Update: My mess of notes on Dune's factions finally made sense!
I was always confused by all the groups in the Dune books and kept mixing them up. Last night, I tried drawing a simple relationship web on a big piece of paper. It totally clicked and now I get how they all connect! This makes rereading the first book way more enjoyable. I feel like I actually understand that universe now.
Your map sketching sounds way more productive than my attempts. I tried drawing Middle Earth once and ended up with a blob that looked like a potato. The only thing that stuck was my frustration with art supplies. Guess my brain works better with words than pencils.
When you said 'my mess of notes finally made sense,' that hit home. I read an article once about how mapping out story elements can unlock deeper understanding. Like, in Dune, tracing the rivalry between the Harkonnens and Atreides visually shows how power shifts. Or in other series, drawing family trees for fantasy dynasties makes the politics clear. It's crazy how a simple diagram can turn confusion into clarity. Why do you think our brains work better with pictures for some things?