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@mcburnellauthor.bsky.social

Definitely doing it. I'm thinking of #Cartaugust

July 1, 2026 at 12:59 PM

@mcburnellauthor.bsky.social

My dudes! We're gonna be talking MAPS next month.

Here's an outline of the prompts for anyone who wants a sneak-peak (or for anyone who wants to make a map but isn't sure what to put on it!)
Looking forward to this... #Cartaugust #WritingPrompt

Background is a photo of a rack draped in lovely maps, heavily tinted sepia.
#CARTAUGUST, a prompt game for maps nerds! by @mcburnellauthor.bsky.com
INTRO:
1. Introduce yourself and your world
2. Terra Incognita: are prats of your world unexplored?
3. Does the map change over the course of your story?
NATURAL FEATURES
4. Mountains, canyons, elevation or barriers
5. Rivers, lakes, or oceans. Or navigable ways!
6. Challenging environments: deserts or swamps
7. Lushness/ biodiversity
8. Regions of Flux: predictable change
9. Regions of Catastrophe: disaster strikes... often
10. Regions of Peril: something hunts you back
11. Cataclysm: somewhere scarred
12. Where would you put a National Park?
RESOURCES
13. Minerals
14. Good soil
15. Hunting or fishing
16. SPICES
17. Contested resources
18. Anything we don't have on Earth?
CIVILIZATION
19. Borders
20. Holy places
21. Center of Power
22. Center of Trade
23. Center of Learning
24. The absolute boonies
25. Ruins
26. Highways: travel on easy mode
27. Byways: the hard-mode option
28. Battlefields
OUTRO
29. What has the process of map-making taught you?
30. Shout out! Whose map would you especially like to visit, and why?
31. What's YOUR favorite place in your world?

July 11, 2026 at 5:49 PM

Pixies a/k/a Map Nerd

@mcburnellauthor.bsky.social

#CartAugust
Sorry #CartAugust friends, I was caught up in drawing a map yesterday and forgot to schedule the post! 😂

Talk to me about your world's Library of Alexandria or Oxford

#CartAugust: a prompt game for map nerds! by @mcburnellauthor.bsky.com
Civilization: Day 23, Center of learning
Where is the wisdom stored? A place where books are hoarded or a school
**Don't forget alt text. I know it's hard to know what to include with images that are really info-dense, but do your best.

August 23, 2026 at 11:37 AM

Pixies a/k/a Map Nerd

@mcburnellauthor.bsky.social

Okay #CartAugust crew! Yesterday we were fancy, today we're going humble. Where is your world's good earth?

#CartAugust: a prompt game for map nerds! by @mcburnellauthor.bsky.com
Resources: Day 14, Rich soil
Where is the richest, most fecund dirt?
**Don't forget alt text, I know it's hard to know what to include with images that are really info-dense, but do your best.

August 14, 2026 at 5:00 AM

Zed Prospero

@zprospero.bsky.social

I'm going to start a list of #PromptGamesMonthly (I may need help 😅) to list out active prompt games.

Prompt Games for August 2026:

#MythAugust
#SumLuv
#AugustWorldbuilders
#Cartaugust
#AugCharWork
#Critterary
#AnthropologyAugust
#FantasyIndiesAugust

1/2

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #Writers

August 2, 2026 at 3:29 PM

SkarabraeAuthor

@skarabraeauthor.bsky.social

#Cartaugust

Here is the best map I could draw for my sword and sorcery setting:

#WritingCommunity #ReadingCommunity #WriteSky

August 1, 2026 at 2:34 PM

Pixies a/k/a Map Nerd

@mcburnellauthor.bsky.social

Hey #CartAugust crew, tell me about some ruins!

#CartAugust: a prompt game for map nerds! by @mcburnellauthor.bsky.com
Civilization: Day 25, Ruins
Talk about a place where history left its mark.
**Don't forget alt text. I know it's hard to know what to include with images that are really info-dense, but do your best.

August 25, 2026 at 5:00 AM

Pixies a/k/a Map Nerd

@mcburnellauthor.bsky.social

#CartAugust
Still talking about the features of the terrain. Today: water! Where is it, and can we use it to get around! Is it fresh and life-giving or poisonous?
If you don't have water, talk to me about navigable ways

#CartAugust: a prompt game for map nerds! by mcburnellauthor.bsky.com
Natural features: Day 5, Waterways
Rivers, lakes, or oceans. What's the most noteworthy stretch of water here? Is it a navigable way or a death wish?

August 5, 2026 at 5:00 AM

Pixies a/k/a Map Nerd

@mcburnellauthor.bsky.social

Hey #CartAugust crew, talk to us about your hinterland. Where are your hicks from the sticks?

#CartAugust: a prompt game for map nerds! by @mcburnellauthor.bsky.com
Civilization: Day 24, the boonies
Tell me about the ass-end of nowhere: where are your sticks?
**Don't forget alt text. I know it's hard to know what to include with images that are really info-dense, but do your best.

August 24, 2026 at 5:00 AM

Kira of the Wind (Erika McCorkle)

@kiraofthewind.com

#CartAugust

I want to explore @seffydv.bsky.social's world and study the way magic works in different places😍 Experiencing all the different cultures would be a bonus!

Pixies a/k/a Map Nerd @mcburnellauthor.bsky.social · 28d

#CartAugust
This is quite an ask, which I realize only in retrospect. So many writers with so many amazing windows onto their amazing worlds. It's been an amazing month! Anyway: where in someone else's world would you love to go, and threat of immense danger be damned?

#CartAugust: a prompt game for map nerds! by @mcburnellauthor.bsky.com
Outro: Day 30, Shout out
Talk up someone else's map today. Where is somewhere you would love to visit - or that particularly scares you - and why?
**Don't forget alt text. I know it's hard to know what to include with images that are really info-dense, but do your best.

August 31, 2026 at 3:45 PM

Pixies a/k/a Map Nerd

@mcburnellauthor.bsky.social

Hey #CartAugust crew! Still just broad-brushing the basics today. Tell me about the mysterious, unknown, and unexplored. Where in your world is giving cartographers horror vacui?
Don't forget to share your map! Check out one another's worlds!

#Cartaugust: a prompt game for map nerds by @mcburnellauthor.bsky.com
Intro: Day 2, Terra incognita
Does your world stretch beyond the margins of the map? Are parts of your world unexplored?
** Don't forget alt text. I know it's hard to know what to include with images that are really info-dense, but do your best.

August 2, 2026 at 5:00 AM

𝑾𝒓𝒆𝒚 🇵🇷 🏳️‍🌈✍️🤖🚀

@wreybies.bsky.social

#PretendPanel Gracious, what 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 I have? 😊 Folders filled with Face/Place Claims, numerous maps made in Wonderdraft, completely revamped every two months when my aesthetic shifts (saving for #Cartaugust). I have modern obsidian biface blades just to know the feel, weight, temperature in the hand.

July 17, 2026 at 12:48 PM

Sean McKnight

@ynot1989.bsky.social

#cartaugust these two (very much in need of updates) maps of the capital of the United States ca. 2132 and the capital of the Martian Planetary Commonwealth.

August 21, 2026 at 1:19 PM

Pixies a/k/a Map Nerd

@mcburnellauthor.bsky.social

Switching gears, #CartAugust crew. It's time to dial in and talk about the people. Let's start off with the lines they draw between each other.

#CartAugust: a prompt game for map nerds! by @mcburnellauthor.bsky.com
Civilization: Day 19, Borders
What are the important lines where people divide themselves?
**Don't forget alt text. I know it's hard to know what to include with images that are really info-dense, but do your best.

August 19, 2026 at 5:00 AM

Pixies a/k/a Map Nerd

@mcburnellauthor.bsky.social

Happy Monday, #CartAugust fam! Let's talk about your world's short-nosed bear. Where are people at risk from something that means them ill? Whether out of malice or simple hunger?
🪐 📚️

#CartAugust: a prompt quote for maps nerds! by mcburnellauthor.bsky.com
Natural features: Day 10, Regions of peril.
Something in this area hunts people back.
**Don't forget alt text. I know it's hard to know what to include with images that are really info-dense, but do your best.

August 10, 2026 at 5:00 AM

Pixies a/k/a Map Nerd

@mcburnellauthor.bsky.social

You shall not pass!
Hey #CartAugust crew, time to dive in and really start looking at your maps. Today, we're talking elevation: highs, lows, and if you have neither, barriers to movement. Tell me about the geology, the history, famous explorers who lost their lives there... What do I need to know?

#CartAugust: a prompt game for map nerds by @mcburnellauthor.bsky.com
Natural features: Day 4, Barriers.
Talk to me about elevation changes in your world. Mountains, canyons, caves. Which is most interesting and why?

August 4, 2026 at 5:00 AM

Pixies a/k/a Map Nerd

@mcburnellauthor.bsky.social

Hey hey everyone, welcome to our awesome new map game! We're here to celebrate our love for fictional maps all month long! Before we start poring over details, let's start with the basics: tell us who you are and a little bit about your world. And don't forget to share your map!
#Cartaugust 🪐 📚️

The background is an image of maps on a rack heavily colored by sepia.
#Cartaugust
a prompt game for map nerds! by @mcburnellauthor.bsky.com
Intro: Da1, Say Hello
Introduce us to yourself and your world. Don't be shy, share your map! What's it called? Who created the art?
**Don't forget the alt text. I know it's hard to know what to inlcide with images that are really info-dense, but do your best.

August 1, 2026 at 5:00 AM

Pixies a/k/a Map Nerd

@mcburnellauthor.bsky.social

#CartAugust
Could be a natural monument like the Grand Canyon, could be Rome. What is a site on your map that people consider sacred?

#CartAugust: a prompt game for map nerds! by @mcburnellauthor.bsky.com
Civilization: Day 20, Holy places
What place on your map is venerated, natural or manmade?
**Don't forget alt text. I know it's hard to know what to include with images that are really info-dense, but do your best.

August 20, 2026 at 5:00 AM

Pixies a/k/a Map Nerd

@mcburnellauthor.bsky.social

Hey #CartAugust crew, we're talking the Powers That Be, whatever that might mean in your world. Where are they?

#CartAugust: a prompt game for map nerds! by @mcburnellauthor.bsky.com
Civilization: Day 21, Center of power
Where do the leaders live, possibly surrounded by a military?
**Don't forget alt text. I know it's hard to know what to include with images that are really info-dense, but do your best.

August 21, 2026 at 5:00 AM

SkarabraeAuthor

@skarabraeauthor.bsky.social

Some of the forests are incredibly beautiful.

#Booksky #CartAugust #WritingCommunity #ReadingCommunity #WriteSky

Pixies a/k/a Map Nerd @mcburnellauthor.bsky.social · Aug 12

We've been talking a lot about tragic, scary things the last few days. Let's do pretty, instead. Let me know about a breath-taking natural wonder.
🪐 📚️ #Booksky #CartAugust

#CartAugust: a prompt game for map nerds! by @mcburnellauthor.bsky.com
Natural features: Day 12, Majesty.
Where in your world is stunning, unique, and so deserving of a National Park, TR would shave his mustache off to see it?
**Don't forget alt text. I know it's hard to know what to include with images that are info-dense, but do your best.

August 12, 2026 at 4:14 PM

N.G.Chloe(Glassflowers: Pixiv Printify)

@ngchloe.bsky.social

Okay #CartAugust there are no forests, but if you head East you'll find crystals that resemble long golden grass or wheat

Pixies a/k/a Map Nerd @mcburnellauthor.bsky.social · Aug 7

Okay #CartAugust crew, let's talk rampant nature. Where are resources plentiful, so life can go ham? Forests are often the most plentiful biomes, but if that's not the case for your world, hit me with an alternative!

🪐 📚️

#CartAugust: a prompt game for map nerds! by mcburnellauthor.bsky.com
Natural features: Day 7, Biodiversity.
Where does nature let its hair down and get lush? Not to put too fine a point on it, but tell me about your forest!
** Don't forget alt text. I know it's hard to know what to include in images that are really info-dense, but do your best.

August 7, 2026 at 12:22 PM

N.G.Chloe(Glassflowers: Pixiv Printify)

@ngchloe.bsky.social

#CartAugust
The Silver Sands carries no rivers. All the water comes from underground

Pixies a/k/a Map Nerd @mcburnellauthor.bsky.social · Aug 5

#CartAugust
Still talking about the features of the terrain. Today: water! Where is it, and can we use it to get around! Is it fresh and life-giving or poisonous?
If you don't have water, talk to me about navigable ways

August 6, 2026 at 11:20 AM