures and that is how the following came about.

A general map outlining Luxumbra

A more detailed map of just Amekuni and Momoka's journey.

An even more detailed map of the Merporte capital.

Turns out I hate lines but love maps! Along with my wild notes, that run about the page wherever they please, I keep maps of the stories I'm writing. Not mind maps but actual maps and since I started drawing them my plots have started making more sense. So there I have it. I still have terrible writing habits but at least I have my maps.

How do you map your story?