Magic systems. Any good fantasy (in my opinion), needs a magic system. I love worlds with intriguing magic, and the ability to throw in a good few battle magic scenes.
A good magic system, used well, can make a story stand out in the crowd of other books. Especially those with magic systems that are not daunting to the new reader of the genre, or your work.
If you’re considering a magic system in your work, then there are a few things to think about:
- Is it something that will be pivotal to the plot, or just background noise?
- How does it impact your worldbuilding?
- What can your characters use it for? Can it be used to solve their plot induced problems?
A magic system, for me, is just what it says on the tin: a system of magic. A set of rules, like physics describing the chaos of the universe, a magic system gives you the boundaries of how magic works in your world.
But like physics, you need to understand what it is doing and how your characters can interact with it for the story.
In this month’s newsletter, I talk about how to create a magic system, a few of the points I use, and pop in some thoughts from the essays of the master of magic systems, Brandon Sanderson.
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Monthly Writing Music recommendation: this month’s writing music recommendation is Return of the Medjay by Sarah Schachner from the Assassin’s Creed Origins Soundtrack.
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