Just A Bit About Magic Systems

JUST A BIT ABOUT MAGIC SYSTEMS Magic methodsâ€"how magic works in a fantasy settingâ€"is a pretty big subject, and one I’m not delusional enough to suppose I’ll “cover” in one weblog publish, but let’s a minimum of dip a toe in that water, seeing how necessary it's to the fantasy styleâ€"in reality, I’d go so far as to say that the presence of magic is the defining function of the genre. Magic is what makes a narrative a fantasy story in the same means that some imagined know-how is what makes a narrative a science fiction story. That’s not to say, of course, that meaning all fantasy needs to be filled with lots and plenty of magic, any more than a science fiction story has to be loaded down with tons of devices and gizmos. I’m, personally, just as happy in a “low magic” setting like, say, Game of Thronesas I am in a decidedly “high magic” setting like the Forgotten Realms world. The quantity of magic is, to meâ€"and I have a feeling this is true of the vast majority of your potential reade rs, tooâ€"secondary to the story itself. In my online course Worldbuilding in Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing, I begin things off, week one (of four) talking about expertise (in science fiction) and magic (in fantasy), with this assertion: Every story is about characters in conflict, and everything concerning the setting should be function-constructed to move that story ahead, not the other method round. Though you do want your readers to be awed by your magic, and lust after your know-how (I desire a mild saber so bad…) it’s compelling characters and a surprising and satisfying story that will maintain those readers in your world from prologue to epilogue. Invent just enough magic and know-howâ€"just enough “world” in generalâ€"to move your story forward. So whatever your relative quantity of magic, nevertheless it really works, finally, the story’s the factor. But then tips on how to invent a system of magicâ€"something that (sorry, of us) doesn't really exist in rea lityâ€"that feels “actual”? I’ll fall again on what by now you’ve heard me repeat at least a few thousand instances: neglect realism, what you’re going for is plausibility. As soon as somebody waves his palms around and a lightning bolt shoots out, realism is true out the window. But if that character conjures a lightning bolt in the identical means every time, and we (your readers) see it working constantly throughout the story, then it feels believableâ€"it really works inside the imagined rules of this fantastical world. Those guidelines can, of course, be something you wantâ€"a low magic world where casting the simplest spell is almost unimaginable and so a real rarity, or a excessive magic world by which spells fly via the air like the typical recreation of D&Dâ€"however these rules can be tough to determine, and even more difficult to adhere to. In the same means that plenty of tales, even most stories, begin with themeâ€"with the thing you have to sayâ€"magic method s (and other components to your worldbuilding) should begin with some thought as to what you want it to do for you, story-wise. What are you tying to say with it, or what does it highlight and/or problem in your characters? As writer D.P. Prior wrote in “My Dysfunctional Relationship with Fantasy”: I struggled with “the principles” of magic for quite a while, perhaps nowhere so much as with the tendency to slavishly rationalize things that, for many of us who haven’t pored over medieval cabalistic grimoires (cough), are inherently occult and mysterious. I needed magic to be magic, not some sort of pseudo-science. I needed demons, spirits, divinityâ€"Arioch and the Lords of Chaos, not the mechanistic meta-narrative that explains away all such phenomena within the manner of Doctor Who. Start with a magic system that is sensible to you, to your story, to your characters. And then comes the true work, as author David Mack writing within the Portalist confronted in “Does Real ism Matter When Creating a Fictional Magic System?” There are plenty of variables to contemplate when developing a magic system for a recreation or a literary or cinematic collection. Who is able to wield magic? What is the supply of its power? How much training is required to turn out to be a magic-person? Does it contain incantations, materials parts, and/or particular gestures? Is it dependent upon particulars of time and place? I had to consider all of these questions as I codified the rules for the fictional magic system used in my new Dark Arts novel collection, however perhaps the most important query of all was this one: What are magic’s limitations? Knowing what magic could not do proved extra necessary than trying to imagine every thing for which it could possibly be used. And that’s nice advice. If magic can do (effectively) something and (effectively) anyone can use it (successfully) any time they need to… well, that’s a storytelling problem to say the least. I t’s Superman vs. Superman in a battle to an inevitable stalemate. And I assume we will all agree that most readers of fantasy don’t come to our writing looking for that. And a ultimate caution: Certainly spend time and vitality, and most of all creativity and originality in organising the foundations for how magic works in your world, however remember, too, that there’s an invisible line between plausible and regimented, or between plausible and soulless. Keep in mind what David Farland wrote in “Making Better Magic Systems, Lesson 1”: “…most authors tend to fail as writers of fantasy and science fiction primarily as a result of they don’t arouse a robust sense of wonder.” Make it plausible, however keep it magical! â€"Philip Athans About Philip Athans I’m reminded of Brandon Sanderson’s three variables for magic: who can do it, what preparations are necessary, and what value/toll it takes. His principle went that the much less exacting one parameter is, the extra steep one of the others should become. One of one of the best examples was the idea of the One in Matrix, where somebody might basically do something, with no prep, and no value/toll, but since just one individual could do it, the rarity of the power balanced it out. I additionally suppose there's a way that, if it’s the villain, they can do anything, but the hero/protagonist should have limitations or the story resolves too simply. One of the more fascinating points within the Matrix trilogy is the matter of “how do we still have a battle if The One is an lively character wielding such an excessive energy?” I like the advice you gave elsewhere. If you give somebody enough magic to get something accomplished in a single part of your story, you can’t write them into a position where they fail to use that same magic to get them out. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting utilizing your WordPress.com account. (Log Out/ Change) You are commenting using your Google account. (Log Out/ Change) You are commenting using your Twitter account. (Log Out/ Change) You are commenting using your Facebook account. (Log Out/ Change) Connecting to %s Notify me of recent comments by way of e mail. Notify me of new posts via e mail. Enter your e mail address to subscribe to Fantasy Author's Handbook and receive notifications of latest posts by e-mail. Join 4,779 different followers Sign me up ! 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