Countries Should Have Wonky Borders
One mistake people often make when drawing maps is they make their borders look like a geometric grid. In reality, this reflects a relatively modern way of thinking. With the ability to see our world from an airplane or even space, we tend to want to divide things up in very clean, simple boxes. But, if you were on the ground and the best you could do was climb a mountain to get a read on the land, then how would you divide up borders?
The majority of fantasy stories take place in more of a medieval setting or even earlier. So if you want your world to reflect this type of setting, you will need to think a little bit differently about borders than you probably do in your everyday life.
Unrealistic Straight Lines
Does it make sense to have a border between nations in the middle of an open plain where it’s impossible to tell if you’re still in your territory? You should avoid borders that use straight lines and ignore the landscape.
For most fantasy settings, these kind of borders will appear arbitrary and unrealistic. While there are some exceptions to this principle, you should make those creative decisions knowingly and not stumble into them accidentally.
Which Makes More Sense?
Does it make sense to have a two territories seperated in the middle of a field where you can’t see where it begins and ends? How do you know if you’ve crossed into someone else’s land without some type of geographic feature? Instead, it would be much easier to recognize the boundary between the two territories is separated by the river that snakes through the landscape.
You stay on your side and I’ll stay on mine…pretty straight forward.
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Use Natural Barriers
Be mindful of the terrain on your map, and where it would make the most sense for there to be a natural barrier. You can use all kinds of geographic features such as rivers, mountain ranges, forests, or even swamps. You’ll often find that thinking about worldbuilding elements like this may cause an interesting story to emerge that you can use later.
The added benefit to drawing borders like this is they tend to blend more seamlessly into your map and are just more aesthetically pleasing. From an artistic perspective, you want to avoid things that are too jarring to the viewer…unless of course that’s your goal.
But…What About Modern Border?
But, you might say, what about modern maps? As colonization took place throughout the modern world, it wasn’t uncommon to see regions divided up in grid-like patterns that completely ignored the natural terrain and local people groups.
Now, to be fair, if your story takes place in more of a modern setting where something like this happened, then it may be appropriate to use a grid. Whatever creative decision you make, the key is to make sure it reflects what would make the most sense in the world you’re creating.
I hope you found this little Map Tip helpful in your journey to map your story. If you want to support Map Effects and help other map makers, be sure to share this with someone who will find it helpful and pin it to save for later!
Happy Mapping!
- Josh
