Fifth Book: Map Making
On Wednesday, I shared this image with the caption, “The future.”
That’s all it was, and if you were or still are confused, that’s entirely understandable. It’s cryptic. It makes no sense. It’s not even a full image. So let’s talk about it.
What you’re seeing in that particular picture is a map. No, it’s not drawn in invisible ink. It doesn’t take a magic phrase to work, either. When I took that picture, the map was simply blank.
That’s changed.
So, what is this map for? Simply put, it’s the first step toward what will eventually be my Fifth Book. Due to the nature of the book (which I won’t be going into this early in the brainstorming process), there’s very little that can be done outside the most basic outlining and character building until this map is complete. Honestly, it would be like playing chess without a board; how would you know where to put the pieces?
I’ve never had to create a map for my stories before, as each has taken place in a true-to-life location. Both Sanity’s Flaw and The Nobodies were set in New York, and though the latter is in a future yet to pass, due to in-story reasons, the city remained the same. Trezka is much the same, as is my Fourth Book, with the stories forming around the geography and architecture.
This Fifth Book, though, is different. Granted, it is set in a real-life location you could go visit today if you felt so inclined (there’s at least one hint in the image as to what it is), but it’ll be almost unrecognizable come story time.
I probably shouldn’t be thinking this much about this far-flung future title yet, as I’m still editing Trezka, have yet to finish writing the Fourth Book and keep plugging away at my children’s book, but when an idea, an urge, strikes, I’ve found it best not to ignore that.
And my urge, right now, is to draw a map. So that, my friends, is what I’m going to do.
That’s all it was, and if you were or still are confused, that’s entirely understandable. It’s cryptic. It makes no sense. It’s not even a full image. So let’s talk about it.
What you’re seeing in that particular picture is a map. No, it’s not drawn in invisible ink. It doesn’t take a magic phrase to work, either. When I took that picture, the map was simply blank.
That’s changed.
So, what is this map for? Simply put, it’s the first step toward what will eventually be my Fifth Book. Due to the nature of the book (which I won’t be going into this early in the brainstorming process), there’s very little that can be done outside the most basic outlining and character building until this map is complete. Honestly, it would be like playing chess without a board; how would you know where to put the pieces?
I’ve never had to create a map for my stories before, as each has taken place in a true-to-life location. Both Sanity’s Flaw and The Nobodies were set in New York, and though the latter is in a future yet to pass, due to in-story reasons, the city remained the same. Trezka is much the same, as is my Fourth Book, with the stories forming around the geography and architecture.
This Fifth Book, though, is different. Granted, it is set in a real-life location you could go visit today if you felt so inclined (there’s at least one hint in the image as to what it is), but it’ll be almost unrecognizable come story time.
I probably shouldn’t be thinking this much about this far-flung future title yet, as I’m still editing Trezka, have yet to finish writing the Fourth Book and keep plugging away at my children’s book, but when an idea, an urge, strikes, I’ve found it best not to ignore that.
And my urge, right now, is to draw a map. So that, my friends, is what I’m going to do.
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