Hello!

[Jdambrose]

Hello everyone,

I stumbled on the Guild while trying to figure out how far a horse could travel over different kinds of terrain and was amazed to find that someone else was actually thinking about these things! Then I quickly realized that you all may be just the resource/support group I was looking for. I live in the Washington DC (USA) region where I'm an attorney by day and an exhausted mom/writer at night. (I have a 1 year old and a 2.5 year old. Half my writing gets done on my commute to work)

I'm currently about 300 pages into writing a fantasy novel (which will likely turn into 900-some pages at the rate I'm going) with a desperately insufficient map that I'm trying to fix. So I'm going to be stumbling through your quickstart guides and humbly requesting guidance as apparently my rivers (and possibly everything else) are all askew.

So thanks in advance for enduring my newbie-ness. I look forward to meeting everyone!

Jennifer

[Diamond]

Welcome to the Guild, Jennifer! (We forgive you for your attorney-ness )

Don't be shy about jumping right in and posting a map (or even a sketch of same); we strive to make this place as friendly as we can, so there is generally someone willing to help out and answer questions. Once you get to five posts you can PM folks, too. I'd recommend starting with some of the more popular tutorials (i.e. the most viewed and/or commented on ones). Even if you end up not liking the results, you can still get your feet wet.

And good to have another aspiring writer on board - I think roughly 97% of us are struggling fantasy novelists. And I hear ya about that commute writing - those hours are some of the most productive of my day.

[Chick]

Hi Jennifer, Welcome to the Guild!

There is a great tutorial in the sticky section of Tutorials, called Quickstart Guide to Fantasy Mapping: http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?t=4276

From there, go to Hand Drawn Mapping for the Artistically Challenged: http://www.cartographersguild.com/sh...ad.php?t=10655

Once you have completed those two tutorials, you'll be well on your way!!




(PS. Personal note, it appears we have something in common beyond fantasy maps, check the right-most item on my personal webpage )

[arsheesh]

Welcome to the Guild Jennifer! As a new parent I can certainly identify with how difficult it is to juggle work, family life and creative outlets. Usually it's the last that receives the least amount of attention. But you'll find no lack of inspiration here. I second the links that Chick posted, they'll get you off an running. Look forward to seeing your map come along.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh