Hello fellow cartography enthusiasts
Wow! What a site for maps.
I have been in love with maps ever since I read Tolkien and Brooks as a teenager. I wandered from reading to the maps every time a place was mentioned in the story. Today I rarely buy a fantasy book without a map. It seems so incomplete.
While Tolkien and Brooks were not the greatest mapmakers, they definitely were great storytellers. So I set out on my own quest to find good fantasy books worth reading with good maps. A few came along, but none ever measured up to what I thought was top-notch.
So I ventured into the world of role playing games; now there I found maps. I was satisfied playing Realms of Arkania (showing my age) and the Elder Scrolls for a while. Finished the games, but there wasn't left much to do after that.
Then I began my new adventure. I created a world of my own and wrote a novel to go with it. First I drew my map on large butcher paper and plastered it all over my walls. Never being satisfied, I continued to search for the perfect map. I have drawn and redrawn my world countless times. Then came the need to put the map of my world on the computer. I transferred my hand drawn world on butcher paper to the PC. Tried MS Paint, that sucked. I found the AUTORealm software. The map was better, but still lacking.
I went back to creating and writing. Started the next novel, but didn't get very far, divorce has a way of treating you like crap. I didn't want to write, create or do much of anything with my world. The maps came down and stored away for future use.
After several years of storage the maps came back out and I felt re-energized. I started creating again, first on the map and then writing. I have created outlines for six novels, but my map just to be honest with you, sucks. I'll post it here in a few days.
I will tell you fellow cartographers, even if I never publish one book, I will be satisfied with my life knowing that I created a world. Is that a God complex? So be it if it is. Recently I have been summarizing the areas surrounding the duchies, earldoms, baronies, villages, towns, and cities in my world on MS One Note and wished I had a map to go with it. That's when I found this site.
Hopefully, I can learn some map making skills so my world will actually look like I want it to from you guys and gals. I have already found tutorials and attempted some of the tricks in making a good map.
Whether I succeed is debatable, but I do thank you for the site and the opportunity to make my world a better place.
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Originally Posted by kimbriell
