So I’ve recently taken up the mantle of writer with the intent of publishing a fantasy novel. My background in storytelling comes primarily from exercises as a Dungeon or Game Master for various tabletop roleplaying games. Consequently when preparing a story my brain first defaults to the creation of a setting or the essential organizations, laws, locations, and so forth rather than the plot itself. I believe that a sufficiently rich and interesting setting will naturally result in numerous plot hooks that I can later use when devising the actual storyline.
Whether or not this is “better” or “less pure” than making up a story and then a setting to go with it is up for debate; either way, this is how I tell stories.
I have very little developed so far for the setting of my first book; I know that it is to take place on earth, modern day. The choice to use our world as it is both simplifies and complicates the process of creating a setting. On the one hand, a lot of the gruntwork in terms of geographic locations is taken care of for you; but on the other hand the job of customizing the world to make it interesting enough for a fantasy novel is arguably just as intensive as starting with a blank slate.
I am so excited! This is going to be a great adventure! With my Crazy Ladies book I feel like it's Christmas every morning I wake up and get to write about my "friends". Brandon Sanderson's Robert Jordan is in the stores now. Would you like it for Christmas? I wish you could take his class at BYU. Ask Jane about it. She LOVED it. But even if you don't take it, I know you were born to write and will do a fantastic job. I think with fantasy it is best to do just what you're doing. Your setting is extremely important, but to give your characters life, I think you should start out with basic characteristics and then let them surprise you as you write. Don't be afraid to go "deep."