A map of story

 I'm currently plotting out the third book in my series of novellas, and it's getting complicated.  My characters spend all of their time jumping between space stations, sometimes punctuated by going down to a nearby planet. I managed to get though the first book without a map, and I've just finished the first draft of the second, but when I started to plan out novella three I ran into problems.

I realised my characters are going to have to criss-cross some of the same areas of space several times, so they'll put into the same stations multiple times.  So I needed a record of those stations.

When I started plotting those stations out I realised I needed to change some details in the narrative to match up with my new plan.  The story spine which runs through the whole of the five novellas is the search for and rescue of five sisters who are in great danger. I decided at the end of novella two that I'd gather them all together on a 'safe' planet.  At least, it would be safe enough for long enough to deal with the corruption which put them in danger.  The trouble was, I hadn't fixed the location of that planet.

Now I've drawn the map I've realised my characters are crossing vast swathes of space to rescue each sister.  I could've made those journeys more efficient if I'd drawn the map before I started writing.

This is where the word 'fiction' earns its keep. These stories would broadly fit into the space opera category.  Stories in this sub-genre  share the characteristics of empires/governments which sprawl over multiple star systems, and starships travelling easily between them.  If ever SF embodies wishful thinking, it's with star travel in space opera stories.

I also realised when I drew the map that it only covered half of human space.  I have my characters spending a lot of time in the Outliers.  These are the planets farthest away from what I've just casually termed Central.  And, like all other far-flung colonies, they're not happy about being governed from a distance.  

This gives extra danger for my characters, and sometimes they'll have to decide not to take an obvious route in order to stay out of danger.  That's one more reason to map the space they're travelling through.  Then I know what the alternative choices are that can add to the story.

Sometimes there is no way out, and they'll have to face that danger.  Maps are useful too when planning reinforcements.  If there's a nearby space station which is mobilising troops, it's far more feasible that cavalry will arrive in time to save our heroes.  

Mapping is hard work, but now I've done it I'm feeling more confident about keeping everything straight across the five novellas.