Thread: How to approach functional magic, or science fiction in general.

Well, I'm rather new to this area, and I wonder how to approach the long and boring explanations needed for this kind of stuff.

Particularly, I'm interested in functional magic, which is not wands and circles, but has a whole theory behind it. I've read a few works that approach this kind of magic with long explanations, which sometimes get kind of boring at first, but later on it becomes a thrilling experience once you understand the basics of the system.

The thing is I'm aiming for a young adult audience, which might not want to read through pages of exposition. What I want is to soften the learning curve a bit, without leaving things in the dark.

Any idea of how to get this done correctly? I think the same applies to science fiction and the like, so it's not necessarily about magic.

I'm doing it through dialogue personally. Two out of my four main characters have hardly any idea how magic works and up to a point didn't even know it existed, so they ask a lot of questions, and, when the old wise woman decides it suits her, she tells them. Perhaps I'm biased because it's my own work, but so far it seems to be a pretty good way of doing it. It helps to have the explanations constrained by a woman who is slightly irritated by questions and prefers utter silence, otherwise she'd say too much at a time and the reader would get bored.

Yeah, I'm thinking about going the same route, as well. My plot pretty much goes by "ordinary high-school boy meets not so ordinary magician high-school girl". So I guess that would be the best thing to do.

With my story, I explain it by showing it. You don't want to bore readers with too many details, so you put the act to use in a way that entices the reader. Add a little high tension event where the hero needs to utilise some technique he's recently learnt (but isn't shown to the reader). He plays out the description in his mind at the moment when he's being attacked. He tries to use the knowledge, but the stress of the event distracts him. You take the events blow-by-blow with the hero working out the system in his mind while he's trying to save his backside.

This way, you cut a line between boring and exciting, where you can get the details across in a way that the reader feels a need to read and understand it; because it matters to the hero's survival.

I've also found benefit in depicting magic in a way that people can directly related to. By this, I mean that you should make it seem like the reader would be able to use magic, if only they could undergo some process or understand some concept within your work. You want it portrayed in a way that the reader can see/feel in themselves somehow:

"It's that feeling you get when someone's looking at you", or
"If you've ever had déjà vu, then you'll have some idea of....", or
"Imagine it with your minds eye, then use the magical energy to...".

Each time, you're looking to find some connection with your magical process to that which a reader can find in him/herself. Make it easy for them to put themselves in the position of the hero.

Thanks Kris, that's very helpful. You are right, and now that I think about it, that's the reason I found some works interesting. It was all because the whole process of magic was engaging and was really important to the main characters;

I'll try to put those good tips to use, thanks!

Originally Posted by InsanityStrickenWriter

I'm doing it through dialogue personally. Two out of my four main characters have hardly any idea how magic works and up to a point didn't even know it existed, so they ask a lot of questions, and, when the old wise woman decides it suits her, she tells them. Perhaps I'm biased because it's my own work, but so far it seems to be a pretty good way of doing it. It helps to have the explanations constrained by a woman who is slightly irritated by questions and prefers utter silence, otherwise she'd say too much at a time and the reader would get bored.

That, my friend, is what is referred to as the 'dialogue infodump.' It's not that it's a bad method (it's quite effective, really), but it tends toward massive abuse by writers who try to work in large amounts of background info through it.

Your method, as outlined in your post, is not a bad one as your characters can help keep it all under control. That being said, I don't like it. The flow of information going to your reader should be broken up and given entrance into the story from a dozen different sources, not just one. Indeed, it's this very problem that has led to my love for first-person as I find it's easier to narrate a story from inside someone's head than it is to make everything work with someone talking a clueless protagonist through it all.

KrisMunro has the right idea here- you present the information as it becomes part of the story, no sooner and no later.

If you wanted a good example of how 'dialogue infodump' makes a story boring, read Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder. You'll thank me for countless nights of peaceful sleep as you try to read it.

Don't get me wrong... the information in the story is worthwhile, but the method is part madness.

Well, I wouldn't call what I'm doing infodump, really. The ammount of information I give is tiny, just enough to understand, and it's not put there on purpose but rather whenever I feel Character A would actually ask a question and when Character B would decide to answer it. I also should've mentioned that I describe how the characters feel when they're using magic, eg. "The world in front of Bob's eyes seemed to dim and become distant." (Not an actual quote btw )

Originally Posted by InsanityStrickenWriter

Well, I wouldn't call what I'm doing infodump, really. The ammount of information I give is tiny, just enough to understand, and it's not put there on purpose but rather whenever I feel Character A would actually ask a question and when Character B would decide to answer it. I also should've mentioned that I describe how the characters feel when they're using magic, eg. "The world in front of Bob's eyes seemed to dim and become distant." (Not an actual quote btw )

Ironic you should use "Bob" in the last post. As I was following the thread, I had already decided to comment that using dialogue for exposition makes you vulnerable to the "AS YOU KNOW, BOB," syndrome, where two characters discuss what they already know, just to clue in the reader. But dialogue is okay for exposition, if done carefully.

Mostly, I agree with KrisMunro, it should be worked into the story. Wasn't it wonderful how the Harry Potter series took place in a magic academy? Now there's truly original exposition and JK Rowling deserves all the credit she receives.

For any of you not familiar with "as you know, Bob," google Turkey City Lexicon for a funny (and informative) guide to practices writers should avoid.

JohnB