Young Writers Society

Hey everybody. This is just a question that came into my head. Is it a good idea to feature a map at the beginning of a fantasy or sci-fi novel for example or are they just not needed. Tell me what you think. Personally, I think a map to know where the characters are going and where they come from is a good idea but unless it was absolutely necessary, I wouldn't use one. Just personal opinion. So are they needed, or just nice to look at?

Hmm, a personal question!
I personally, love cartography, and so I love maps of any kind.
But they're not always needed.
E.g.: In the Lord of the Rings, a map was very helpful, otherwise it got confusing about which character was where at what time.
On the otherhand, sometimes maps are un-needed and they look just plain silly. (I'm thinking of the Warrior Cat series.)
I would, as a writer, draw up a map anyway, to keep the locations straight. (E.g.: I'm writing a medieval fantasy right now, and unless I didn't have a map, I might be sending a character from North Lancaster to Rooth and not realize that that was on the other side of England!)
So it is very helpful to have a map when writing, but unless your story takes place over many differant locations, I wouldn't reccomend adding one.

Maps are loads of fun to draw, even for non-fantasy worlds. Diagrams of character's neighbourhoods, houses or even bedrooms can help you visualise the world as well as avoid continuity errors -- from huge plot holes to details like whether your MC's window is next to or opposite his wardrobe.

I have a map for a couple fantasy countries, and the world is so complicated (half the cities are mentioned in one story alone) that a map becomes essential. I'm looking at it fairly often, especially if the city isn't familiar to me. However, I stop at country maps. My cities/palaces are far too complicated to get a map. There is an advantage to having multiple ways to get to various locations— I can fudge it a tinny bit.

However, I tend to plot before mapping and only map if the plot gets that complicated. If it's a 3-5 location story I'm usually alright to keep track of it all, mentally. And since I hate having junk locations, I just don't map it out.

However, the likelihood my story will stay with that few locations is low, so I usually make a map after awhile for major projects. Smaller ones, though, usually don't get a map unless insanely complicated.

Unless the map contributes in a relevant matter to the story, and features many of the places within, it is not necessary. The story itself should be clear enough that one is never necessary. At best, it's a nice trinket, but it should not be a draw to the book for the reader. At worst, it's poorly drawn and misleading and annoys the reader. I hope no agent or editor ever suggests one, as that would increase the cost of printing.

I think it's a good idea to make them.

Maps are nice, especially for fantasy novels I think.
In the Lord of the Rings series, it was especially helpful for me. If that map hadn't been there, I'd have probably been just super lost.
Then again, maps are really nice for just about any story that features a lot of different locations. In the novel, Thirteen Reasons Why, there are multiple locations and a lot of traveling. Having a map made following the story a billion times easier.
So yeah, go for it! If nothing else, maps are super fun to make!

Like many have stated, in Lord of The Rings the map was very helpful. Not only to know where everything was, but to see the distance they traveled in order to reach Mordor. I also recently read a novel by Roland Smith called Peak, which is about a teenage boy climbing Mount Everest. He put a map of the mountain and the camps along the way and I found that very helpful. It truly depends on if the map will assist the reader or if it will just make things more confusing. If you really need to don't focus on a town, try to limit yourself to country or territory.