Issues With Drawing A Map, Is there A Trick To Doing It?

[SomethingToPonder]

Hey all, Well.. Im having some issues, I want to have a map drawn out of my world before i start my story, It just helps me with my whole planning of my story. Only problem is im having real trouble doing it properly, I just dont seem to be able to do it well,I have gone through around 25 sheets of paper, taking my time. If i could get a rough sketch of it all sorted out, would someone be able to do it for me? Possibly in return for something else? Maybe a preface or something ? Maybe even point me in the direction of a website that could do it?
To be honest, Im not expert writer so i dont really want to pay for it,as its not going to end up in a major novel anyway Which is why i was hoping i could perhaps swap something in return for someone to do a sketch of the map Im looking for.(after i describe it or provide a rough sketch.) Even perhaps some people could give me tips on map drawing.

God it feels like a pretty big cop out writing this, But when i look at it people have illustrators for a reason i suppose, Im just not quite up to par. Cheers all

Edit: Ok So i might have made a slight improvement, I am still looking for someone of course who may be willing to do some kind of trade.. However i am now also seeking some kind of help with symbols for things, just incase i need to do it myself. mountains are easy but forests and the rest might be trickier.. Cheers all

 

[teacup]

Foah is going to be making a tutorial on how to make maps in photoshop, I think. Not sure if this is helpful at all, but there it is.

 

[SomethingToPonder]

Thanks very much ,That actually is very helpfull.
Any idea on a timeframe?

 

[teacup]

No idea, just PM him, I suppose.

 

[Edankyn]

On the thread where Foah mentioned the tutorial he said he's just waiting on a mic to finish it

 

[Foah]

My mic should arrive tomorrow morning, so a youtube tutorial will be available sometime around noon Pacific Time. I think it can be very helpful, and even if I use Photoshop you can use GIMP, which is a free alternative, to replicate the procedure ^^

 

[SomethingToPonder]

Spot on mate, I managed to get a decent outline , it sort of looks like a massive island, but thats not problem, So il be avidly waiting on your tutorial.
Cheers

 

[Bruce McKnight]

I've had good luck with the AutoRealm tool. It's free and there's YouTube tutorials.

Good luck!

 

[Asura Levi]

If you are out of ideas, just take any country, state, city on earth, rotate it and you have a map. Just scale it in or out. People won't recognise it.

You can also just start with the points you know: "City of Azaria lies between the The Great Mountains of Arake and the River Azar. It is north of Southshore, who lies by a great lake." I don't need to know where exactly it lies, just have an idea. If they are just a few miles or at opposite hemispheres.
Go slowly, that is all.

 

[Gurkhal]

Edited by me