Some time ago, I ran across a post on the Society of Cartographer’s email list— What I was doing there, I don’t remember. I’m not a cartographer. I know little about cartography. However, this post enumerated five principles of map design. And it provided insight into other areas and activities, including writing stories. The post began:

We all know that there are good maps and bad maps. The problem is defining which is which. The reason for this is that whenever we discuss the principles of map design, we have to admit that we don’t know what they are.

The following principles were presented to the recent British Cartographic Society Design Group meeting at Glasgow University. They did not go unchallenged.

What does that have to do with being a novelist or short-story author? Replace “map” with “story,” and the same five principles still apply. And in writing circles, they too have and will continue to be challenged.

Based on these five principles of mapmaking, here is my version of…

The Five Principles of Storytelling