Writers and Authors

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Creating Magic In Your Sci-Fi/Fantasy Worlds, guest post by Brandy Potter

Some of the greatest authors in the fantasy genre created magic differently for their readers. However, all of them followed some simple rules in their writing of magic to capture the readers and make the magic they created more realistic. Not all of these authors clearly stated this This article will hopefully explain these to you and use examples so that you can join myself and others in walking through a world of pure imagination.

1. If you have magic, have nothing else. - That is your free ride. Mixing TOO many powers together will confuse people. I LOVE the Avengers and the Justice League, who doesn’t, but there are times that I have to resort to my cheat sheet to remember what some people can do. It works for these comic book mash ups because the characters have been established through their own intricate sagas, but it won’t work for your readers who are just learning about your world

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2. Never forget that people are the story – As magical as the wizarding world is, without Harry, Garion or Frodo we wouldn’t care.

3. Do you need magic? Why? – There has to be a reason magic exists. Eddings produces a great reason. In his world, the two sides are two different possible endings resulting in some sort of rift between that magic. If the hero wins, one destiny for the world exists, if he loses there is another reason.

4. If you have magic, it infuses the entire world – Rawlings does this seamlessly in a modern setting using a magical law that shields Muggles. For many, there are disbelievers that simply chose to ignore it i.e The Hobbits, but it is there.

5. You don’t always have to define these limitations to your readers, but you do have to know them. - For example, in the world of Harry Potter, even though there are dark arts, only those who are evil use them. Therefore, while there are two sides to the magic, it is the intent of the wizard or witch that defines good and evil. She doesn’t SAY that’s what she does, but readers know.

6. All rules are made to be broken, but not all in the same story. - Magic didn’t appear to have consequences in Middle Earth, but Tolkein followed all the other rules. If magic existed without rules, there would be no end to its possibility and thus becomes unbelievable.

7. All spells have a consequence and a counter spell. – For Eddings, if someone moved a boulder with magic, the character was just as tired as if they had moved it physically. It also carried a noise that announced the presence of the wielder to others with magic abilities. For Tolkein the all-powerful one ring corrupted the bearer.

8. Plot twists based on the magic work, but only if the readers understand. We saw Harry use the marauders map several times, so when Peter Pettigrew appeared, we knew something was amiss. If the readers didn’t understand that, then finding out that Scabbers was Peter wouldn’t have been so magical.

9. Heroes and spells both have weaknesses that can be exploited. – Superman had to have kryptonite If there is no weakness, then evil can’t be beaten and there is no struggle for good.

10. There has to be a learning curve. – Harry Potter had Hogwarts, Garion had Polgara and Belgarath. If the bearer can simply wield the magic from the outset, then it requires too much suspension of belief

11. A certain amount of will has to be used for the spell to work – Expecto Patronum, enough said. The wielder has to put a piece of themselves into the magic for it to work.

12. Ultimately, magic can’t solve the problem. Harry literally has to die to save the people he loves even with magic. If you have your story end with that cop out, then you take the humanity out of the story.

Creating worlds is hard. Yet, how boring would any of the works of the author’s listed above be without magic. It has to be defined before you even begin to frame races, characters or plot. So when you make your maps, take some time to define your magic as well. Fantasy and sci-fi writers have the most creative freedom and responsibility in the writing world. After all they are not limited by “known” timeframes or locations. So, above all, have fun.

Brandy Potter has been writing since she was 9 years old, but Venomous Lives was her first published novel. Currently she is working on a romance suspense and a romance thriller. Her character development focuses on the psychology of the everyday person, fictionalized visions people overcoming their conflicts. She enjoys watching people and observing their behaviors. What makes us and at times what breaks us. She likes strong female leads but maintains that they are strong in different ways. She does reviews for an online blog magazine and facilitates an online author’s group.

Visit the author on Amazon http://amzn.to/2xjDHL9

Building a World We Know, Guest post by Brett Armstrong

World building is important in writing. The setting of a story can be as likable and alluring as any other element. How many people line up to visit Hogwarts at Universal Studios or long to take a stroll with Mr. Tumnus in Narnia or to stand atop Minas Tirith and look out at the Pelennor Fields or take a ride in an X-Wing or speeder bike on Endor? Fiction really has to be immersive to be effective. Regardless of the genre, regardless of the story’s length; the reader has to be able to slip into the story and become captivated by what is to be found there. Some people call it suspension of disbelief, but I think it is more than that. A reader needs to feel swept up in a story, carried away from the real world, just far enough to relax inhibitions and apprehensions. It is at that point that the story can speak to the reader. If this sounds like reading as escapism, then I agree, it is escapism. Though my conviction is when fiction is escapism, then let the author write the story in such a way as to better equip the reader to face the real world by the story’s end. The what and why of this are clear enough, but the how is the trick for an author. So, I would like to share a little about how I approached world building in Day Moon.

For my writing, and Day Moon in particular, the first scene written is key. It sets the tone of the work for the writer as much as the reader. In Day Moon, the first scene I wrote is chapter one’s opening. I wrote it two years before any of the rest of the book. This scene kept pulling me back into the world of Day Moon. As a writer, I need a stark, crisp image to hold onto and then everything else flows as an extension of trying to understand the backdrop I’m imagining. The scene I referred to has a teen looking out in the rain at the campus library, which led me to ask, why is he fixated on it? The one picture won’t tell you everything, but already there is a somberness present and sense of longing, but also a sense of reluctance, all implied just from that simple setup. It’s always best to choose setting details that complement the themes of passages and enhance the emotional content of the story. Since that rainy day could have happened just about anywhere, next ask what kind of world fits the story? The answer will eventually led to a story that fits the world, which makes the world better fit the story in a kind of positive feedback loop. Day Moon is set in Appalachia to give it a sense of loss. Of the old being begrudgingly buried by the new, and Appalachia of today fits that same kind of background dynamic that adds to the story. The story’s characters and plot have to live within that world and so the three work together. People sometimes ask what elements of a story are most important or should be given most attention by a writer, but I think it’s more complicated than that. The world of the story, its themes, its characters, and the plot all need to work in concert, because they can change and develop each other as the story moves on and that kind of organic balance really benefits all aspects of the story.

With sci-fi and fantasy, or anything outside a setting contemporaneous with the intended reader, it is important to ground the setting in something relatable, particularly an emotion or action, right away. Elliott checks the time, calls Lara—whom he wants to meet to check on when she’ll be getting there. He’s clearly got a crush on Lara, but isn’t sure how she feels. Simple actions and an emotion almost anyone can relate to. Next, toss in some elements that are familiar, but unique to the world of the story. For me it was the introduction of the mag-lev vehicles and their automated driving processes. It’s similar to something most people relate to, driving, but also new and different, part of the technology of that world. This pattern of introducing bits of the normal with new twists gradually builds into the less relatable and completely foreign. The key is a subtle transition from familiar to unfamiliar.

It’s my advice to always leave some traces of the real world embedded in the world of the story as kind of way points for the reader. Islands of familiarity for the reader to find some refuge on when the unfamiliar is engulfing him or her. If a writer wants a point to resonate with a reader, the reader has to be able to find the real world somewhere within the world of the story. Whether its Mars or Medieval Spain or Minas Morgul, the reader has to relate to what is going on. Those little nuggets of the real world serve that purpose and will help the reader carry the point of a passage through the landscape of the story to its end.

Also, make sure the world is big enough to get lost, but focused in locality enough that the reader never does. This makes the story world interesting, and deep, and gives the reader the desire to explore, but the comfort of being guided through the story by the author. It is kind of like an image of a fog shrouded mountain range. You see enough peaks to know there is more out there, but with much of the details hidden, you feel quite content in that moment to be on your peak. Which is significant, because in that kind of situation, you feel like it is YOUR peak. A reader having that sort of ownership of the world of a story, leads to a sense of ease and familiarity that will keep him or her coming back and gradually exploring new territory, exploring and claiming more of the world built by an author each time. In practice this again requires a balancing act, just as everything in writing seems to be. Make the world deep and rich, but don’t drown the reader. It’s really important to give a sense of something more being there to be discovered, but at the same time, very purposefully not addressing it. Though I have my beefs with Star Wars: The Force Awakens, I have to give it credit for replicating that sense of enormity of the Star Wars galaxy while still keeping the story limited to what the viewer absolutely had to know. Enough questions in the story implied there was a depth to the world of Star Wars post-Return of the Jedi to merit a fans coming back for more installments. A quick mention of a person or place with the appearance of significance but no discussion of that character or location causes story world to enlarge, while the present story doesn’t have to pull in anything it doesn’t need. A hinted at theme or unrealized symbol can have the same effect. Though they must be more carefully handled, since things of that sort can leave a reader feeling like the story itself is incomplete rather than bigger than the present experience.

In the final balance, when building a new world through writing, it has to be something grounded in this world so the reader can relate, be malleable enough that the story can shape it and it can shape the story, be immersive to pull the reader in and have clear view of everything, and be big enough to invite more visits while being most vivid in only those portions essential to the present action of the story. The important thing for me is that when a reader is done, the reader can look at the real world and see the story’s points born out, because the world of the story and the real world were never quite as different as they seemed.

From an early age, Brett Armstrong had a love for literature and history. At age nine, he combined the two for his first time in a short story set in the last days of the Aztec Empire. After that, writing’s role in his life waxed and waned periodically, always a dream on the horizon, till he reached college. At West Virginia University, he entered the Computer Engineering program and spent two years pursuing that degree before an opportunity to take a creative writing class, for fun, came along. It was so enjoyable, he took another and in that course he discovered two things. The first was the plot for a short story called Destitutio Quod Remissio, which the others students really seemed to love. The second, he realized he absolutely loved writing. For him, it was like the proverbial light bulb coming on. In the years since, describing that epiphany has been difficult for him, but he found the words of 1924 Olympian Eric Liddell are the most eloquent expression for it: “God made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure.” God gave Brett a passion for writing, and so feels His pleasure when writing.

After a few years passed, Brett got his Computer Engineering degree, but also completed a minor in each of his real passions: history and creative writing. In 2013, he began graduate school to earn an MA in Creative Writing. During that time he completed the novelization of Destitutio Quod Remissio and entered the 2013-2014 CrossBooks Writing Contest, which won the contest's grand prize. As of March 2015, Brett completed his MA and is presently employed in the West Virginia Division of Infectious Disease Epidemiology as a programmer analyst.

Brett lives in Saint Albans, West Virginia, with his beautiful wife, Shelly. In the summer the pair gardens together, and each day Brett continues writing his next novel.

Visit him at:

Website: http://www.brettarmstrong.net/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brettarmstrongwv

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/BArmstrongWV

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Writing fantasy is both a blessing and a curse. A whole new world is yours for the creating, but, if you don’t plan it carefully and abide by your own rules, you can turn it from fantasy to pure nonsense. Having now completed a trilogy of fantasy novels I’ve experienced researching like I never would have fathomed prior to it. For example;

How far can a griffon fly in a day? Or an hour? What is ‘top’ griffon speed.
How would syrens work, and why? Because as silly as it might seem debating a mythical creature, to make it believable in a tale it has to seem logical…
Why do dragons breathe fire? And would they all?
If you have dragons and griffons, what would they eat? Surely a cow wouldn’t be big enough.
How long would an ‘average’ human live?
What colour are the oceans, and why?
Is there magick on this world, and how does it work?

Creating another world, with believable creatures and characters, all in a completely foreign setting requires some meticulous note taking (well, that or flicking back and forth between your drafts *grin*) and an absolute dedication to make it read as logical as possible. It can create some writer’s block like you’ve never experienced but at the same time the sense of freedom, and adventure, in being the first to pioneer your ‘new world’ makes it all worth it.

Nicole MacDonald is a thirty something year old Kiwi who loves to read and moonlights as a novelist. From a young age she fantasized about being the heroine in the books and/or movies she watched and credits the series ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ for really inspiring her. Writing only occurred to her a few years ago after reading an abysmal tale with silly useless females where upon she decided to write a tale solely for herself where the girls got to kick butt without the usual sob story—betrayed/abused/abandoned etc. That little tale eventuated into the BirthRight Trilogy.

Nicole’s current daydream is that Joss Whedon (aka the genius of film) will discover the BirthRight Trilogy and demand the film rights to it. Until then, she’s working on several other writing projects and aiming to explore the world with her partner.

Get the first book "Awakening" for free in any format from https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/34874

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