The Building Blocks of World Building

World building is essential in any book and any genre. From characters and their back stories, to the government, political systems, monarchies and economies, to creatures, magic systems, and religions in fantasy (the lists could go on), world building isn't something you slap together haphazardly. It takes dozens (if not more) of layers to fill the gaps in from a skeletal world to a full fledged world that readers can get sucked in to.

Author Jen Hayley posted a vlog about it and you should totally give it a watch: