Tag Archives: writing magic

October 25, 2023 · 6:00 am

#NaNoPrep: worldbuilding – war elephants, magic, and the paranormal #amwriting

Today in our NaNo Prep series, we’re looking at magic and the paranormal, two phenomena which fall into worldbuilding. Many first-time novelists in my region intend to write a fantasy of one sort or another. This post might interest you even if you aren’t writing a fantasy, because logic is a fundamental aspect of a narrative’s structure.

WritingCraft_NaNoPrep_101 Magic or the supernatural are core plot elements in most of my work. I see them as part of the world, the way the Alps were a core plot element in the story of the Carthaginian general, Hannibal‘s crossing the Alps with North African war elephants. The mountains were there, they were difficult to cross, and combined with his elephants, the Alps made Hannibal’s story a legend.

War elephants … what a concept; and yet, it’s a true story. Can you imagine how terrifying that must have been to people who’d never heard of such immense creatures as elephants? If you’re stumped for ideas, go to history. It’s far more fantastic than any fantasy I could imagine.

When I write fantasy, I take something that gives a person an edge (war elephants) and make it a double-edged sword (taking the battle to the enemy by crossing impassable mountains, costing half the general’s men and many elephants).

Hannibal paid a heavy price for bringing his superweapons (elephants) to the battle. The ability to use magic should come at some cost, either physical or emotional. Or it should require coins or theft to acquire magic artifacts.

There should be consequences for abusing magic.

The boundaries an author places on magic, science, or superpowers are good obstacles to success. Overcoming barriers is what the story is all about.

As a freelance editor, I saw some poorly constructed fantasies. The problem wasn’t with the characters or the quest—it was the magic. The authors had no purpose for it other than “magic!” and had created no science to rein it in, making it too random and convenient.

I returned those manuscripts, explaining why I couldn’t take their money just yet. Magic should have limits, and it should come at a cost. When they resubmitted the manuscripts, they had resolved those issues. I was impressed with how their solutions to the magic problem made their character’s journey memorable.

I’m a dedicated reader and have inadvertently purchased a few fantasies that looked promising from the blurb and the first few “look inside” pages but which turned out to be thinly disguised Harry Potter knockoffs.

Let’s don’t do that.

magic wand It’s fair to write stories where magic is learned through spells if one has an inherent gift, and it’s also fair to require a wand. That is how magic was always done in traditional fairy tales and J.K. Rowling took those worn-out tropes and made them new and wonderful.

Rowling portrayed her magic right. She made it a natural part of the world and established limits, ensuring that even Voldemort had weaknesses. Also, she made magic a science that required proper education, something the fairy tales never addressed. Sorcerers and sorceresses just appeared out of nowhere with magic wands and unlimited capabilities.

If you intend your characters to have magic or paranormal abilities, it must be treated like a science in that it obeys fundamental laws.

If you’re like me, those laws will come to you when the protagonist needs to know them. That will create the tension your narrative needs but you must write those laws down so you don’t contradict yourself later.

I strongly feel the same rules should apply to the paranormal. Yes, some things have become canon regarding how we imagine vampires, werewolves, witches, and ghosts. But we all want to read a new take on these old stories which is why the Twilight series was so wildly popular when they first came out. My daughters loved that series, but here’s a secret—I never read them. So, I can’t give you an opinion of the logic of her portrayal of the paranormal. But they were very popular, so whatever she did, it struck a chord.

I can suspend my disbelief when magic and supernatural abilities are only possible if certain conditions have been met. The best tales featuring characters with paranormal skills occur when the author creates a system that regulates what the characters can NOT do.

Some things to think about if your stories involve ghosts, shapeshifters, and other undead:

Those rules should define the conditions under which a supernatural ability works.
The same physics should explain why it won’t work if those conditions are not met.
The number of entities able to use it is restricted to only a small group.
The range (area) at which a skill or ability is effective should be limited.

I think it’s more believable when our characters are constrained to one or two special abilities.

Expertise in any field requires practice and dedication, working on the most minor details of technique. Magicians and wizards should develop skills and abilities through training and perseverance, as musicians do.

If your characters have paranormal abilities, how did they learn to use them? Was it trial and error, or did they have a mentor?

science A crucial reason for establishing the science of magic and the paranormal before randomly casting spells or flinging fire is this: the use of these gifts impacts the wielder’s companions and influences the direction of the plot, creating tension.

What if our protagonist is unable to fully use their abilities? What is the cause of that disability?

How can they overcome this? How is their self-confidence affected by this inability? Do their companions also struggle to master their skills?

So, we know limitations can drive the plot. They make us work to resolve this problem.

The group will learn what has to happen before the hero can fully realize their abilities. They must be worried it won’t happen and they will fail. The companions must wonder if they have backed the wrong general, must have doubts. “How many soldiers and war elephants will we lose in conquering these mountains? Is the Golden McGuffin worth all this misery?”

People with nearly unlimited powers are gods, and while writing about gods is traditional in classical literature (and who doesn’t love Loki), we want to be original in our thinking. Give your gods a fatal flaw of some sort.

To wind up this rant: if you have decided to include gods, magic, crows-clip art clicker vector dot com or the paranormal in your NaNo novel, how can you take these common tropes in a new direction?

Write those ideas down now, while you’re thinking about it. I feel sure you will make your world different from the other fantasy worlds out there. The possibilities are endless.

The 2023 #NaNoPrep series to date:

Credits and Attributions:

Image: Hannibal Crossing the Alps, James Baldwin (editor and author) (1841-1925), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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May 2, 2022 · 6:00 am

How the Written Universe Works – the Physics of Magic part 1 #amwriting

In all my favorite science fiction and fantasy novels, the enemy has access to equal or better science or magic. The story is about how the characters overcome the limitations of their science, magic, or superpower and succeed in their quest.

How the written universe works magic and superpowers1 Magic should exist as an underlying, invisible layer of your written universe, the way gravity exists in reality. We know gravity works and accept it as a part of daily life.

Magic should operate with the same limitations that, say, light photons have. Photons can do some things, and they cannot do others.

Your story won’t contradict itself if you establish the known physics of magic before you begin using and abusing it.

As a confirmed lover of all things fantasy, I read a great deal of both indie and traditionally published work. Both sides of the publishing industry are guilty of publishing novels that aren’t well thought out.

Inconsistencies in the magic system are usually only one aspect of a poorly planned world. It’s easy to tell when an author doesn’t consider the possible contradictions that might emerge as the story progresses.

When the magic is mushy, the rest of the setting reads as if they just wrote whatever came into their head and didn’t check for logic or do much revising.

If all the typos are edited out of the manuscript, and the characters are brilliant and engaging, the author might be able to carry it off. Unfortunately, mushy magic or science usually results in a book I can’t recommend.

We have several things to consider in designing a story where magic and superpowers are fundamental plot elements.

magic First, the ability to use magic is either learned through spells, an inherent gift, or both. Your world should establish which kind of path you are taking at the outset.

Magic is not science as we know it but should be logical and rooted in solid theories.

As a reader, I can suspend my disbelief if magic is only possible when certain conditions have been met. The most believable magic occurs when the author creates a system that regulates what the characters can do.

Magic is believable if the number of people who can use it is restricted, how it can be used is limited, and most mages are constrained to one or two kinds of magic. It becomes more believable if only certain mages can use every type of magic.

Why restrict your beloved main character’s abilities? No one has all the skills in real life, no matter how good they are at their job.

lute-clip-art Consider musicians. A person who wins international piano competitions most likely won’t be a virtuoso at brass instruments.

This is because virtuosity requires hours of practice on one thing, working on the most minor details of technique and tone. That kind of intense focus doesn’t leave room for branching into other areas of music.

Magicians and wizards should develop skills and abilities the way musicians do. Virtuosity requires complete dedication and focus. Some are naturally talented but without practice they never rise to the top.

Magic becomes believable if the physics of magic define what each kind of magic can do.

Those rules should define the conditions under which magic works. The same physics should explain why it won’t work if those conditions are not met.

Are you writing a book that features magic? I have a few questions that you may want to consider:

Are there some conditions under which the magic will not work? Is the damage magic can do as a weapon, or is the healing it can perform somehow limited?

Does the mage or healer pay a physical/emotional price for using or abusing magic? Is the learning curve steep and sometimes lethal?

When you answer the above questions, you create the Science of Magic.

So, what about superpowers? Aren’t they magic?

Superpowers are both science and something that may seem like magic, but they are not. Think Spiderman. His abilities are conferred on him by a scientific experiment that goes wrong.

science Like science and magic, superpowers are believable when they are limited in what they can do.

If you haven’t considered the challenges your characters must overcome when learning to wield their magic/superpower, now is a good time to do it.

Are they unable to fully use their abilities?
If so, why?
How does their inability affect their companions?
How is their self-confidence affected by this inability?
Do the companions face learning curves too?
What has to happen before your hero can fully realize their abilities?

These limits are the roadblocks to success, and overcoming those roadblocks is what the story is all about. The struggle forces the characters out of their comfortable environment.

The roadblocks you put up force them to be creative, and through that creativity, your characters become more than they believe they are. The reader becomes invested in the outcome of the story.

The next post in this series will delve into powers that are familiar tropes of fantasy: healing and telepathy.

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September 11, 2015 · 6:45 am

Elements of the story: Crafting magic systems

I am thrilled that Tad Williams is writing another series of books set in Osten Ard. Tad is an author who absolutely understands the craft of writing fantasy. He knows what makes epic fantasy EPIC. There is just the slightest hint of the rebellious indie in his work, which makes it a little wild. But more than that, Tad understand how important it is to make the limitations and roadblocks forced on the protagonists power the narrative.

If you love epic fantasy and have not read his powerful trilogy, Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn–you should.

In Tad’s work, magic systems feel natural, organic and are not all powerful. I love epic fantasy books where the magic systems have been as well thought out as the political systems, and the characters are limited in what they can do with them.

I despise books where the hero/heroine can do anything, and be as awesome as she/he needs to be, all because he/she has a special power. No need to worry about planning that mission, because our hero can read minds and predict the future–he knows exactly how to thwart Evil Badguy. Several boring scenes later, an opportunity for something interesting turns up, but no! The author has blessed his favorite supercharacter with (cue the fanfare) amazing magic powers that have no explanation, and apparently no limits.

If you are writing fantasy, consider this–Infinite abilities instills infinite boredom in me as a reader.

Let’s talk about magic. Who has magic? What kind of magic–healing or offensive or both? What are the rules for using that magic and why do those rules exist? Magic is an intriguing tool in fantasy, but it should only be used if certain conditions have been met:

if the number of people who can use it is limited
if the ways in which it can be used are limited
if not every mage can use every kind of magic
if there are strict, inviolable rules regarding what each magic can do and the conditions under which it will work.
if there are some conditions under which the magic will not work
if the learning curve is steep and sometimes lethal

Even if it does not come into the story, you should decide who is in charge of teaching the magic, how that wisdom is dispensed, and who will be allowed to gain that knowledge.

is the prospective mage born with the ability to use magic or
is it spell-based, and any reasonably intelligent person can learn it if they can find a teacher?

Magic and the ability to wield it usually denotes power. That means the enemy must be their equal or perhaps their better. So if they are not from the same school, you now have two systems to design. You must create the ‘rules of magic.’ Take the time to write them out, and don’t break the laws, without having a damned good explanation for why that particular breaking of the rules is possible.

Limits make for better, more creative characters. In the Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley made the magic a natural outcome of religion, something only a few characters had access to, and they paid a great price each time they used it.

Lets pretend we have a mage, Gerald—we’ll make him a lowly journeyman mage, just allowed out of magic school on his own. Events beyond his control occur, and only he can rid the world of Stinky Sam. Sam is a very powerful, very naughty wizard, who will crush young, untried Gerald with no effort whatsoever.

Let’s say Gerald has a few skills at the beginning: he can draw water out of the air for drinking, and maybe he can use the elements of fire and lightning as weapons. 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.

For this to be a good story, our bad guy, Stinky Sam, must be a master in whatever area Gerald has chosen–and he should have a few skills and abilities Gerald might never learn.

This means Gerald must work hard to overcome the obstacles set in his path by Stinky Sam. With the successful completion of difficult tasks, and overcoming great hardships, Gerald will learn what he needs to know about his magic/gifts, and acquire the ability to counter Stinky Sam’s best efforts in the final showdown, although it will be difficult.

In great fantasy, evil is very strong, and has great magic–but there are rules. The evil one might be a bully and he may have some awesome skills, but he’s not omnipotent, or there would be no story. All magic systems have limits, which means he has a weakness. With the discovery of the antagonist’s limitations, your character has the opportunity to grow and develop to his fullest potential in process of finding and exploiting it.