After reading many of the awesome forum posts here, and searching for specific things, I've found a *lot* of great information. I've had the desire to try to write a book for a long time. I've had idea after idea pop in and out, and I really enjoy the process of writing. I've been dumping my thoughts into notes, and I've compiled a few dozen pages, and I am starting to feel the world I am working on form and take shape. I've found a lot of great resources here, and they've all helped me make more progress in a few short days than weeks and weeks of just thinking.
There is one topic, however, I haven't really found an answer to: maps creations & geography. I'm starting to have ideas on different areas of the world, how to piece them together, how different people would react to each other. How do I help document these layouts so they aren't lost in the voids of mind forever? Do you just make *really* crude sketches of a world on paper? How do you ensure that your world seems realistic from a more scientific manner? (climates, wind patterns, weather, etc) Where do you think its a good place to draw the line of "outlining your world" and "obsessing of the little details of migrating swallows, and whether or not the shapes and locations of my continents are realistic in regards to migratory paths"? (Yeah, that's a little extreme, but I need to show a little humor now and then?
).
To give a little background, I'm a web designer and developer, and I am completely deprived of any drawing capabilities, but the perfectionist in me loathes looking at terribly sketched "shapes" of what I know looks better in my head. So any thoughts on this, tips or pointers, would be highly appreciated.
Thanks, and I look forward to being a member for the forums.