I thought this map looked cool, until I saw the awesome map HBO put up for its series A Game of Thrones (here). Oh well, until I find some better program than paint that is cheap, this will have to do.

Anyway, I'm more or less making things up as I go, assuming that rivers and forests generally go on the side or below mountains. This continent is meant to be known for jungles and deadly animals.

This will also be where the book takes place with a major portion inside the mountains.

That's better than I can do for paint. I've always found it hard to say where mountains are with forests on them. Mapping coral reefs is a neat idea. All in all it's a good map.

Great job!

Thanks ladies! It does the trick for now.

Do you always use paint to make your maps, or do you draw them by hand sometimes?

I draw them by hand, then upload it to my computer via printer, trace with bolder and more precise lines on paint, then add more details like rivers and mountains with paint. My mountains look pretty weak, as do my forests, so I'm still trying to find something for that.

My mountains are pretty miserable, too, but they give the general idea. *Shrugs* I've never used Paint to define the lines better...how do you do that?

Try making your mountains a little more three dimensional. I based mine partially off the ones Tolkien drew on his maps and I thought they came out great.

No, I'm pretty content with my maps. I do love Tolkien's maps, but I don't really want my mountains to be that elaborate.

There are certain times when extensive planning for mountain height and density is helpful and other times when it risks becoming too much of a distraction from the writing process. To each their own, but be careful of worldbuilding disease, where you never actually get writing because all the details have to be exact which may never even make it into the story or have any real impact. On the other hand, some people need that kind of detail to feel their world is real.

As for your question on how to use paint, I upload my handdrawn map, paste into Paint, and then either paintbrush over the lines or erase and redraw with more detail. I took your question and will do a you tube video on some of the world building things I'm doing right now, so stay tuned.

Okay, I will! Thanks.

That's pretty awesome! If I was doing this I would probably make the islands look more like they were formed by something and not just stuck out there.

The Bard,
Do you have any examples of what you mean? Many of my continents have edges that look like they were broken off from other continents, but sometimes islands just form by volcanoes rising from the ocean floor. With this in mind, doesn't it make sense for those type of land masses to just be there? Btw, my science on island formation is a distant memory of something I saw on tv, so I could be wrong about that.

Timotheus, I like this map, 'tis very good! I do have one suggestion though - the mountains look like they have been formed by almost random motion, almost as if they're scattered around the continent. Mountains generally come in ranges, though. What I always find helpful in drawing ranges is sketching out general tectonic plates for my world - from there I put the mountains along the edges of the plates.

eru

That is way better than I could ever do! I would try, but I still have to figure out what my world is like.

Thanks Dri, but it really just took time more than anything. I'm sure anyone else could do better.

Eru, you have a point about the mountains. I don't know much about fault lines other than earthquakes, mountains and techtonic shifting occur there. Do you have an example of a map with those lines drawn in along with mountains?

In developing my characters the past few days, I'm seeing the importance of deep mines and I'm assuming you need mines to be inside a mountain range, maybe even on the fault line?

I made some changes to my map, adding a fault line through the middle of the island and erased some of the mountains that were farther away. I even moved islands from the east side to the north and south to line up their mountains with the fault line. How does it look now? I also found an image of the Ring of Fire, including lines of the tectonic plates.

Great job, Timotheus! It's looking really good!

What is the fault line supposed to do?

The fault line was from Eruheran's suggestion to make my mountains centered along a fault instead of just random.

@Timotheus: I'm sorry, I don't get in here much. As to your question, I do have a map in the WorldBuilding subforum with rough tectonic plates drawn on it.

Here you go: Link. I'm not much of a scientist, but that's just what I came up with

eru

Great job, Timotheus! I can really visualize the geography in that map, it is really good.

What exactly is the Ring of Fire? A tectonic plate, or a place like the Bermuda Triangle? (I'm guessing the former). Maybe I just missed the explanation . . .

Thanks Ciela,
The Ring of Fire, from what I remember is a section where the tectonic plates converge and create lots of volcanoes or earthquakes. Something like that.

By the way, did you know that your name is a direct contradiction with the old adage, i before e, except after c?

Ah. That would be a fun adventure to navigate, eh? Volcanic territory, unsteady earth. Sounds awesome.

Haha, I never noticed that. You can tell how well I pay attention to grammer/spelling rules.

Yes, the Ring of Fire is the area surrounding the Pacific Ocean, where the tectonic plates converge. There are hundreds of volcanoes and volcanic islands on these joints.

I can't believe I haven't seen this before! It's brilliant.

Very detailed, but very simplistic. Elegant, not confusing.

The fault line is also a nice touch. More elaborate than most people are willing to get.

Thanks Neil, I appreciate that. Unfortunately, I'm not doing anything with this world right now as I focus on editing my other book and write short stories. I have thought about trying to write some short stories though in this world. We'll see if I can get one on this continent.