Greetings everyone

I've been trying to draw maps for quite a few years. I've started several fantasy type novels but every time I decide I need a map I end up stalling*. I have tried using AutoREALM to create outlines but my maps ended up looking a mess as soon as I tried adding features. So I decided to try GIMP as I read quite a lot of people on this site use it. I followed a tutorial through on YouTube and have produced a couple of maps I can work with. So far so good

But there are a billion and one features available in GIMP and I'm only really scratching the surface. There are some pretty good maps showcased on here and some rather impressive effects. I am looking forward to learning a lot more and hopefully in time I can start giving back to the community. I've been having tremendous fun with GIMP these past few days.


* I end up stalling because I am paranoid about continuity/consistency within my stories. I need something solid to refer to and a map is one part of that. My trouble is I dig deeper and deeper into backstory - why are those people where they are? Where did they come from? When did the first settlers arrive? Who else has arrived since then? What languages are spoken? Why are the settlements where they are? Sometimes I think I'm only going to write a few lines in a notebook to explain some history or geography or something but then end up writing several pages, going into more and more detail. Then I end up having to research something to make sure I get my facts straight. And that's just backstory!