Overthinking: World Building

Great fantasy books come with gorgeous maps – Lord of the Rings, The Wheel of Time, Game of Thrones. My WIP, Tales of Mundus does not.

It's not from lack of trying on my part.

On the mirco-scale, I have 'mapped' bits of Mundus. I know what's around Leon and Celebramar's lake and the general direction to big cities and different ecological zones. (Mainly so that I can keep track of what the dragon Celebramar eats.)

On the marco-scale, I keep tripping over my education. I try to map out anything bigger than a neighborhood and I start thinking like an environmental engineer.

A typical world building exercise challenges the storyteller to think about plant and animal life, terrain, and seasonal weather cycles. In my mind, that's just window dressing. The land itself is shaped by plate tectonics, glacier drifted, and the ocean tides. In short, I can't just doodle a coast line and it feel 'right.' (As much as I enjoy Middle Earth, Tolkien had a habit of using mountain ranges like picket fences.)

There's also the anthropological side to consider. Cultures are shaped by the land. Oklahoma folklore has no sea monsters or vampires. We have Thunderbirds, heralds of the storms, and the trickster Old Man Coyote who laughs in the night.

Mundus is a magpie collection of mythos and characters. They need their native habitats, or they lose something in translation. Centaurs don't work in boglands. Everyone also needs plenty of space. Being 'culture siblings' doesn't mean any two races will get along. Imagine Elrond the Half-Elf trying to share space with Tinkerbell. Those picket mountains are starting to look attractive.

I've started, scrapped, then restarted the 'map' of Mundus several times. It's an exercise in frustration. Frankly, I'd rather spent time writing about the characters than fighting my brain. I have notes on which races and cultures are neighbors with how easy it is for people to travel. Anything more than that and I start building bio-domes (Start at both ice capes and work to match along the equator.)

There's also part of me that thinks it is good for parts of Mundus to remain Terra Incognita. A blank spot on the map is a challenge and promise that you haven't see everything.

My education emphasized structure and systems, but a good scientist has a strong sense of curiosity. All my good ideas come from letting my mind wander off the beaten path. Do centaurs wear horseshoes? Can dragons get sinus infections?

Tales of Mundus won't be published with a typical fantasy map. However, if it does get one, I pity the artist/cartographer who get roped into helping me.