What are the most important parts of writing a story?

To start: I know this is not a new topic. I've tried looking around before dropping this question on the chamber, but I haven't really found a resource that really nails it for me. That being said, I don't really like the answers I've found so far, so if you want to forward me to another thread, please tell me why you're doing so. <br><br>So: I've been writing a fantasy story for about three years now. I've made a lot of progress, but not a lot has really happened. I've written maybe 5-6k words for my main book so far, with the rest being world-building. At this point, I have a solid outline and am just working on getting the story down. I've also recently started writing a side story that's going well, and I've already passed the 5-6k words I wrote for the main story after about a month of work. <br><br>I know this is a testament to doing more writing and less planning, and I've already changed a lot of my writing habits to try and get more words down. That being said, I still have a lot of trouble knowing what's important and what's not.<br><br>For example, I've been reading a lot of books in the same genre by various authors. Almost all of them seem to go into the history of the world, the workings of the magic, the politics of the nations, etc. I've also seen a lot of references to old legends and myths and other things that are important to the world. Now, I've done a lot of the same for my world and my book, but I'm starting to wonder if it was worth it. For example, I have a whole plot for a civil war that caused a nation to become what it is today, with important figures, major battles, and the surrounding politics. I have a solid idea of how magic works in my world, including three "magical law" systems that govern how magic works in different parts of the world. I also have an entire pantheon of gods that the people worship, complete with names, appearances, domains, and personalities. <br><br>My question then is this: what parts of all this do I need to include in my story, and what can I leave out without it messing with the story? For example, I've noticed that the aforementioned authors don't really go into the nitty-gritty details of magic or politics, and instead just give the broad-strokes of the world. However, they still manage to create a really immersive world that I enjoy reading about. <br><br>So, what should I include and what can I leave out? The only things I know that I need to include are characters, plot, setting, conflict, and dialogue. Other than that, I'm not really sure. Any help would be appreciated! <br><br>TL;DR: I'm trying to write a fantasy story. I've done a lot of worldbuilding and planning, but beyond characters, plot, setting, etc, I'm not really sure what else to include.<br><br>EDIT: Thanks for the help so far. This has really cleared some things up for me. If you have anything else to add, please do. Otherwise, thanks!