The fantasy and sci-fi genres may – more than any other genre – allow you to explore people, themes, and issues in larger-than-life scenarios. While world building is an important part of any story, it is especially important to the fantasy and science fiction story. A fantastic world is part of these genre’s appeal.

These
genres allow you to develop exotic settings that cannot be found in
the real world. Even so, they typically are grounded in real life in
some way so that readers can appreciate them. This is typically done
blending, taking out of context, or exaggerating subjects found in our
real world.

• Animals:
  What species qualify as
  intelligent or non-intelligent will vary from series to series. Be
  sure to know their eating habits (carnivorous? Eat magic?)

• Races:
  For maximum effect, races need
  to be different in more than appearance. Consider giving them
  different speech patterns, social structures, and abilities.

• Magic:
  There is a whole series of articles on this blog about designing
  your magic system. Don’t forget the social, environmental, and
  social effects.

• Alternate
  world: Giant forests,
  floating islands, and multiple moons are all ways to introduce
  fantastical elements

• Technology:
  Whether steam-punk, magic-driven, or futuristic, part of the appeal
  of non-contemporary genres is
  the different
  technology. Alternate technologies enable and restrict character
  actions so choose careful how advanced, wide-spread, and esoteric
  your technologies will be.