Any tips on creating a fictional world?

I'm trying to create a fictitious world for use in my art. It's going to have a lot of detail - histories, geographies, beliefs, governments etc. - but I'm not sure where to start. Are there any resources or tips on how to successfully create a complex, detailed imaginary world?Any tips on creating a fictional world?
You have a very good start. Now add the day to day details. How do people eat? What do they eat? Where do they work? What is transportation? Currency? Communication? Problems? Climate? It goes on and on. Anne Mc Caffrey has done a wonderful job of creating the fictional world of Pern. Every single detail has been explored. Have you read them? Pax-CAny tips on creating a fictional world?
I ALWAYS start with characters. looks, personality, ect.





As far as political systems and philosophy go, come up with something that reflects YOUR idea of great, and also something that makes people think. Make people wonder and come up with ideas. Seriously, I am sucker for these kinds of things.





Geography- be creative! But have it reflect your society.





History- Again, it should reflect your made-up society... Perhaps have something to do with our generation, if the story takes place in the future. This is the best way about making comments about our current society.





After this, go into details. Once you have come up with the whole, create the individual.


good luck! :)
I look for books that have the detail data that matches my ideas best. I bought a home design book to get ideas for room decor, plant books to include plants, rock books for geology, books on sea life for ocean animals, fossils books for historical creatures, field guides for animals, etc.





A good way to use a history or geography book is to use the style of speech and replace it with your own details. I added history by finding news stories and then changing the details to match my own novel.





Since its always best to show instead of tell for religion, political and economic behavior, think of how you could show the behavior in a scene i.e. have people praying rather than saying people pray. Often movies can show areas that are hard to visit -- I like many of the BBC series.





I create a document that contains a list of all I've decided. See the references below for books with detail lists.
One pretty standard and often used way is to start with this world and start changing things. Some obvious kinds of things that can be changed would be to have people live a lot longer, or to be able to read minds. You could also make garbage valuable and gold trash. Just start with the real, change it, and see what you want to do next.
Here's a site that has lots of tips on creating imaginative worlds: http://www.elfwood.com/farp/writing.html It's mostly geared toward fantasy writers %26amp; has some tips for writers of any genre. And if you have any specific questions about fantasy writing that isn't covered there, you can join Elfwood and ask here: http://forum.elfwood.com/
obscure colours that arent natural like pinks and purples in buildings and hints of blues in animal fur.... you get what i mean. ive got some lovely fairy kingdom pics that embrace that type of thing
yes. depend it on ur real world, only the imaginary things should be the parts of your world u wish u cood change
Try sneezing with some vegetables in your mouth.