Tag Archives: magical powers

May 4, 2022 · 6:00 am

How the Written Universe Works – the Physics of Magic part 2, Empaths #amwriting

Our universe is a mysterious, stunning place. One conundrum that has occupied scientists for decades is the observable fact that our universe has more matter and energy than it should.

Wikipedia says: In physical cosmology and astronomy, dark energy is an unknown form of energy that affects the universe on the largest scales. The first observational evidence for its existence came from measurements of supernovas, which showed that the universe does not expand at a constant rate; rather, the universe’s expansion is accelerating. [1]

How the written universe works - empathy1 In other words, something we can’t see or measure is out there, shaping our known universe. For lack of a better term, scientists refer to it as “dark matter” and “dark energy.”

In some fantasy universes, empathic magic is an unseen, unmeasurable force that enables healing, foresight, mindreading, and possibly, gifts of prophecy. We can’t see or measure it, but how we write it affects our narratives’ shape and believability.

This force is the dark energy of a fantasy universe. And because we are the creators, we can establish rules for how that energy works.

It’s magic, so who needs rules? We do. Otherwise, believability goes out the window.

Rules of magic create limitations, requiring the characters to work harder. We care more about their struggle. But there is a more obvious reason: consistency.

Perhaps in chapter one, you have a mage who can’t use the element of lightning when it’s raining, implying that water impedes his lightning abilities. A reader will assume he can’t use lightning while swimming down a river in chapter 56 when he’s escaping.

Empath_definitionLIRF05012022 Unless your story is set in a school (such as the Harry Potter books are), magic, healing, or empathy are gifts that only one or two main characters should be given if you want your narrative to remain believable. You must establish the rules of your universe, creating parameters that will limit what empaths can do.

Limits create tension, and tension keeps the reader reading. When too many people are given superior powers, you make things too easy.

In literature, empathic gifts are a form of magic and should be treated as a science. If an empathic gift has entered your narrative, ask yourself these questions:

What sort of empathic gift does your character have: emotion reading, mind reading, healing, or foresight?

How common or rare is this gift?
How did they discover they had it?
What can they do with it?
What can they NOT do with it?
Is there formal training for gifts like theirs?
What happens to people who use their empathy to abuse others?
Has society made laws regulating how empaths are trained and controlled?

Now, let’s talk about the characters themselves. What are their views of how their talents should be used?

How important is human life?
How is using their talent to commit murder punished?
How do they view betrayal, hypocrisy, envy, and avarice?
What effect does drunkenness have on them?
What is their personal moral code?
How important is it to be seen as honest and trustworthy?
How many people can they control at one time?
What actions are seen as crimes by society?
How are they discovered, and what is the punishment?
Who tries and convicts empaths who go rogue?

This brings me to the final concept we must consider about personal power. What constrains an empath from seizing power?

Empathy-2-LIRF05012022 In real life, if a person had the kind of power that our fictional empaths wield, we would hope they were noble, compassionate, and above all, respectful of other people’s wish for privacy. One would want them to be circumspect and never rummage in people’s minds uninvited.

We have looked at the folks we hope are the good guys. So now, we come to the flip side. If an empath has gone rogue, what is their kryptonite? How can the heroes prevail if there is no weakness or way to negate an enemy’s powers?

In Mountains of the Moon, an herb – silf – blocks mages and healers from sensing their gifts. It is used against the heroes, unfortunately, which raises the tension.

SO, how about healing?

What spells and abilities do healers have?
Are they better at healing animals than people or vice versa?

Some good spells for people with healing ability might be the ability to ease pain or put a patient to sleep.

We need to talk about self-defense. Can healers in your universe use swords or other melee weapons or firearms? Sleep is a spell that could be used against a predator or aggressor.

How close might they have to be to make the spell work?

In your universe, how does empathic healing work? A story is more interesting when people have varying degrees of fighting skills, and the same is true with magic and empathy. Design the system so that some are able to do more healing than others.

When they are healing on a cellular level, how will you describe it? Some authors describe the act of healing as evil-looking lights changing to a healthier color. Others describe healing as angry looking threads that must be untangled. Still others describe it as a feeling of evil that must be smoothed away.

Or, you don’t have to be too descriptive. It’s up to you.

Plot-exists-to-reveal-character What does healing cost the healer? Does it exhaust them? Does some of the healing magic come from the patient? Do they need to sleep afterward?

These are logic questions other fantasy authors have contemplated and employed in their work.

One other thing to ask your story is this: can empaths also use battle magic? And can battle mages also be healers? Either way, if not, why not?

If you make rules and then choose to have one character who is an exception, why is she the exception?

It might be good to read how some other authors handle empathic gifts and magic. Here are two fantasy books that feature telepathy, healing, and magic:

Arrows of the Queen (Heralds of Valdemar Book 1) by Mercedes Lackey (3-book series, with other books set in that world.)

Magic of Recluce by L.E. Modesitt Jr. (book one of a 22-book series)

Credits and Attributions:

[1] Wikipedia contributors, “Dark energy,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dark_energy&oldid=1084333120 (accessed May 1, 2022).

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Tagged as #writetip, creating magic systems, designing magic and empathy, empathy, foresight, magic, magical powers, writing

March 13, 2015 · 6:31 am

Worldbuilding part 3—Magic

Every now and then I read a book where it’s clear the author has no concept of his own magic system. You, as the reader, are sailing; the story is flowing; and then suddenly you realize that Bart the Mage seems to have unlimited magic ability. Well, that’s no good, because now there is no tension; no great ordeal for Bart to overcome. Bart can do anything–game over–end of story. The book goes into the recycling bin, unfinished and you never buy that author’s work again.

Every author has their own way of doing this, but I approach it from an engineering and scientific viewpoint–I spend time designing the system:

Let’s talk about Bart. He’s a lowly journeyman mage. For a multitude of reasons he has decided that he must rid the world of Evil Badguy; a very powerful, very naughty wizard. Evil Badguy is very strong, and has great magic, and he seems unstoppable! But fortunately for our story, there are rules, so he is not omnipotent. He has a weakness and your protagonists now have the opportunity to grow and develop to their fullest potential in process of finding and exploiting that weakness.

Now let’s say that Bart is a mage with offensive magic – maybe he can cast lightning at an enemy, or perhaps he can set fires with his magic. Can he also use magic to heal people? Can he heal himself? What are the rules governing these abilities and how do these rules affect the progress of the story? When it comes to magic, limitations open up many possibilities for plot development.

Let’s say that Bart can only reliably use one sort of magic. This is good, because now you have need for other several characters with other abilities. They each have a story which will come out and which will contribute to the advancement of the plot. Each character will have limits to their abilities and because of that they will need to interact and work with each other and with Bart whether they like each other or not if they want to win the final battle against Evil Badguy. This gives you ample opportunity to introduce tension into the story. Each time you make parameters and frameworks for your magic you make opportunities for conflict within your fantasy world, and conflict is what drives the plot.

What challenge does Bart have to overcome in order to win the day?

Is he unable to fully use his own abilities?
If that is so, why is he hampered in that way?
How does that inability affect his companions and how do they feel about it?
Are they hampered in any way themselves?
What has to happen before Bart can fully realize his abilities?

Without rules, there would be no conflict, no reason for Bart to struggle and no story to tell.

So now, you realize that you must create the ‘rules of magic.’ Take the time to write it out, and don’t break the laws, without having a damned good explanation for why that particular breaking of the rules is possible.

Each world should be unique, and so we need to tailor the magic to fit each unique situation.

Who can use magic?
What kind of magic can they use?
How are they trained?
What happens to those who abuse their gifts?
How common is magic?
How does the ability to wield magic fit into the political system?

I have two worlds that I am currently writing in, and their magic systems are radically different.

The following was my first list from 2009 for creating the world when we were originally designing a game that eventually became The World of Neveyah series.

Elemental Battle Magic of Neveyah

Water: non battle-use can fill water jugs and basins

Water spout (novice)
Gully Washer (intermediate)
High Seas (Advanced)
Raging River (Advanced)

Earth: non-battle use, putting out campfires, digging holes, gardening

Square Dance (novice)
Landslide (intermediate)
Mudslide (advanced)
Mountain Drop (Advanced)

Fire: non battle use – can light candles, and ignite fire in fireplace

Hot Shot (novice)
Fire Ball (Intermediate)
Inferno (advanced)
Hell Fire (Advanced)

Lightning: non-battle use for lightning: creating finish on armor, glazing pottery

Cat-Zapper (novice) Zippety-Doo-Dah (novice-spell)
Thunder Fist (intermediate)
Curtain Call (Advanced)
Thunder Walking (Advanced)

This basic grocery list has since evolved into a complete curriculum for domestic uses, and the names for most of those spells has changed, but it remains relevant because it shows how I divided it. A game player would have had to gain in strength in order to use those spells, and that is how my characters do in the Neveyah books.

It’s very different in the Billy’s Revenge series which set in Waldeyn, an alternate-medieval earth which is the setting for Huw the Bard. There, the actual environment is magic and Huw’s journey involves his overcoming its inherent dangers. The plants and animals of Waldeyn are shaped by the overwhelming abundance of magic in that world, like radioactivity affects and mutates life here. Many of the most dangerous creatures are born of twisted magic, or as they call it, majik.

Mind-majik, healing, and the ability to imbue their healing majik into a potion or salve is the feminine side of majik, governed by the Sisters of Anan.

The ability to bind the elements into weapons and wield them is the male side, and they are governed by the Brotherhood of St. Aelfrid.

Part of their political/religious power comes from the fact that it has been determined the majik is a God-given gift, and all who’ve been granted that ability must be bound to the church.

There are strict rules, and if a gifted person doesn’t choose to serve the people through being bound to the church, the ability to sense majik is taken from them by the Mother Church.

I don’t have any main characters in Waldeyn who are majik wielders, although one side character in the forthcoming novel, Billy Ninefingers, is a member of the Brotherhood of St. Aelfrid: the Fat Friar, Robert DeBolt. However, many times these characters are in need of healing. (Heh heh.)

Because of my characters’ frequent tendency to bleed, gaining and acquiring good healing potions and salves is important.

In the World of Neveyah, which is where the Tower of Bones series is set, the situation was different—The Tower of Bones grew out of what was originally the walk-through for a computer-based RPG that was never built. Thus the constraints of magic are quite strict, but as you saw in the list above, they are game-based.

In the forthcoming prequel to Tower of Bones, Mountains of the Moon, a mage is either a healer or a battle-mage. Healing is building and preserving, battle-magic is death and destruction. It is thought that one can’t be both, because on the rare occasions that a dually-gifted mage is born, they go mad. There is a strict system in place for controlling magic and those who are able to use it, and this creates the conflict.

Once again, there is a governing body for mages–in Neveyah it is the Temple of Aeos. Children with the gifts are taken to the Temple and trained in the use of their gifts until they are adults. They are sworn to serve and protect the Goddess Aeos and her people, or die doing so.

But forty years after Wynn Farmer’s tale, during the time in which the Tower of Bones takes place, the clergy has been decimated by a great war that took place twenty years before. The goddess Aeos is in danger of losing the battle with Tauron the Bull God. She slightly changes the way her magic works. Wynn’s grandson, Edwin Farmer, is the first to be born with the ability to wield both sides of the magic who also has the force of character to survive the learning process. His biggest problem is there is no one who can teach him how to use his dual gifts—his teachers only know how one side or the other works.

That learning process forms a huge part of his story. Yes, Edwin has access to power, but so does the antagonist, Stefyn D’Mal, and he is completely mad. Even so, he has rigid constraints. These constraints create the conflict.

Remember, unlimited power in a mage equals unlimited boredom to the reader. Magic without rules is tiresome and unbelievable, and no one wants to read that story.

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Filed under Adventure, Battles, Books, Fantasy, Humor, Literature, Publishing, Self Publishing, Uncategorized, writer, writing

Tagged as characters, creative writing, fantasy, humor, Huw The Bard, indie publishing, Loki, magic, magic system, magical powers, mythology, Neveyah, self publishing, Thor, Tower of Bones, Waldeyn, writing

December 26, 2014 · 6:11 am

Talking with Erika M. Szabo

We survived another Christmas! The refrigerator is bursting with leftovers, and we had a wonderful dinner with one of our sons, and one of my brothers. Life is good! The carnivores said the turkey was good, but surprisingly to me, given the amount of teasing I endure at their hands, the Hazelnut Cranberry Holiday Roast en Croute was the star of show, with little of it being left over. The world did not stop in its orbit as the vegan meal was consumed with gusto, and no one left the table hungry!

I’m always intrigued by the way other authors think, and today, Erika M Szabo, author of The Ancestors’s Secrets series, has consented to answer a few questions for us.

CJJ: Tell us a little of early life and how you began writing:

ES: I became an avid reader at a very early age, thanks to my dad who introduced me to many great books. I started writing educational books twelve years ago when I received my PhD in Alternative Medicine. I love animals, therefore I created the Read for Animals anthology series and published two books with authors and poets to help animals. The story idea for Ancestor’s Secrets series came from my Hun heritage, from the legends and history. I created a magical, fantasy world using bits of real historical facts and incorporating real life events from my years of working as a trauma nurse into the story.

CJJ: I love that you are able to draw on your heritage for your work. Tell us about your most recent book.

ES: In the Ancestor’s Secrets series, present and past blends into a paranormal fantasy tale with intriguing clan secrets, magical heritage, love triangle and Ilona’s exciting and dangerous life in a secret society. Ilona is a young doctor settled into a world of logic and reason. She inherits a world of traditions, well-kept secrets and magical powers, and is left to piece together her clan’s past, using nursery rhymes taught to her by her mother. Learning some of the secrets not only confuses her, but places her in mortal danger. When a sinister man appears, Ilona connects his presence to a series of mysterious deaths. He can influence others to kill her, but why can’t he touch her? There are clues around every corner, and the elusive answers draw her further into the hidden world of her people. As if the mysteries aren’t enough, her life becomes more complicated when she meets a dashing stranger. Although he saves her life by putting his own life in danger, she senses evil in him. The first book of The Ancestor’s Secrets series raises questions such as: what if there is a secret society exists hidden among us with its strict rules and fiercely enforced laws, and certain members come to possess magical powers? What if finding love, despite the obstacles thrown our way, is possible? What if we could have the power to visit the ancestors in the past and create our own future?

CJJ: That sounds intriguing! How did you come to write this novel?

ES: On a rainy afternoon I couldn’t find any new book to read. I was moping around, browsing my bookshelves, mumbling to myself. After a while my daughter had enough and snapped at me, “Mom, stop whining! If you haven’t a book to read, then write one.” Her challenge shocked me, but I started playing with the idea. I’ve never excelled in following rules or formulas, so I discarded the instructions I found in “how to write fiction” books, and made up my personal rules. At first, I started playing with the story just for my own enjoyment, I thought, writing the swirling ideas in my head was far better than being haunted by them. I kept writing for months, and soon I realized that I never had so much fun doing anything in my life before.

CJJ: I always wonder, and my reader do too, do you have a specific ‘Creative Process’ that you follow, such as outlining or do you ‘wing it’?

ES: When I started writing the novel series, I only had a vague outline of the story in my mind, and I kind of let the story develop on its own. Some parts are totally different now than I had originally planned.

CJJ: Many of us write fantasy, but how does your work differ from others of its genre?

ES: The Ancestors’ Secret series is an epic fantasy, heroic romance series written mostly in diary style with paranormal magical powers, ancient legends, love triangle and time travel.

CJJ: We each write for our own reasons, but why do you write what you do?

ES: My favorite genre to read I love to read is magical realism/fantasy stories, therefore it is my favorite genre to write as well.

CJJ: I know why I chose the indie route for my work, but I’m curious as to why you’ve chosen this path.

ES: The first edition of my novel series was published by a traditional publisher. I was not satisfied with the editing, book cover, formatting, as well as the full control they had on the story. I decided to break the contract, form my own publishing company and edit, format and publish the story the way I like it.

CJJ: I had a similar experience! What advice would you offer an author trying to decide whether to go indie or take the traditional path?

ES: Both have advantages and disadvantages. If your book is accepted by a traditional publisher, read the fine lines of the contract and if it doesn’t suit you, then go indie.

I so agree with you, Erika! Thank you for visiting today, and I can’t wait to read these books!

Book 1, Protected By The Falcon

Ilona is a doctor and is ruled by logic, yet when she starts to develop unusual powers, her beliefs change and she’s thrown into a world of mysteries, traditions and secrets. Nursery rhymes taught by her mother lead her to discover her clan’s past, which still exist with its fiercely enforced laws. A dangerous dark man stalks Ilona who is unexpectedly rescued by a handsome stranger, Zoltan. As their relationship grows, her feelings for best friend, Bela, starts to fade. When her life and the future of her people become threatened, she must gather all her courage and use her inherited powers to fight back. Infused with Hungarian legend, the twisting plot keeps the reader turning the pages of this extraordinary fantasy story. The Ancestors’ Secret series is an epic fantasy, heroic romance series with magical powers, ancient legends, love triangle and time travel that is a great read for fantasy lovers and also suitable for young adults.

http://www.amazon.com/Protected-Falcon-Ancestors-Secrets-Book-ebook/dp/B00LNBSKIY

Book 2, Chosen By The Sword

In book one, Protected By The Falcon, Ilona is thrust from her easy and steady life and forced to face the unknown, which prompts her to discover the ancient tribal secrets. The rules of her ancient Hun clan that still exist with strict laws suffocate her, but she is resourceful and daring. She discovers secrets and obtains unimaginable powers to protect her sister, who bears the next leader of the clan. If she does not succeed, the fate of her people is at stake. She must sort through her own feelings about the men in her life. Will she choose Bela, her best friend, or the handsome and noble Zoltan? From the time when her people were nomads, the castles of the 14th century to the present, travel through time with Ilona as she struggles to overcome the obstacles placed in her path by ruthless individuals who want to inflict their rule on the Hun clan. The Ancestors’ Secret series is an epic fantasy, heroic romance series with paranormal magical powers, ancient legends, love triangle and time travel that is also suitable for young adults.

http://www.amazon.com/Chosen-Sword-Ancestors-Secrets-Book-ebook/dp/B00RAGLWVI

Short Bio of Erika M. Szabo:

I became an avid reader at a very early age, thanks to my dad who introduced me to many great books. The writing bug bit me much later, on a rainy afternoon, when I couldn’t find any new book to read. My daughter had enough of my moping around and snapped at me, “Mom, stop whining! If you haven’t a book to read, then write one.” Her challenge shocked me, but I started playing with the idea. What if there is a secret society with strict rules and laws exist hidden among us? What if certain members come to possess magical powers? What if those abilities could be used to do good or evil? I’ve never excelled in following rules or formulas, so I discarded the instructions I found in “how to write fiction” books, and made up my personal rules. At first, I started playing with the story just for my own enjoyment, I thought, writing the swirling ideas in my head was far better than being haunted by them. I kept writing for months, and soon I realized that I never had so much fun doing anything in my life before.