One of the great features of fantasy and science fiction is world building. An author controls everything that goes into their imaginary worlds. The best part is all he or she needs is imagination. Being an all powerful deity is not required. That being said, how does a writer make their world believable? You want a place your readers want to be immersed in. If writing fantasy, you want them to remember your creation like they would Middle Earth, Gwynedd, Xanth or Earthsea. There will be parts they want to visit, and dangerous areas to avoid.
My degree is in geography, so when I conceived the world for my books, designing the map was second nature. The next step was a name. I wondered, "What could people call the land they dwell in?" The inspired answer, "Llandwellyn." I liked the Welsh touch with the spelling.
Filling in Llandwellyn came next. There's nothing like the omnipotent feeling from designing, deleting, and moving entire rivers, mountain ranges, cities and the like. I decided on a large continent, about the size of continental Europe, so there was a lot to fill in.
But what is a world without residents? A place for very short and dull tales. As my stories evolved, so did the geography and history of the people and creatures. There are distinct Norse, British, Germanic, Mideastern, Chinese and Mongolian influences, along with cultures I made up.
A lot more was needed, such as government types, climates, economies, all those items that make the world feel complete. The final touch is magic. So there are rules governing magic that needed to be included.
It's possible to turn world building into a textbook. Tolkien's "Silmarillion" can be considered as part history, part novel. Mine evolved along with the stories and continues to grow.
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