Yeah, James pretty much nailed it right there.
What I find good to do for a start, for instance if tabbing a solo and it's oriented around mainly one or two octaves. I get familiar with the notes on one string and all the intervals between them, because it's a fairly linear semi-tonal progression from fret to fret. I then attempt to identify the notes of what I want to transcribe with notes on the actual string and just go from there. Change the notes to different strings to enhance playing ease etc. etc.
That's just my way.