Cat Rambo livetweeted some of the good bits from the online class on creating fantasy maps she taught with Alex Acks and Paul Weimer earlier this month (see previous entry), using the #mappingfantasy hashtag. Most of those good bits were common sense worldbuilding advice; by and large the intended audience is authors creating their fantasy worlds. They’re the ones who benefit most from basic geological or geographical advice, such as:
"Even though ice is frozen water, it's still water, and it wants to go downhill." –@katsudonburi #mappingfantasy
— Cat Rambo (@Catrambo) December 16, 2017
Other tips would be familiar to cartography students.
"Every map has a viewpoint, whether or not you're explicitly telling the reader that." @PrinceJvstin #mappingfantasy
— Cat Rambo (@Catrambo) December 16, 2017
Here’s a point that makes sense from a worldbuilding perspective, but it has led to the cliché that every point on the map has to be visited:
Your maps should show the areas and features that are relevant to your story. If it's important to the narrative, it should appear on the map. @PrinceJvstin #mappingfantasy
— Cat Rambo (@Catrambo) December 16, 2017
On the other hand, there were some subversive bits that are so prosaic and pregnant with meaning that I’d love to know the context.