Where are the farmlands? Where are your cities? Where are the trade routes, and who has control of them? How long will it take for people to travel from the capital city to the Haunted Cave of the Magic Thing? What’s going to get in their way? How will your giant armies maintain their supply lines through rough terrain perfect for hiding rebellious partisans? How will a colder or warmer climate change a battle plan? Whether you’re working in a pre-industrial landscape where the majority of people are still tied to the villages where they were born or a steampunk metropolis with rapid transit opportunities, you’ll never know where your characters are going until you can see it for yourself. It doesn’t matter if you have artistic talent or not: you have to have a visual overview of what you’re trying to achieve. In my opinion this is the most critical (and most fun) part of the world building process. Here are four important steps to take when integrating the landscape into your basic story development. If you tend to think of geography as nothing more than that easy class you took sophomore year of college, you might want to reconsider its place in your writing repertoire. I’m talking world building in its most literal sense: the way the landscape shapes cultures, inhibits movements, presents perils, and contours the personality of its inhabitants. But the bones of every good story will be rooted in the earth. The bulk of any fantasy should be driven by these characters and the decisions that they make. There is something immensely satisfying about imagining our brave adventurers hiking through treacherous mountains or galloping towards the enemy on the field of battle, stirring passions in our readers as we fling fictional men and women into deadly conflict, hopelessly tangled in a complex web of fears, loves, hatred, and desires as they risk their lives for some noble (or ignoble) cause. Whether you’re self-published, traditionally published, or just writing for yourself, all fantasy authors have one big thing in common: we all love being the omnipotent rulers of our own little worlds.
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