General Geography

Prelude

Geography is a key point of any world, one which will help the viewers/players/readers further understand basic aspects of it. It is geography that makes interactions, wars, adventures and journeys possible, after all.
Many underestimate the power geography can have over a certain world, some expecting it to bring nothing with it. In reality, having a firm solid geographical base not only allows both creators and viewers to further visualize a world, but to enhance the immersion experience into it.
The intention of this section is to fully explain many geographical features and how to use them in order to create a familiar environment that looks good while being as realistic as possible. Fantasy settings might have ways of explaining things that would otherwise be physically impossible, but this section will be directed towards physically possible Earth-alike geography.
Something to point out is that this guide is made for everyone, even complete strangers and newcomers to geography, reason why explanations will be simplified for everyone to understand them. Complex explanations will be provided if seen necessary, but advanced explanations may require whole articles by themselves, reason why some will have external information and links to further explain the topic.
This article will serve as a "main hall" from where to start braching off into topics I would like to talk about, so it will most likely grow to be a very extensive page, reason why it will serve more as an introduction and less of an explanation, hopefully helping to clear the image of taboos related to realistic geography and showcasing good examples of well done realistic geography found amongst the World Anvil community.

Introduction

Amongst others, this guide will include detailed articles about a lot of subjects, most of them incredibly complex and very relevant for an inmersive worldbuilding experience, all linked below:

Coastlines Main Page

Topography (Terrain height differences and more)

Inland Water Bodies

Rivers

Guide to Islands

Introduction to Tectonic Plates & Volcanic Activities

More

Common Mistakes and FAQs

• Land is not either mountainous or plain; there are many other types of terrains
• Tectonic convergence is not the only reason why mountains originate
• Volcanic hotspots and isolated mountains are very rare and tend not to occur on continental zones of tectonic plates
• Rivers don't split, but rather join together to create bigger rivers
• Lakes may have multiple intakes, but they can only have one draining river
• Coastlines must be diverse, varying from extremely rough rocky terrain to straight lines of beachfront.
• Not all rivers form river deltas, in fact, most do not
• Tectonic plates is a simple topic if explained well, as it is nothing to fear about and should always be considered while making maps
• Nature has plenty of patterns, but, not every place fit for a pattern should have one, as it would create repetitive and incoherent geography: Not every cold place should present fjords and not every tropical place should present island chains
• Mountains higher than 7 kilometers are very rare, as their own weight makes them not being able to be made higher
• Most volcanoes to be found are either extinct or asleep, unless on a planet with increased overall volcanic activity

Commonly heard taboos about geography this guide will try to debunk

• Tectonic plates are just obnoxious and complex and useless
• Nature has no patters that can be understood and put in practice
• Nature is perfect and incomprehensible for our human brain
• Every geographic event or phenomenon is random and arbitrary
• Geography is a waste of time