New Member seeking advice

[Escaliba]

Hello, I am a new member from Sydney, Australia.
I am a writer and am seeking advice in the creation of simple maps to illustrate my writing.
I know nothing about map creation and hours spent researching available map making tools has only muddled me further.
I need to create a map to illustrate a huge fictional outback property in Australia: encompassing hills, rivers, dwellings, fences, trees, roads, trails, tracks, paddocks, etc.
Can anyone please suggest some suitable ways to start?
Any suggestions will be much appreciated.

[ChickPea]

Hi Escaliba, and welcome.

We've got lots of info aimed at new mapmakers and my suggestion is to work through a couple of tutorials to learn the basics. Even if the style the tutorial produces isn't quite what you want, you'll learn heaps from completing the tutorial, and you can take these skills further on your own.

There's info in this comment, and downloadable tutorials in this thread (I'm not sure what software you'll be using). Pick a couple of tutorials and work through them from start to finish. Then, start a thread in the Regional/World mapping Work-In-Progress area, and develop your map from there. If you're stuck with something in particular, just ask for help and I'm someone will oblige.

Good luck!

[Escaliba]

Hi Escaliba, and welcome.

We've got lots of info aimed at new mapmakers and my suggestion is to work through a couple of tutorials to learn the basics. Even if the style the tutorial produces isn't quite what you want, you'll learn heaps from completing the tutorial, and you can take these skills further on your own.

There's info in this comment, and downloadable tutorials in this thread (I'm not sure what software you'll be using). Pick a couple of tutorials and work through them from start to finish. Then, start a thread in the Regional/World mapping Work-In-Progress area, and develop your map from there. If you're stuck with something in particular, just ask for help and I'm someone will oblige.

Good luck!

Thank you so much, ChickPea. That was a tremendous help.
I will be working from a beautiful new Apple Mac.
Have started on my first tutorial.
I can see possible light at the end of the tunnel, re map-making!