Okay in a book I'm writing, the characters basically spend a month on foot traveling. I am trying to think of how many miles they would, on average, cover. Though it's tricky, given that I'm talking about a group of people, a percentage of which are small children or sick or injured, so I know I can't use the stuff for one single person. With group hikes, you move as fast as your slowest member.
Of course, I freely admit that I will cheat a little; one of the perks of writing fiction is that you can cheat and I sure as heck plan on taking advantage of it. I probably won't mention the exact distance, so all this anal retentive nitpicking is more for me, so I can create the scene in my head. Oh and because I know my strengths, know that I am nowhere near Tolkien's level when it comes to describing landscapes, I'm probably going to do something like, "It had been a month of traveling, dragging themselves over rocks, through the muck, slush, and rain, but they were finally here." Part of writing is knowing your strengths and weaknesses and I know I don't have Tolkien's ability to describe settings. Besides most of the action of the book, doesn't really happen on the road--it happens once they get to the place they were traveling to--so I thought it would be smarter to just say something along the lines of "They were here" then get back to the story.
But I would like to have some more specifics, just for myself. Anyone know of any app or website where you can type something in and find out what is three hundred miles from where you live or something like that? Tried Google Maps, but I couldn't figure it out. Hence why I'm here, seeking the wisdom of others.
Of course, I freely admit that I will cheat a little; one of the perks of writing fiction is that you can cheat and I sure as heck plan on taking advantage of it. I probably won't mention the exact distance, so all this anal retentive nitpicking is more for me, so I can create the scene in my head. Oh and because I know my strengths, know that I am nowhere near Tolkien's level when it comes to describing landscapes, I'm probably going to do something like, "It had been a month of traveling, dragging themselves over rocks, through the muck, slush, and rain, but they were finally here." Part of writing is knowing your strengths and weaknesses and I know I don't have Tolkien's ability to describe settings. Besides most of the action of the book, doesn't really happen on the road--it happens once they get to the place they were traveling to--so I thought it would be smarter to just say something along the lines of "They were here" then get back to the story.
But I would like to have some more specifics, just for myself. Anyone know of any app or website where you can type something in and find out what is three hundred miles from where you live or something like that? Tried Google Maps, but I couldn't figure it out. Hence why I'm here, seeking the wisdom of others.