The Basics of World Creation?

[Leafar the Lost]

Word building isn't actually a single activity. Rather, one builds world and story together. Even if you "completely" plan your world before writing a single word of story, once you do start writing, you'll find tons of things you'd not completely planned--little details, necessary revisions, and stray changes of mind.

So, start where you're comfortable. There are plenty of articles about world building. I recommend you read a few and compile a list of worldbuilding aspects that could or should be considered. But do not regard it as a check list, a to-do list. Consider it a list of potentialities. As you write, you may not need to know a thing about the religions of the world, or its climate. But you do need to know what sort of trees grow near a mountain monastery.

Once in a while, you'll come across fundamental questions. Maybe you don't need to know the source of magic for the present story, but if you go further, you're going to have to put some thought to that. And so on.

Given the range of possibilities across all story types and lengths, there really is no such thing as the "basics" of world creation. That doesn't keep us from talking endlessly about them though! The first rule of Write Club: talk about Write Club.

The second rule about Write Club: TALK ABOUT WRITE CLUB!!!