I thought I had spent enough time on the place-names. I drew a map with a pencil. I redrew the map using the Campaign Cartographer 3 application. It was surprisingly hard to use. I redrew the map again using Hexographer. It was easier to use, but still quirky.
It felt like I had looked the map over carefully. Super carefully. Several times. With several different tools. Besides two soft copies in CC3 and Hexographer, I keep the PNG copies in the Scrivener project. I have the original paper draft in a drawer to glance at from time to time.
And then I realized I’d created a character from South Coast. I needed to confirm his origin on the map to see how long a journey he’d made. And. Wait. South Coast wasn’t a place name. Wait. What? It sounded so perfect. But it’s not in my world?
It sounds better than the old place name. It provides a helpful, specific landscape contrast.
Okay. Fine. Rewrite. Grumble. Grumble. Distractions. Narrative Flow.
Or, perhaps, be open to inspiration.
It was a minor detail in Book I. It’s important in Book II where the conflict horizon expands.
And. He had a long journey. The first two days were coastal sailing, but then it would be about seven days hard riding.