I wish I could tell you I started this map with some grand, master plan.

I didn’t.

It started with me sitting there thinking, “Okay… where does this even take place?” and then immediately realizing I had absolutely no answer.

So I did what I always do; I started drawing.

The First Version Was Bad Like…really bad.

Their was a coastline and it made no sense. The mountains were just kind of there. I threw in a river because it felt like maps are supposed to have rivers.

There was no logic to it yet. No history or purpose.

The turning point wasn’t when the map looked better.

It was when I started asking annoying questions about it.

• Why is this city here?
• Who would actually live in this region?

That’s when things started shifting.

I moved entire regions around. I redrew towns. I realized one area I thought was important… actually wasn’t. And another area I barely thought about suddenly became central to the story.

Then Map Started Arguing With Me. This happens to me a lot when I’m writing, but I didn’t expect it with the map.

I’d plan something in the story, then look at the map and go, “…that wouldn’t work at all.”

So instead of forcing it, I adjusted the story. And honestly, the story got better because of it.

I Didn’t Realize How Much It Would Shape Everything, I thought the map would just be a reference.

It’s not. Once I understood that, I stopped treating it like background and started treating it like part of the story itself.

It’s Still Not “Done”

I don’t think the map will ever be finished.

But that’s kind of my favorite part. It feels less like I “made” the world and more like I’m slowly uncovering it.

If You’re Curious… At some point I’ll share more of the map here; probably with notes, maybe some of the changes it went through.

Just don’t expect that first version.

That one’s staying hidden.