Realistic Maps vs Fantasy Maps
Let's have a look at my map of Linomnount.
I decided early on to make my map real-ish, not realistic. I am honestly not interested in learning all of the necessary facts about how land masses are formed, why hills and mountains formed where they did, why a lake couldn't happen here, why a well could be found there, what type of forest could exist here and on and on.
There are plenty of people that love doing this. They want their world building to be as realistic as possible. I get that. It's just not for me.
The gods in my world can cause massive upheaval and redraw the landscape when they are so inclined. They are gods, that's their right, right? I find it much more interesting when the background of the world is magical. I like when there is a story reason why that mesa is there. I like when the story explains how villages were buried underground and now there is a flat, grassy plain on top of them.
I make maps real-ish. At first glance, they look realistic. If they fail the test of realism... I'm ok with that. The gods may just move a river or bury a village next year anyway.