There is already plenty of top quality advice floating around the board on the making of both maps and monsters. And there is no better practice than actual writing.
Fortunately, Wayfinder Magazine still has plenty of space for submissions for issue #13. The theme is Ustalav and the deadline is Dec. 31st, just three short days away. Which, as chance would have it, is the same number of days RPG Superstar contestants has to turn in their next submissions once the winners of the previous rounds are revealed.
So give voting a break and crack out a monster or a gazetteer article with a killer map. Trust me, if you are among the Top 32, you will be extremely thankful for every second you have spent preparing in advance for the assignments in the following rounds.
Now, get going! What are you still reading this thread for?
>DEADLINE: December 31, 2014, 11:59pm
It matches the turnaround times for future rounds, not sure I can manage that though. Is this a recurring thing, or is it special to this issue?
[Edit: Most recent needs assessment implies they desire low level 'Weal or Woe' and 'Gazetter'. I have no idea what either of these are. Suppose I can take a look.]
If you're unsure of what kind of submissions they are looking for, download a few of the previous issues. They are free and contain a ton of cool stuff. Even if you don't want to submit, you should grab a couple of issues anyway, just to read.
As for the short deadline, you had better get used to that if you want to be in this contest or in freelancing in general. Sometimes, just slamming your thoughts down into print is the best ways of setting your creativity free. And some times, you may find that you have advanced in a RPG design contest, and a rules twist means that you have to scrap every idea you have been working for so far, all while making room for your regular life, work, family and all the other curve balls life tends to throw you.
Yeah, I just grabbed all the issues (What? FREE? ALL OF THEM!?) and am checking over issue 11 now. I'm unaware of too many nuances at the moment to be "ready for freelancing". Familiarization time is going to eat into my hours budget. I feel like I should really try Gazetteer since I can use that research in the next round, if I make it. But, I feel more confident in low level Weal or Woe types of projects. Whichever one has an idea pop up first while reading about Ustalav I'll probably go with.