Location Spread
What did that room look like again? What’s the building made of? Does it have an address - and does that even matter in my world? Describing a tangible place where your characters interact with and experience your world can be tough. It can also be very important. When you’re building your world, you want it to be cohesive and realistic (even in fantasy). Keeping track of every detail from type of stone used in construction to architecture style to light sources is hard. Harder still is remaining consistent.
Enter: The Location Spread
Do you ever feel like you’ve designed a location that’s just too unrealistic for your world? Maybe you’ve made a room that can only be lit by torchlight but didn’t account for ventilation, and some astute beta reader pointed out that all your characters should be dead. Or perhaps you’ve designed yet another log cabin at the end of a cobbled road and now everything looks the exact same.
Tracking Location Descriptions
I hear you: this sounds like common sense, right? You probably have your notes jotted in a notebook already, or you keep a written list of descriptions on your computer. This may surprise you, but not everyone does that.
Some folks - and I’m outing myself here - tend to be a bit, how shall I say this… messy. I’ve always had a tough time keeping descriptions for buildings, cities, and worlds straight because I used to be wildly disorganized. For a long time, I carried around a binder that was full of loose sheets of paper, notecards, sticky notes, and even the occasional napkin. Each was covered in random thoughts and notes I’d have for writing while at work or out shopping or in the middle of the night. My notes were all over the place. It was disorganized chaos.
This spread organizes all my thoughts by location in one easy to maintain spot.
How does this spread work?
This spread works by answering the following questions:
What is the location? [The elevator pitch description.]
How is the location accessed? [You can be as specific or as broad as fits your location. “By one specific door” is just as valid as “Only accessible by airship.”]
What is the building made of? [This also works for cities and regions. A desert city like Hadar would rarely have wooden buildings because it’s a rare (read: luxury) material.]
What light sources are available? [This is specific to the interior of buildings for me, but you can also use this question to think about the day and night cycle of your world, bio-luminescent lighting, how well your characters see in the dark, etc.]
Who lives here? [Again, be broad or specific.]
What rooms does this building have? [And what purposes do they serve?]
What does this building smell or taste like? [Noting the common smells of your locations will help you describe them more tangibly for the reader. I noted tastes because we’ve all been in a room that smelled so horrible, you could taste in the back of your throat. Or maybe your characters lick the walls, who am I to judge?]
Any additional defining features? [Use this question to give your locations unique life. This is the most important question, in my opinion, because it keeps you from building the exact same thing over and over again.]
Welcome to The Den
Thea, Tobi, and the rest of these thieves get up to a lot of trouble in their base. The Den is located in the catacombs under Haza’s temple in Temple Row. It has no specific address.
Entrances: I’ve noted the two access points for the Den here. One, a magical door guarded by a salt white cat. The other, a locked entrance from the sewers.
Building Materials: The majority of the Den is cobbled stone with (sparse) wooden beam supports.
Lighting: Torches and candles abound, but the Den is cross ventilated - as are all temples in Hadar.
Who Lives Here: Most of the Den members call this place home, or used to.
Rooms: This is a very large building that sprawls under Temple Haza. There are even rooms to spare, for reasons.
Common Smells: Honestly, the Den is pretty rundown, musty, and unpleasant at the beginning of Call to Fire. Thea should do something about that.
Common Tastes: I decided this wasn’t relevant for the Den, but it is relevant in other locations and during specific events.
Other Features: I can’t tell you everything.
Get Artistic: Welcome to the Den. This is the entrance through the catacombs that’s guarded by a cat with a magical touch.
In the upper right of the left page, I included information about Haza, saint of the fortunate and lucky. Her associated symbol is the chalice. [It’s a desert city after all; you’re lucky to have a clean and overflowing cup.]
Do you have to get artsy with your spread? No. It’s your journal. Do what you love. Did I forget to erase my pencil lines? Yes, yes I did.
When you’re writing, you can use this spread as a reference document to accurately and consistently describe your locations. This will save you time on editing later because you don’t have to go back and forth between sections to make sure your descriptions match. If you’re a visual learner, I highly recommend doing a little sketch or two to help solidify how your locations look.
[Also you may have noticed that this notebook is larger. I just couldn’t go back to an A4, my friends. It didn’t bring me any joy. So I’m in a B5 now. My favorites are from Archer & Olive. [Clicking this link takes you to A&O, and YOU get a discount, and I get a discount!]
What do you think?
Tracking location descriptions can be tiring and tough, and I hope this spread is an extra tool in your toolbox to organize your story. I’ve found it helpful to organize my locations in Call to Fire, from buildings to the city to the landscape of the world. If you found this spread helpful - or if you have feedback or questions - I’d love to hear from you. DM me on Instagram @RowanTheWriter_ or send me an email.
