I certainly believe that a writer needs to create maps and other things to help write a story. Whether or not they end up in the published work is another topic, one no doubt decided by the publisher.
As my stories tend to move back and forth between the real world of some 200 years ago and the world found when sailing BEYOND THE OCEAN'S EDGE, I need to be knowledgable with regards to two worlds. It is very easy to find maps and other information about this world, but for the other I have to rely upon my imagination. The best reason I can give for having a map of that world is to allow for consistency. Truth be told, I don't have an actual map yet, but I do have a general idea of it tucked away in the recesses of my brain. I do have a basic map of STONE ISLAND itself, taped to the wall next to the computer.
I've also found that as I write ship vs. ship battle scenes, I tend to diagram them. Especially when dealing with wind powered vessels, it is very important to know the relative positions of each at every point of the fray. It's also important to know the restrictions placed on each, and the options allowed to each because of the wind's direction and location. I'd hate to have some sharp-eyed reader point out that ship "A" could not possibly have made the move it did, because it would have had to have sailed for six miles directly into the teeth of a 50 knot gale. The truth of the matter is that once I've written the scene, I rarely go back and reconstruct the diagram based on what I've written. Nor do I attempt to do that when reading similar scenes in other folks' work.
Lastly, I find it helpful to generate and keep a list of characters. It helps to prevent reusing the same names and serves to identify those who may have dropped from sight but who will return at a later date in the story. Such a list is also good to maintain consistency in spelling of character names, particularly when the spelling is unique or unusual. Dave
Maps and Other Reference Material
As my stories tend to move back and forth between the real world of some 200 years ago and the world found when sailing BEYOND THE OCEAN'S EDGE, I need to be knowledgable with regards to two worlds. It is very easy to find maps and other information about this world, but for the other I have to rely upon my imagination. The best reason I can give for having a map of that world is to allow for consistency. Truth be told, I don't have an actual map yet, but I do have a general idea of it tucked away in the recesses of my brain. I do have a basic map of STONE ISLAND itself, taped to the wall next to the computer.
I've also found that as I write ship vs. ship battle scenes, I tend to diagram them. Especially when dealing with wind powered vessels, it is very important to know the relative positions of each at every point of the fray. It's also important to know the restrictions placed on each, and the options allowed to each because of the wind's direction and location. I'd hate to have some sharp-eyed reader point out that ship "A" could not possibly have made the move it did, because it would have had to have sailed for six miles directly into the teeth of a 50 knot gale. The truth of the matter is that once I've written the scene, I rarely go back and reconstruct the diagram based on what I've written. Nor do I attempt to do that when reading similar scenes in other folks' work.
Lastly, I find it helpful to generate and keep a list of characters. It helps to prevent reusing the same names and serves to identify those who may have dropped from sight but who will return at a later date in the story. Such a list is also good to maintain consistency in spelling of character names, particularly when the spelling is unique or unusual.
Dave