
As for other authors of the genre, the 
business of world building is a key first step, and no exception for godmother of high fantasy-fiction Ursula K LeGuin (previously 
here and 
here) who meticulously 
charted out her complex, layered narratives before populating them with her characters.  Along the same lines as Le Guin’s pithy quote about how people who deny the existence of dragons are often eaten by them—“from within”—mapping out her domains has an immediate impact: “I saw and named Earthsea and all its islands.  I knew almost nothing about the but I knew their names.  In the name is magic.”  More on the exhibition from Hyperallergic at the link above.