Writing a Fictional World

I've always wanted to write a novel with a fictional world. So many authors do it nowadays, and it gives you so much more room for creativity. There were fictional parts of worlds inside of the Magicians series, but when in came to Transylvania I tried to stick to realistic and accurate to history. When it came to Belsgar the magicians weren't there constantly, so we never really knew what it would have been like to live there.
Now with Clara and Claire I'm finally taking my jump into the fictional world building process. It's scary at times, and I'll admit it's the hardest part of this novel so far. Last night I dedicated hours to world building instead of any editing. At the end of the day I know the structure for Clara's world needs to be strong enough for the rest of the story to hold up. And I find myself reading blogs and advice tips about how to write about a fictional place. The hardest part is remembering that while you do need it to make sense, you're allowed to have fun with it.
What drew me to this new adventure in a fictional place? It just felt like the right way to tell Clara's story. I tried to place the novel in a modern day setting and it did not feel right. I played around with a lot of different ideas, but with Clara being a mage I decided this new magical system and magical beings can live in a world of their own.
Without giving away too much of the story, I'm working with a magical world that lives spread out amongst three islands. Islands are interesting too; I've never worked this closely with islands before. The whole idea of the the ocean separate three different islands always fascinates me because... well, I haven't done it before, so it leads to other questions of transportation and etc. While plucking my brains, I am having fun with world building. I can imagine the islands in my head, and it keeps my brain busy at night (and at work). Ideas are constantly coming to me, and at the end of this I know Clara's world will be something unique and different. She definitely isn't making it easy for me, but I would not want to have it any other way. Writing about a fictional world definitely is not an easy task, but they say to write what you're afraid of. And this is definitely taking me out of my comfort zone --but in a good way.
Once I'm finished with the novel I will feel more comfortable about giving advice on fictional worlds. For now I want to get ahold of Clara's world and make it stronger and more stable. When I'm finally finished and satisfied I'll be going more into detail in regards with my experience and any suggestions I can offer to other authors. All I can say for now is if you've ever considered writing it it's definitely worth the challenge.

As for other news, a new month has started! March is here, and it seems like somehow we flew through January and February. Usually I write an individual post about the beginning of the month, but I decided to incorporate it with this post. January was a huge month for me, since I finished writing Clara and Claire. February was the start of the editing process, but as I realized last month there is a lot of work to be done on my first draft. A lot of people ask me on a daily basis when the book will be done and ready to release. And at this point in the process I have no idea. All I know is I'm working hard without overworking myself (considering I also work full time outside of writing). I have so many ideas and ways to improve my first draft of this novel. It won't be easy work, but the best kind of work never is done in a day. Or even in a month for that matter, so I'm not angry at myself for not finishing edits in February. So this month I'll continue on with edits, and as always keep you updated with the process.
Lindsey Richardson