Do you draw a floor plan?

Eldritch · Mar 5, 2008

As you're writing, do you draw a floor plan of the building (or a map of the world) your story takes place in?

Stew21 · Mar 5, 2008

I never have. I believe some do. I generally have a picture of what I need in my head, though if a room, street, or area was needed for a plot point in a very specific way (view from a particuular window to something on the street, or rooms required to be next to each other and where in reference to other rooms a house.) It just hasn't come up in my novels so far. I suppose it if did, a little lay out of the space would be a good tool to use. For me though, so far, I haven't needed much more than a picture in my head to go from.

sunna · Mar 5, 2008

I do have a map. At first it was to keep locations and travel times straight, then it became a fun procrastination tool. I still refer to it for places and distances; I've found it very useful.

Shadow_Ferret · Mar 5, 2008

Yes. I've drawn a floor plan of sorts for the house my MC lives in, so I don't go saying "down the hall" one instance, then "up the stairs" the next to get to the same room.

And in world building for fantasy, yes I create detailed topographic maps.

Bufty · Mar 5, 2008

I only did it once, after the tale was finished, and that was to double-check that what I said took place in a particular location could indeed have taken place there - if that makes sense.

Willowmound · Mar 5, 2008

Eldritch said:
As you're writing, do you draw a floor plan of the building (or a map of the world) your story takes place in?

Only in my mind. I have a pretty good memory for these things.

Calla Lily · Mar 5, 2008

Absolutely. Street plans too. They're essential for me. I'm a visual writer.

vrabinec · Mar 5, 2008

I haven't yet, but that's only because my WIP is historic, so the setting is real. I have another novel started which is sci-fi, but that's largely Earth based, so I won't do one for that. But I will be making maps and floor plans for a fantasy I'm planning.

NicoleMD · Mar 5, 2008

I'll do them, usually during the second draft. Especially if my details aren't ringing true.

Nicole

funidream · Mar 5, 2008

My notebooks are filled with little drawings - floorplans, maps - I also am fond of doing simple diagrams of how I envision complicated scenes with multiple characters - a kind of who is sitting/ standing where and how the characters move bird's eye view. These scribblings not only help me keep track (for continuity sake) but they help immensely in spurring creative thought.

HourglassMemory · Mar 5, 2008

I really don't need to draw it.
I can walk around the house of my characters in my mind.

If I draw it it's out of pure entertainment.

I have however, started drawing street-plans, based on what I see on several scenes.
I can have my character talking and I see buildings or parks around them. I draw those as would be seen from above.
This helps me draw the entire city, because I know, I "feel" where the scenes are taking place, like "It's too far north." or "This library, where that scene happened, is to the left of this place." So I put them in relatively accurate places, and then fill in the blank spaces, aka streets and buildings and then fill those with things like cafe bookshop and this generates more ideas and so on and on and on.

Craig Gosse · Mar 5, 2008

Actually, since I also free-lance doing things like 3D modeling, animations, etc., I quite often create 3D scenes for certain settings. This is especially helpfully in scenes where line-of-sight is very important: I can 'game it out', and see what works best...

Inspired by this thread: An Offer!
http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94962

stormie · Mar 5, 2008

For my first novel, I drew a rough map of the island and a portion of the mainland. I had too, or else by the middle of the book, the characters would have been walking right into the ocean and drowned when they should have been heading into the town.

I found it to be sort of fun; a break from the actual writing. I even found scenes I could do while I was drawing the map.

ORION · Mar 5, 2008

My editor asked me to draw it out so she could see if it was consistent- and I know other authors who have been asked by their editors to draw things out - copy editors too- not all the time but it happens-
it's always good at the end of your draft to sketch it out to catch inconsistencies.

aonarach · Mar 5, 2008

much of the first 3 chapters of my current WIP take place in a large farmhouse, so for that i did a floor plan. i keep it tacked up near my desk along with other notes (time lines, research notes, etc.). for me, whether or not i need a floor plan really depends on the setting of my story.

but i agree, it's a great procrastination tool! (i love MS excel!)

Zelenka · Mar 5, 2008

I do. Helps keep the details consistent and helps me block the action. With larger buildings it's also a good source of additional little ideas / details, as I tend to think of things as I'm working out what would be where within the place. (plus, it's about the only use I have now of two years' technical drawing and stage design training

)

dirtsider · Mar 5, 2008

I haven't so far but I plan to, if necessary. I have a copy of Visio has the ability to diagram the room as well as the time line and outline the if/then scenarios.

I'm thinking of getting a mapmaker program for worldbuilding eventually for when I start medieval fantasy stories.

jannawrites · Mar 5, 2008

Good question!

I've drawn out a (very crude) map of the lake where much of my WIP takes place. I had to visualize the cove with the MC's house, as well as the location of things like the clubhouse, the firehouse, the lake's association office, pool and beach, which all play some role in the ms. And, too, I live at a lake community myself, which is what inspired the WIPs location - and I had to be able to keep my lake's identifying landscapes separate from the fictional one's without getting myself confused.

Charlie Horse · Mar 5, 2008

As an artist I pretty much suck. Anything I draw ends up looking like a 2 year got hold of a sharpie. So no, I don't draw floor plans.

Now if we were talking dioramas, that would be a whole 'nother story.

Scrawler · Mar 5, 2008

I don't draw one myself but I've chosen my MC's home by searching real estate websites, even though her home isn't a major factor. The ones with photos and a floor plan are my favorite.

thethinker42 · Mar 5, 2008

Eldritch said:
As you're writing, do you draw a floor plan of the building (or a map of the world) your story takes place in?

I always do maps of fantasy/sci-fi worlds, simply because I need to be able to keep track of distances, directions, etc.

As far as building floor plans, I only do those if it's absolutely critical that certain things be in certain places (i.e., if there's a secret passageway, or if someone is infiltrating the building and needs a precise layout).

mscelina · Mar 5, 2008

Yep. Always. I have world maps, city maps, and some smaller floor plan style maps for big houses that will be used a lot or 'dungeons'. It makes it easier for me to track where the characters are going/are/have been. I'll even use different colored magic markers to show where they've been and when, keeping a key on the side. *shrug* Just makes it easier for me to visualize and less prone to fixing some major directional dyslexia during rewrites.

Dreamer3702 · Mar 5, 2008

I don't make world maps, but I do make maps of the area my character will be in. If it's a complicated chase through a city... I map it out first so that I keep all my details straight.

johnzakour · Mar 5, 2008

Only maps are inside my head which is kind of scary!

Jeremy · Mar 5, 2008

I do like to create maps for myself. I haven’t quite got into mapping out cities and such, but a map of the continent to help pin point locations and distances of areas help me a ton when it comes to writing. It makes the world real for me. This is, however; after a ton of brainstorming and basic creation already done inside my head.

Do you draw a floor plan?

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