It’s been a very strange summer in terms of my productivity and sense of passing time, but school is back in session and I’m trying to get back in the groove. I’m working again on the contemporary YA I focused on during the online revision course with the ever-wise editor Cheryl Klein, and realized I needed to know much more about the setting. So I’m taking the time to create a map of the community, including local businesses. I’m getting to know proprietors and citizens and landmarks.
I’m adding detailed texture to the story.
Just having that map and sketches of those additional characters makes me feel like an authority on my story. Taken separately, details can seem like tiny, sometimes insignificant things. But when you add them up, those tiny details turn into a solid foundation.
Tracy Abell 
Go, Tracy! That kind of deep knowledge always shows up in the writing, even if the details themselves don’t.
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Thank you, Amy. I feel as if I’m running a road race and you’ve popped up on the course to cheer me on toward the finish line.
*pant, pant*…I can do this…*gasp, wheeze*
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Yay for setting and details, and Amy Greenfield, too — I agree, these matter so much. And cool photos, too. Cheering you onward!
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I feel like such a goof for never creating a map before. I was just telling a friend that maybe I avoided it in the past because I’m spatially-challenged (reading maps is really hard for me), but now that I’ve done it I hope to utilize that tool for all future manuscripts.
Thanks so much for the cheers and support, Jeannine.
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I did that for one of my novels. Then my critique group told me that I had too many directions in the manuscript! It’s a good idea to do this research, but resist the impulse to North-South-East-West the reader too much. Just because you know, you don’t have to include everything. 🙂
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That’s so funny! I never thought about the possibility of North-South-East-Westing my readers too much. HA! I’m mostly happy because it helps me visualize movement more easily which gives me confidence which, I hope, will keep me writing away.
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