I'm an engineer. This sequence could be useful in organizing your thoughts and actions.
Requirements -- what do you want this world FOR? Background for a novel? Setting for a game? Steampunk zombie battles would differ from medieval geofiction, which would differ from straight D&D or Live Action Barsoomian Diplomacy-Martial Arts Since this is not business but pleasure, include what we call Desirements too: if you always wanted to make up stories about jungle adventures, go ahead and say "need jungles". Fascinated by ships? Then say "plenty of seaborne trade & warfare".
Specifications -- if the first was "why" , this is "what". How much land vs. water (vs. phaseless void.. Don't leave out stuff you want, tempered by your desire for realism/ plausibility).Size? Climates? Inhabitants? History? Terrain? If you have ideas that will call for multiple Amazon-size rivers, that'll influence choices later, so state such up front. Sky? A moon larger than earth's will cause certain effects in subsequent steps.
Requirements affect specifications. If the game you run is land bound exploring, regardless of any desire for ships, you'll need decent-sized landmasses too.
Architecture -- what does it fit into? D&D rules? GURPS? Novel #1 on an adjacent planet? Laws of physics (which I'd suggest you stick to reality with: it 's tough to vary much and stay plausible. How does it contribute to other worlds/ lands/ series. You could put physical parameters here or back in specs: will you be printing it out wall-sized? Modeling it 3d for tabletop miniature play?
Design -- here's where you can delve into tectonics, climatology, geology, and the like. Decide by here whether you'll use software or physical tools you already know, or whether you want to try something new. Run through some tutorials if you need to. Shove some landmasses around, difference some clouds, or wiggle some inked lines into place. Push buttons and set parameters in Fractal Terrains, Wilbur, what-have-you.
implementation -- if you want to differentiate between this and design, , maybe design is roughing things in and experimenting, while this could be the drawing and lettering. Of course some people think visually, and have been drawing and sketching since the requirements phase. If you let a computer generate stuff for you, tweak it to mesh with your aims & goals.
You HAVE been showing us these steps , yes? Best way to gather helpful criticism, is to. " work out loud" in a Work-In-Progress thread.
Pay some attention here (all steps really) to use ability/ reusability/ maintenance. If various fellow gamemasters rename adjoining territory, how much effort will it be to mod your maps to keep up with them?
Test and Debugging. Think of these as making whatever changes turn up from the review of your maps in these forums.
Does that help any, to see a process laid out?
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