Geography in Writing: How it Shapes Your Story

What do you think of when someone asks 'what makes a good story'? The answers I've seen are usually the plot or the characters. While both elements are extremely important, other, often hidden elements bring a story to life.

Geography is one of them. Your characters must navigate through it, and your plot relies on how the geography shapes it. Geography has a very active role in the story.

How can you intentionally incorporate geography into your story to further your plot and challenge your characters?

Tone, Mood, Theme, and Symbolism

Emotional tone is essential for a story.

Does your story start in a quiet fishing town, always covered in fog? What about a mountainside cabin covered in a blanket of snow? While the first example indicates a close-knit community with roots based on fishing, the other indicates isolation and harsh weather.

This also sets the rhythm of the story. A story in a fishing town may be slow and monotonous, while the mountainside could be grueling and dangerous.

Geography can also become a metaphor as well as a map for your characters to navigate. The fishing town we're using as an example could be used for a routine life, and wanting something more. The frozen landscape could represent feeling numb.

Geography Shaping Characters

Your characters will have certain customs and backgrounds depending on where they live. Their hometown can influence aspects such as their style, how they speak, what they eat, etc. It can also influence their emotional states, including what their values and fears are.

This is also where worldbuilding can come into play. Understand the land, and build around it. How are relationships formed between separate geographies? How do religions differ? Does the geography affect how your characters interact with each other?

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Geography plays an important role in your story. Utilize and have fun with it! Thank you all for reading, and have a wonderful Saturday <3