[Umesha Chalanie]

Hey Lady_Linda - it's an Aussie school.

And sorry Bardos, didn't answer any of your question back there, so I will now.

You don't need to know every detail about history, unless you plan on retelling/rewriting it. General info. of it is good, though, because you can get a better insight in the workings of the 'medieval' world - the era which most fantasies are in.

A map is also good, it helps create better imagery, and if you're creating a completely new fantasy world, then description, description, description. But not too much description.

[Lady_Linda]

Ok :0)

~L~

[wastra]

World Building is pretty important for writing a believeable and 3 dimensional work of fantasy. Unlike other writing styles where hte reader can fall back on his knowledge of the real world to fill in the gaps, the fantasy reader has to be given at least enough of the facts to make the world seem real- this is a challenge other genres do not face, and one of the most underrated of skills of good fantasy writers.

A map is a good idea if your story encompasses a good deal of travel or incorporates large geographical areas. It helps flesh out the details in terms of relative distance and time of travel. It isn't necessary to publish the map, but it is vital to have it to refer to in your own writings.

Finally, I agree that a good grasp of real history (both political and mythological) is indispensable to a world-creator. It is always better to know "why" things are the way they are in your world in order to make the reader understand it.
Take this example:
Joe Smith has created a worl in which there are 4 ancient kingdoms, one ruled by and inhabited by humans, another elves, another dwarves, the last gnomes. That's fine, but the world is only two dimensional without further development.

"Why" are there kingdoms of different races rather than all races living intermingled?

What events transpired to bring the world to its current politcal stage? Why are certain races friendly towards each other, while some hate? Why have they never been ablew to overcome their differences?

There's a difference between "just making something up because it sounds cool" and creating a world that is believeable and 3 dimensional. If you understand how our world came into being hte way it is, and how certain religious, political, and social situations came into being in reality, you can use that knowledge to make the reader 'believe' situations in your own fatasy world. Such complex political and social realtionships don't just materialize out of thin air, they develope as a long, deep, complex relationship of events and consequences- having at least the idea of how they came into being in your own head will make your writing that much more believeable.

[KATS]

Wastra: I agree completely and couldn’t have explained it better.

[Strange Angel]

You want detailed worlds? How about this?
http://www.fool-cola.com/Worlds_Main.html

Coincidentally, one of the worlds I'll be writing about will be called 'Wolf's Head,' a world I actually thought up while camping last summer. It will be a heavily forested planet where predators are so dominant and aggressive that humans have to live in heavily fortified settlements and have learned to accept high rates of population loss to predators.

[Strange Angel]

By the way, a totally fab on-line source for mythological info can be found at www.pantheon.org (http://www.pantheon.org)