I see a world through a glass darkly

[ravells]

Start with a sketch using pencil and paper. Move features around until they are consistent with whatever explanatory text you've made up for them - you may find that you might have to change the text to fit the map in parts where there is a circle that cannot be squared. Descriptions of people and places often give clues to the environment. Are the people dark? (Sunny environment) or Light? (Cold / Temperate environment). Are they good sea-farers? (On the coast). Were they once great conquerors who have gone to seed? (Large country area but falling apart at the edge). Are they war-like? (Castles and forts?), are they civilised and great traders? (big cities?). Etc etc. Is the name of a town 'High Garden' (suggests that it's on a mountain slope?)

...and so on.

A while back I entered a competition where I had to draw a map of a published fantasy novel (The Steel Remains by Richard Morgan). Lucky thing I enjoyed the book, but I went through it numerous times with a highlighter looking for geographical clues which could be found in many different places. For what it's worth, I've attached my notes below from which I constructed the map.