World Building

World Building! Yay. This is almost as fun as character development. (If you don't like character development, then it's almost as fun as chocolate cake. If you don't like chocolate cake.....WHAT EVEN ARE YOU? WHO DOESN'T"T LIKE CHOCOLATE CAKE!)

Behold, the handy dandy list of...stuff.

• Language 
• Folklore
• Dress
• Food
• Holidays and Festivals
• Literature
• Fine Arts
• Family and Gender roles
• Relation to Authority
• Core Values
• Biases
• Body Language
• Concept of Cleanliness
• Manners
• Approaches to Medicine and health
• Humor
• Beauty Values
• Attitude toward school
• Rules of Conduct
• Concept of Justice
• Pride
• Competitiveness
• Attitude about environment
• Work ethic 
• Expectation
•  Family Life and Structure
• Politics
• Technology
• History 
• Origin Tales
• Jobs/Professions 
• Flora and Fauna
• Geography 

You should probably also brain storm:

• Where does the water come from and how is it distributed? Do they have water lines? Buckets? 
• Who makes the food? Farmers? Creepy futuristic factories? 
• Who transport and distributes the food? Are there groceries...village markets, etc.
• Modern Utilities. Electric, running water, etc. Does everybody have them, or just the richer? Are they specially designed to work in that area (Example: Anti-magic coated stuff) 
• What happens to the trash and sewage?
• What building materials are available?
• What do people do when they get sick?
• What do people do in case of a natural disaster?
• How are large objects moved?
• What items require skilled labor to make? 

Remember, your answers might change depending on where you are in your world, and what social and economic level the people are.

I would also suggest answering ALL the questions. Even if you never use them in you story, it adds depth and personality to your world which will then show itself when you write.

Cheers
Mary Kate