Geographical theory.

[Ghostman]

I'm am planning on starting a
What causes rivers to form and in what directs would they travel in, besides down?

The basic "rules" of rivers:
* They always flow downhill, never uphill
* They take the path of least resistance. "Resistance" means how much erosion the flowing water would need to cause in order to shape a path through the terrain: A river will find it much easier to run along the center of a valley than to plow through the surrounding hills. On flat terrain the river is more likely to head where the soil is softer.
* Rivers start narrow on the highlands, and become wider as they reach lowlands and head toward the coast. Rivers crossing relatively flat terrain tend to meander (doing zig-zag turns).
* Rivers almost never split - tributaries flow into the main course, not out of it. The major exception to this are deltas, where big rivers reach the sea.

How much do tectonic plates affect the formation of continents, and how are they themselves formed and shaped?

Plate movements can split and merge continents, though this of corse happens extremely slowly. They also form mountain ranges (where two plates collide) and rift valleys (where the plates depart).

[Ascension]

There are numerous topics here, far too many to link them all up, on such things and a quick forum search will answer all of your questions.

[Hai-Etlik]

This is a good place to start: http://e23.sjgames.com/item.html?id=XRPFREE2