APDAF, here's a tip that may help you some:
Instead of drawing ships inside the template, draw them in a large Paint file. Draw your ship in the center, and copy-paste drawings of similar vessels around it. This will allow you to use them as a close-at-hand reference for things such as length, draft, freeboard, details, structure and equipment placement, ect. I recommend (and most people would most likely agree with me) against using this to make kit-bashes, instead work on your drawing skills first.
As an example, here's one such file that I used to draw my Schwabenkof Class:
(Link for large image)
Ultimately, drawing real ships is one of the best meathods for improving your skills, but this may help if you insist on not trying one.
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"If people never did silly things nothing intelligent would ever get done." ~Ludwig Wittgenstein