(I'm really, really new at this, so forgive me if I'm phrasing this badly or lumping too much into one question.)

I'm trying to build a world for a writing project, and while I've begun a list of geographical features (limestone karst, extensive rivers and lakes) and cultural elements (like crops I want to have grown in the setting), I don't know what to do next. Everything -- historical geology, climate and biomes, settlement patterns -- is so interconnected it's overwhelming. Because this is a writing project I can't just draw, say, trees, I need to know what kind of trees would coexist, etc. I'm pretty sure I'm overthinking it, but I don't know to what degree.

Has anyone ever started with a list like this and worked up to a map, and, if so, what kind of workflow would you recommend?