This post is a part of the "Writing locations" series. Make sure to check out writing a medieval village, writing a travel story, writing a medieval city and writing a castle as well. Outside of that, if you wish to read more about creating a map for your fantasy story or about world building in general, I invite you to read some other posts of mine as well.
This time, we'll have a look at writing stories located on islands.
An island can be a home to people or it can be inhabitated. It can serve specifically as a place to live, or it can be used to mine / collect something that only grows there. In a much darker setting it can also be a prison island or a place where unwanted people are sent. It could be a holy place for specific rituals only, or an island where the water has healing powers. Or one where nobody is living because of an active volcano. A holiday resort or an inescapable fortress - there are countless possibilities.
"When we look at what we know of our past, especially in the Celtic world, islands were once seen as holy places, wild and monastic, such as Ynys Enlli in Wales, or Lindisfarne in the North-east." - independent.co.uk
There are six types of islands you can create:
• continental - the island was once attached to the continent, but got isolated because of sea-level changes and tectonic activity
• tidal - tidal island is connected to the mainland through a natural or artificial causeway
• barrier - barrier island is an elongated, narrow landform that parallels coastlines. It's separated from the mainland by shallow lagoons, estuaries or tidal marshes
• oceanic - isolated landmasses that rise abruptly from the ocean floor, often formed by volcanic or tectonic activity
• coral - coral island is created when coral reefs grow up in thick layers from the seafloor and they break the water's surface
• artificial - man-made island, made from either natural materials like sand or rock or by using synthetic materials like concrete or recycled waste
Take a moment to think about the weather on the island. Is it significantly warmer or colder than in different places? What are the dangers its inhabitants face - storms, tsunamis, tornadoes? How do they deal with them?
Islands have specific cooking ingredients. Because of the access to the sea / ocean, it's typical to eat fishes, shrimps, crabs, lobsters and other sea animals.
People living on the islands could spend their days swimming, deep diving, surfing, sailing, fishing or going for adventures on the search for new lands.
If your story focusses on pirates or sailors, keep in mind the dangers of such a life. There are many illnesses typical for people who spend prolonged time on the ships, for example losing teeth or infections. Vitamin C deficiency was very common.
Make sure to research on how life really was for the sailors. You probably have a pretty distorted image of it because of movies and other medias - I know I did when I was only starting writing My Nepenthe.
Some of the challenges for people living on the islands may include limited resources and more complicated transportation.
Why would you choose islands as the location for your story?
• lifestyle and culture differs there from when you live far from the sea / ocean
• you can describe the beauty of sea life and/or include sea magic (such as magical underwater entities)
• you can include it to show how the people living on the island can be isolated from the outside world, or to show how they maintain the connections
• play with creating a religion deeply tied to the sea / ocean
As always, it's good to learn more about the real-world islands to understand them more and to be able to create better fictive islands.
"Many people dream of living simple lives on small islands, but few are aware of some of the unique challenges that accompany this distinctive lifestyle. From negotiating surrounding waters to creating a sustainable home and making a viable life away from urban conveniences, small-island living can be rewarding or difficult (or both), depending on myriad circumstances" - 49thshelf.com
Some interesting tropes connected to islands, seas and oceans:
Monster Island: The abode of hungry monsters. If it's a Lost World, the heroes might escape with a dinosaur to show off (if it doesn't eat them); if it's covered in Eldritch Ruins, they'll be lucky to escape with their sanity intact.
Alien Sea: the oceans of alien settings are depicted as strange and unusual to emphasize the area's unearthly nature
Born Under the Sail: A culture whose lifestyle is heavily centered on sailing and the sea
Port Town: a harbor district often host to an unsavory or criminal subdistrict filled with smugglers, Black Market goods, privateers and pirates, thieves and prostitutes.
Shipwreck start: A protagonist's story starts when they're stranded somewhere after their shipwreck
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