Question: Mapmaking for writers?

[Jason L.]

I am writing a series set in one concrete (fictional) town, in which people will be interacting with the same locations over several books:, I know that Jefferson Park is off of Roosevelt Avenue, that the Bean Stop Café is on Chancellor Street, that there is a Chinese restaurant on Constitution Avenue, that there is a trailer park in the southeast corner called Pine Needles Trailer Park (The Needles for short), and locations of, so far, about half a dozen other businesses, streets, residences, and university buildings, because, of course, it's a college town. The more I do this, though, the more I am getting overwhelmed. Initially I took a blank sheet of paper and started making a physical map as I mentioned something, and based the college itself on my undergraduate university. But now as things are becoming more complex, I just wish I had some way to make an updatable map on my computer.

Is it possible? Yes, and no. You would think that it would be easy, and in some ways, it is. but largely map-making software is for DND gaming, so, there's a lot of castles and I don't think there are any places to name roads (once I decided that the bus stop was on Flint Street, and then accidentally renamed it Finch Street, then Water street because it's not that important a locale, and the character who uses the bus got actively annoyed with me).

I am willing to learn a new software, sure, but my native skill as an artist is such that many of the drawing softwares are useless.

Hive Mid, can you help?

 

[E G Logan]

My WiP is set on a fictional island and I was finding all the bits and pieces tricky to keep track off. I thought of 'borrowing' another island somewhere – maybe other side of the world – but I was afraid it would still be recognisable.

Then I thought of turning it upside down. Not perfect, but working moderately well so far.

 

[Jason L.]

Yeah, for me it's just a piece of paper with a hand-drawn map that I keep updated. It's...so not ideal.

 

[Peyton Stafford]

There are apps for this, as with architectural diagrams. I used a mapping app for fiction but that was years ago, and I do not recall the URL, but I am sure you can research and find one to your liking. Think maps of fantasy worlds, then how they would work in your college town.

 

[Nikky Lee]

I used a combination of Inkarnate and this medieval city map generator. Obviously yours is modern day, but this map generator might be promising: City Map Generator

Once I found a layout I liked I moved a few things around then downloaded it as an jpeg/png (can't remember which), then imported into Inkarnate to add the names, locations, etc.

 

[MattScho]

I used to have a program that allowed you to design your own city. But Godzilla came through and stomped it to pieces every so often, and the earthquakes were just about constant.