Making Magic

     I have finally found time to get another blogpost up! It only took about a month…so much for my bold and optimistic plans, right? This has been due to looking into finding a new job and, more importantly, writing a lot more fiction! <Cue fanfare> If everything I’ve submitted over the last month weeks gets published then I’m making myself about $650 – or approximate four hundred and fifty Great British pounds! This is approximately a third to a quarter of my actual pay check so even if I keep it up every month (unlikely at this stage, sadly) it will hardly do anything as helpful as paying the bills. It will, however, be immensely welcome in my bank account nonetheless.

It will also mean I’m a published author! Why is this exciting? I’ll explain: ‘published’ also means ‘professional’, and that’s a title I’ve been chasing for over ten years – that’s right, readers; I’ve spent two thirds of my life pursuing, with a greater or lesser amount of effort, that goal and this month is the best chance I have of achieving it! Which means if I don’t I will be extremely upset BUT will just have to try harder – or submit my work elsewhere.

    This increased drive towards publication has been caused, as well as supported, by my writing group. This is the first week I won’t be attending so thought I would write a bit of a tribute to them here. I can only be thankful for the support, advice and criticism they have provided – if you are looking at writing seriously I would highly recommend finding a group of like-minded individuals to meet with on a regular basis. It’s surprising what gems of wisdom your friends have already discovered and, in my experience, are only too happy to trade and share.

     My group has semi-officially been entitled, ‘Mightier Than The Sword’, and all references to the other members here will be done using cleverly-devised pseudonyms which, unlike my normal method that claims a person’s real name is a false one, come from the first main character I encountered (and can remember). While the group is also a semi-official entity we have got a structure to our meetings that really helps order our thoughts and the feedback we get or give. More detail on this will be in a future post, but for now I’m moving on to something we have discussed in depth during our general discussion period – which usually happens while we eat/order food.

One of the most common themes of this discussion time – possibly the element of writing we have spent the most time on – is magic. We are all big geeks, something which may be of little surprise considering we are a group who meet to discuss escapism on a regular basis, and so magic is something we are very interested in as an element of writing. And the one thing we all agreed on, without any discussion, was that a writer has to be extremely careful how it is used.

     The problem with magic, or a magic system, is that it represents a vast challenge for the writer in that they have to make a reader believe it is real, or could be real. A wizard clicking his fingers and producing a fireball to engulf his foes is definitely cool, but if the wizard has that kind of power why are there any other characters? Is magic limited in anyway? If it is limited, how are those limits displayed? And, importantly, how can the writer convey this information in a compelling and interesting way? If a reader cannot reasonably explain a magic system to an interested non-reader then the author has failed in that endeavor themselves.

     If someone buys a fantasy novel, they expect plot, character development, a couple of twists and, if they’re an experienced reader, the potential for important character tragedy or loss. No one really wants to read a text book about a make-believe magic system. Some readers might enjoy it, but I think that if they found it hidden in the middle of an epic adventure they may be somewhat jolted out of the main story.

     So how can writers weave this information into plot and character development? To answer this I will throw out the first of two authors who are named at nearly every Mightier Than The Sword meeting, and this is Brandon Sanderson.  I name him as the most relevant, rather the most prestigious – to forestall any debate this may cause, notably among our group – as he is well known for his innovative and creative magic systems. He has three rules of making a magic system and rather than waste time/look like I’m claiming credit for them, you can instead find them here. By following these rules, perhaps with a little bending involved, I can confidently say you will be on your way to creating a magic system your reader will understand, appreciate and also have expectations of. So when the wizard throws a fireball, it has meaning beyond immolation – you will have a greater idea of how the action impacts the wizard, the other characters, and you will also be able to understand the theory of how it was done which will go some  way towards preventing deus ex machima uses of magic.

     Limiting magic can be said to remove some of its mystery; if a reader has been given all of the rules for a system then they will know exactly how and when magic can be used, right? Harking back to text-book avoidance, I don’t mean you have to give a description so detailed it’s painful. For starters, even the discovery of the system can be mysterious – in Sanderson’s Elantris the discovery of the magic system forms one of the major story arcs and the entire book hinges upon it. By simply telling the reader what the limits and mechanical elements of the system are, Sanderson does not remove the mystery of it. I promise you I found it the most interesting story element and I was looking for ways to pull it apart.

     Most of Mightier Than The Sword are currently devising/using magic systems created with the above rule set and so far we are all having meeting with success in doing so. Korvé is writing one based on particles and close-to scientific process; Torgan is using something similar to super-powers which are monitored or policed by the beings that grant them; Kappa is playing with an alchemical system; and I am running with something that’s quasi-spiritual. This should demonstrate the variety of system you can create using the rules Sanderson has made, if nothing else.

     

     I am certainly not saying you must use these rules; I’m strongly suggesting you consider them. It helps readers understand your world on a level they might not otherwise get an insight to. Korvé raised the good example of Harry Potter; while you are always told Voldemort is one of the most powerful wizards that ever lived, it is never explained why or how this is the case, or came to be. Also, since Potter-wizards use a set of generic spells it’s difficult to judge comparable strength or ability between wizards.

     That wraps up my post. I will revisit magic and its place in stories at a later date; that, I can guarantee. This is an important starting point though, and some of the lesson can be applied to other elements of your story which, again, I will discuss in the future. For now I hope this gives you pause for thought and something to consider. Read long and write well, readers!