So, being new to all this - I see wonderful maps everywhere and wonder "how can I improve?" When I see someone who has been doing this for years, and I've only been doing it for a month, I get inspired and want to keep at this. I want to be proud of what I do. In fact, I am planning on doing a WIP thread for my first ever map project. I'm actually still working on a re-do of it, but those details will be discussed in that actual thread.

Anyways, I wanted to kind of... get a feel for how people started out and how they started their journey. I didn't expect to be getting really into map making, I thought it'd be a one-and-done type of thing for me. But I want to make awesome maps and maybe in the future make free resources for people. But I'm getting ahead of myself!

When you started out, how did you keep improving? Are you self-taught or did you go through countless tutorials to find a way to make maps that fit your tastes?

For me, I have trouble getting from point A to point B if I get inspired heavily. So, often times I struggle to figure out how to get from A to B. People don't often post their growth or starting points, and with such a large community - some people may have joined further into their journey and therefore have no old posts of what they were like when they started out.

I wanted to open up a discussion about progress and improvement. I like seeing where others have started out, as it gives me more hope that I can actually improve with critique and support.