xliii - Day 14 - How do you map out locations, if needed?

I had a visual arts teacher in my last year of high school that insisted we reference real-world models or examples of everything we were going to commit to paper.  Up until that point I had a romanticised idea of how artists worked: they had an idea, and without ever leaving the comfort of their own minds, somehow that idea materialised of its own volition.  It had never occurred to me that if someone wanted to paint or draw a rock, that one would actually look at real rocks or pictures of rocks.  It seems self evident now, especially when I put it that way, but there's an undeniable mystique about the creative process.

I'd been interested in writing for years, though I had mainly done it by myself for fun.  My English teachers had been very supportive of the interest, but I hadn't received any real education in writing beyond the basics all high school kids get: spelling, grammar, and the fundamentals of composition (primarily academic).  Having someone, even if it was in another discipline, outline a distinct process was a pivotal step in my development.

So, how do I map out locations?  I borrow or steal outright from the real world.

There's no reason not to rip the sign off the front of the pub I used to visit in university and pop my characters into it.  For the places I can't just insert, there's a reasonably good body of work about our environment (both natural and manufactured) and why it is the way it is.

Extrapolation is a key skill in the creation of speculative fiction.  Whether I'm any good at it or not, there's no reason not to try to keep at least one foot on the ground when I'm making up places for my characters to visit.