I am very character-centric in my writing. It is my tendency to make deep characters but under develop the world. The world is just as important as characters to develop. At the end of this article/guide, I have a list of World-Building links that have better description of what I’m trying to explain. In fact, I use these links for my own writing.

-In the Beginning-
There is now nothing. The bare basics your world will need is:
A Name
Continents/Islands
Countries
Geography
Settlements

That is to say, your world needs to have physical boundaries. You have to make a map eventually. Every place will need a name and location on the map.

-Flora and Fauna-
The world needs things living in it. This means deciding:
Temperature/Biomes (Desert, Tundra, Deciduous Forests, Grasslands, Tropics, Temperate, etc)
Plant Names (if necessary for the story. Tree names, flower names, medical plants, poisons.)
Animals (creatures, monsters, domesticated, wild)
Sentient Creatures

-Civilization-
Assuming you have a sentient race, there will be civilizations or social structures.
Government Types (monarchy, democracy, republic, theocracy, democratic monarchy, Fascism, Tribal, anarchy)
Social System (Feudal, Rank System, Caste System, Economic Class System, Class system, Clans, Tribes, none)
Currency type (coins, paper notes, gil, credit)
Languages
Industry (farmed goods, livestock, metalwork, shoes, education)
Education System (universities, schools, village elder)
Laws

-Culture-
Each civilization also has a culture!
Religion Types: (polytheistic, monotheistic, etc)
Deities: (names of the gods)
Festivals:
Common Myths/Legends:
Ethics/Morals:

-History-
The world you make should have a past. Make note of major events that may have happened.
Wars:
Religious Encounters:
Prophecies:
Dynasties of Rulers:
Major Natural Disasters:
Major Events: (assassinations, start of new governments)

-Supernatural-
Magic Types:
Magic System: (limits on magic, how to use it)
Details: (How it’s learned, what creatures have it inherited, etc.)

-Summary-
The more detail you can put into the world the easier it makes writing the story. It also adds to character development. Character creation and world creation do NOT have to be done isolated from each other. They affect each other.
-Links-
Seventh Sanctum
F.A.R.P.
//end
(I have the links just not posted.)