Magic Rules - Part 1: Types of Magic--The Source Be With You

© 2006 by guest author P. June Diehl (used with permission)

The illusive art of magic governs, unites and even conquers fantastic fictional worlds with enchanted powers. Fantasy authors must decide the types of magic allowed to work within the created fantasy lands. What choices of magic do fantasy writers have to choose from? And a second important question to ask when writing fantasy: What is the source of your magical system?

Why is it important to understand the type of magic in the fantasy you create? Once you identify the type of magic you wish to use, defining limitations and rules comes easier. Knowing the source of the magical system helps focus on the mundane rules you’ll need to understand how to create a believable fantasy world.

The following are examples of magical systems. Some overlap so one fantasy series might include several of these types. This is not meant to be an all-inclusive list of the different types of magic, but a starter to help focus on your magical system.

AURA MAGIC

The aura is the life force of all living things. The energy generated by this life force is used to generate magic. One use of this life force created magic is any fantasy where the source of the magic is from the charkas. The children’s classic, The Children of Green Knowe, is an example of aura magic, or Jennifer Lynn Barnes, juvenile fiction, Golden.

BINDING MAGIC

This mysterious, mystical force binds all that exists in the universe, it works as the thread that connects all things, living and otherwise. The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan makes use of this concept.

CHAOS MAGIC

This is a modern form of ritual magic. The source of the magic is some mind alternating technique: music, dance, chanting, drugs, etc. An example might be Alan Dean Foster’s Spellsinger series.

GOD/GODDESS-GIVEN MAGIC

The source of magic in this system is an advance being, whom mortals see as a god or goddess. Remember: what is so readily given, can equally be taken away (and usually at the worst possible moment in the plot). Harry Turtledove’s The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump has elements of magic, or power, given to humans by a deity.

GOOD VS. EVIL MAGIC

The source of this type of magic might be the same, but the outcome is juxtaposed, based on the intent of the manipulator. The source of this magic is both outside and internal to humans, or whatever type of character the magical user might be. Robert Goodkind make use of this concept in his Sword of Truth series.

HERBAL MAGIC

This is inclusive of any ingredient-based magic, like the fairy dust used in Peter Pan. This type of magic is also found in Sharon Shinn’s Summers at Castle Auburn, and Scent Of Magic by Andre Norton.

MEDITATIVE MAGIC

Either meditation or concentration is used to create magic – the “mind over matter” concept. This can also manifest as an altered state of consciousness. A classic example is Philip K. Dick’s fantasy, The Cosmic Puppets.

NATURE-BASED MAGIC

Usually, this revolves around the four elements: earth, air, fire, and water. Elemental magic can be found in the fantasy world of The Oran Trilogy by Midori Snyder or Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Mists of Avalon series.

POWER ELEMENTS

Magic exists in all things but some objects hold more magic than others. These magic rich objects are considered magical artifacts. An example is the Winter of the World series by Michael Scott Rohan.

RITUAL MAGIC

Magic is created through the act of performing a ritual. This may or may not be based on a religion. In her Deryni series, Katherine Kurtz makes use of ritual magic.

SCIENCE-BASED MAGIC

The source is based in science, but must have a magical twist. For example: For every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction. Give this law a twist: Every time magic is used by an individual, the good produced as a result, also produces an evil side effect. L. E. Modesitt’s The Magic of Recluce and The Towers of the Sunset exhibit science-based magic.

SCIENCE INDUCED MAGIC

The premise here is that advanced technology is used by advanced beings, but appears to be magic by others. Science fiction author Arthur C Clarke’s “Third Law” states “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Out of This World, the first of the Three Worlds Trilogy by Lawrence Watt-Evans, is an excellent example of Clarke’s Third Law.

SUPERNATURAL MAGIC

The results are the ability to read minds, telekinesis, being able to see across time or space, etc. The source of this magic is the supernatural, that which is beyond what is normally thought of as “natural.” In Katherine Kurtz’s Deryni books, the magic is inborn and presented as psychic in nature. Another example is the psionics in Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Darkover series.

SYMBOL MAGIC

In this magical system, symbols are used to represent more that they seem on the surface. When used by a magic weaver, these symbols take on a physical quality. Any fantasy that uses a system like Runes is an example of symbolic magic, such as the Death Gate Cycle by Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman.

SYMPATHIC MAGIC

Voodoo is an example of sympathetic magic. The focus here is that what is done to an object can be equally transferred to the person who once possessed that object, or by knowing the magical name of an object, as in Ursula K. LeGuin's Wizards of Earthsea.

“WE ARE ALL ONE” MAGIC

This is based on the concept that we are aware of our unity with all the universe, we are able to create magic by tapping into that unity. Robert Jordan’s magic system in his Wheel of Time series is one example of this type of magic.

In some fantasy worlds, magic might be limited to either men or to women. Some examples are the works of Melanie Rawn and Robert Jordan.

These types of magic can be combined to create your magical system. Human myth and legends are full of magic. Beg, borrow, and steal – make the magic your own to suit your fantasy world. Pick and choose the elements that work for your fantasy world. Or, create an altogether new magical type. The limit is your own imagination.

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P. June Diehl is the author of The Magic & the Mundane: A Guide for the Writer’s Journey and working on a second book for writers. Her short stories, articles, and poetry have been published in print and online. June works as a writing teacher/mentor at Pearls of Writing and Writers Village University. She is the Editorial Director and a Senior Editor at Virtual Tales, and a Lead Editor with ePress-Online.

Show Not Tell

As a new fantasy writer, I stared at the critique. My mentor's words struck me. Show this. I thought I was showing. What did she mean? As writers, it's important to know the difference between showing and telling. Today, as an author and editor, I regularly meet writers who confuse the issue. In this article, I present a quick checklist to activate your writing, moving it from passive telling to active showing. Use this list to test your manuscript and eliminate passive telling language.

Emotional Expression:

Show emotion. Whether it's a flushed face, or a slammed car door, body language and facial expressions show emotion. Passive language tells the reader what to think.

Tell: "I'm not putting up with it," he said angrily.

Show: He slammed his fist against the table. "I'm not putting up with it."

Avoid the use of modifiers like the word angrily that tell the reader what to think. Even the use of a word like hissed in the speech tag modify the dialog by telling the reader how it is said. Instead, use strong verbs or beats to show the reader the emotion.

Descriptions For Character and Setting:

Have you blended character description a little at a time like an ingredient to a favorite recipe? Or, have you heaped a load of description in one paragraph and created a lump of facts clumped in one place. Consider how you learn about things in life. If a person walks in a room, do you think: That woman wearing the green dress has eyes that match and long blond hair falling across her shoulders. She walks like a gazelle and everyone in the rooms seems to notice her.

No, that's not how we process information. When you add character and scenic description, too many details added at one time bog the story down and tend to tell rather than show like the example above. Description dumps do not follow the way we perceive information.

Readers want a forward moving tempo. Keep the pace active with verbiage that lures them to wonder what happens next. Incorporate detail naturally within the story. Notice the difference:

The woman's green dress shimmered under low canister lighting. She slipped through the crowded room with the grace of a gazelle and stopped at the rich mahogany desk. Her blond hair draped across her shoulders as she flipped her head, turned and looked at me. Her eyes reflected the color of her dress. I smiled. Everyone in the room stopped.

Telling description stops the action. Showing the description makes it part of the natural flow. Include description in dialog and action to make it real.

Dumping Background Information:

Much like heaping description in large portions, writers may be tempted to use dialog to include large doses of information and facts they want the reader to know. Do this sparingly. If details don't have relevance within the context of the conversation these facts tell the reader information that should be gleaned in a more natural way. When dialog becomes an unnatural information dump, it stops the action and the reader loses the feel of an exchange between characters. It removes the reader from the scene, and becomes an explanation of what the author wants the reader to know.

Long character speeches used to show off hours of research (including interesting facts) need to flow unpretentiously. If piles of content do nothing to move the story along, it's time to cut it.

Repeating What the Character Knows

Search dialog for repeated information. Sometimes in an effort to be sure the reader understands what's happening, writers repeat information. Two things need to be considered. First, if you wrote it right the first time, the reader understands. Second, if you repeat it as if the reader didn't understand, you're insulting their ability to grasp the details.

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Check out Pumping Your Muse. The prompts included in this creative writing book challenge the imagination to take new direction and if followed to the conclusion of the book, provide a detailed outline along with completed scenes and developed characters for one novel, as well as a solid start for a second novel.

How to Create A Fantasy World - Part 3

Construct a History

Fantasy novel writers work out a history as they build a fantasy world. This involves anything from politics, religious views, and anything similar that may divide or bring people together.

Books with pictures stimulate world-building ideas. Encyclopedias for older children present one potential source. Flip through the pages and glance at the pictures. When you find an item or event that stimulates your imagination, consider it. Text included in this type of book is short enough to peruse information in minutes. From there you can either research it further, use what you've learned or dismiss it entirely. The bottom line is that it doesn't waste a lot of time.

Don't allow character or plot to sidetrack from the task of pulling together geographical details; jot down exciting but distracting ideas to get them out of your head and into a safe place until the basic world has evolved enough for characters to walk about. If your story takes place in a specific city investigate the history of that city. Even when writing fiction you need to use enough facts to make the story believable.

Once the landscape is in place, add characters and build a rough timeline. The past and future don't need to be well defined, but exist enough to help the fantasy writer know where characters came from and where they are going.