With huge advancements in Microelectronics, Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is conquering its domain with low powered tiny sensors. These sensors are commonly used in monitoring and surveillance of remote and urban areas. Since the power supply to these tiny sensors is a battery, for the maximal efficiency of WSN, there arises a need for a maximal lifetime of these tiny sensors wherever they are deployed. Clustering is a promising solution but there is uncertainty in the selection of cluster heads. Fuzzy logic, however, can contribute to the selection of optimal candidates to play the role of such cluster heads. To muddle through the issue, we have proposed a fuzzy-based energy-efficient clustering approach (FEECA) in wireless sensor networks and also designed a fuzzy inference system that defines influential parameters for selecting optimal candidates for cluster head(CH) role. To reduce the expenditure borne by communication, master nodes are selected among the chosen cluster heads so that their communication distance to the sink can be reduced. In the proposed scenario the area is divided into the diagonal form to reduce the load of the network. Each part consists of a Sensor Node (SN), cluster head, and master node. In the diagonal form, the network is divided so that the distance travelled by the data packet through the diagonal path is always smaller than the distance in which the horizontal path exists, based on the triangular inequality theorem. Simulation experiments were conducted and experimental results unveiled better performance of proposed work in terms of stability period, more packet delivery to sink and extended lifetime.