I spent the last two days helping students world build for Video Game development and Comic Book development projects. That has my mind on world building overall. I’m constantly world building. Every time I listen to a book I’m listening for how these great authors unfurl their worlds. I gotta say, I am constantly awed by the creation. I am presently developing a fantasy world and have designs on a futuristic world that I may consider beginning next year–so long as I get some prime production on the fantasy world. I’ve developed a great deal of it with the visual help of Azagaar’s fantasy map generator and World Anvil, though the later serves as a repository I’ve yet to develop enough content to use.
The key, however, is understanding what it means to truly build a world. I believe you need to deep dive and consider the terrain, the history of that terrain itself (natural phenomena that shaped it), what it means for the cultures that dwell there and so on. My tip to all writers is to examine human history–like really look and don’t just dive directly for the Roman and British stuff. In truth that stuff is going to lead you terribly astray. I also think a key point is to write down every idea, because putting it on paper makes it real and frees your brain up to test those ideas against others and change and edit them–this happens far less when you are doing it in your head.