Thread: Fresh look at the mechanics of magic.

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In the book Eragon, magic could only be cast based on the individuals physical limits. For instance. If I wanted the TV remote from across the room, it wouldn't take much energy to go and get it. Should I use a spell to bring it to me, the energy that spell would cost my body would be barely noticeable. So if I wanted to move a mountain an inch to the left, the energy the spell would require would obviously kill me unless I was to store extra energy in various magical stones for such large spells.


Pretty logical, can't really pull that method apart.


In Trudi Cavanas “Black Mage Trilogy”, she uses a similar system where the black mages are able to store the energy from servants etc in their own bodies for use in bigger and better spells.


Again pretty good way of explaining magic.


Harry potter uses the good old 'wave a wand and chant' method. Tried and tested, why change it.


Lord of the rings, enchantments and laments from ancient races. They are ancient races, who are we mortals to argue why their magic should work... right?


The point of the post:


I'm trying to come up with a new way to employ the use of magic without basically saying “its magic, deal with it.”


I have an outline and a reason why a person might be blessed with the ability to use powers most other people can't. But I am unable to come up with a way of turning my magic caster into a god. Using the“its magic, deal with it” way about things, my character could destroy armies with a casual flick of her finger... cool? Yes, but makes for a short read.


The power she has (as the only spell caster in the world, makes sense if you read the book but I won't make you do that) is a blessing from the god of life. She gets it accidentally when touching an artifact of said god, killing the existing spell caster on the spot and passing the powers onto her causing her to go on the run as the powers are not meant for her. Pretty standard stuff.


So how can I limit her use of the power. Should she only be able to control things that are alive? Could she use arcane magic? If so that seems to fit too closely to the way the first two examples do it. Using energy from living things to cast spells.


I want to avoid this developing cliché as much as possible, has anyone given much thought to a new way of using magic? How it should be regulated, how much one spell caster should be capable of etc.


Any thoughts at all are welcome as it may spark an avenue of imagination as yet unexplored! I'm sort of hoping to theory craft here rather than get other people to give me ideas for my book.


This is making sense right?

It does. Magic is in my story too, so I've had to think about this a lot. In the case of my story I've come to the conclusion that magic is a personal thing, and not just to the character, but the world itself. Use of magic dictated by personal limit works in Eragon because it's also (to me) steeped in intent of the spell. Whereas this might not work in the other example you mentioned because the means specify the intent. Does that make any sense? Had another thought, have you decided exactly what her having the power granted by the god of life means? That can also effect capability and usage.

I've never written about magic, but I think it would be difficult to assign magical powers to a character without first knowing what the character is supposed to achieve in the story. Maybe the plot and/or goal should be considered first, and then you can figure out how to make the magic work.

JK Rowling's stories dealt with a wide range of kids from diverse backgrounds, so it makes sense that she'd come up with a simple tool that they all could use: their wands.

the only magic i really enjoy in fiction is that of 'magic realism' - an otherwise realistic or mundane situation where a magical or series of magical events occur, usually centering on either one or more character or object. a good example of magic realism would be The Green Mile by Stephen King or a lot of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's work. its different to a straight up fantasy novel because much of the world is actually very realistic, and as such the contrast is greater. although its become a much more common genre in literature, i still think it has a lot of mileage because it's almost guaranteed that the least 'magical' the setting the more interesting it would be if a touch of the surreal is employed.

anyway, this probably isnt good advice for what you want to do, but i just thought i'd throw it out there as an idea. you don't necessarily HAVE to 'explain' the basis for magic or how its regulated. for instance, in the green mile there's no explanation for why he had the gifts he had and it actually made it more interesting because it allowed for much more speculation. why bother explaining such a thing? it does depend on the exact kind of novel you're writing though. usually when the supernatural is tackled in such a logical fashion it borders more on science fiction, you're essentially coming up with a hypothesis and therefore yes you do need to offer insight into how such things are possible. but for me i wouldnt bother with it most of the time. i tend to like magic left how it is - a mystery.

If I were writing the story, I would have her magic injure her a little more each time she uses it. And these injuries, she doesn't heal from. They are permanent injuries, like a deepening fatigue that wraps around her body, creeping deeper and closer to her soul each time.

And for the climax, I would put her in a position where she has to decide between casting a spell that will kill her, or not casting it, and letting an innocent die. (or some similar dillema of the highest stakes)

You can always reward her for her sacrifice with a resurrection by the new spell caster, if you don't want her death to be permanent.

The magic in my book is primarily based on the practices of Ceremonial Magic (as in Qabalah, Golden Dawn, Thelema, Wicca, and Solomonic Magic). I take certain liberties because it is a fantasy fiction and I can, but the core concepts are the same. It also allows me to address some of the issues of that particular community, as in, the disparity between magical theory and actual practice.

As for your dilemma, the limitations placed on your character should come from her own powers of concentration. There's no reason why just thinking "fire" should produce enough fire to scorch an entire army. For the first little while after gaining her abilities, if she tried to scorch an entire army, the best she could do is singe the hairs on the front lines. If she were to try to call up a gust of wind, she would most likely just let out a loud belch.

I was thinking of a proper analogy to help illustrate my point, and the best I could think of was to imagine suddenly gaining an extra pair of arms coming out of my torso. It's easy to think that they would be just as capable as the arms I was born with, but the truth is they would be worse than useless until I learned to use them. The neuro-pathways simply haven't been set to allow for two extra arms. Now, with time I could get some degree of mastery over them, but it would most likely not even be to the level of my non-dominant hand unless I underwent focused training (like the kind boxers go through).

The same goes for magic. To suddenly be granted the ability to do magic, particularly someone who has had no connection to magic throughout their lives, would find the actual practice of magic a bit like trying to lasso the wind until they got some real experience under their belt.

Additionally, there would be psychological limitations to magic that would be every bit as difficult to overcome as physical limitations or limits of concentration. For example, say she wants to calm a storm. She would most likely try to imagine the winds stopping and the clouds clearing suddenly. But if she were to do this, she would most likely make the storm even worse. I don't exactly know what stopping the winds would do, but to try and clear the clouds I could imagine would create a tornado or something. Whatever happens as a result of her interference would cause her to panic and just try harder, further compounding the danger. A true master, however, would understand that in order to gain any control of the storm, she would have to learn to ride the currents of its fury and dissipate the energies gradually.

Magic is energy.

You can get energy from anywhere around you, or from yourself.

Couple ideas:

1. The blessing wasn't intended for her, or anyone really. The god of life resents the existence of the artifact (which is actually a shard of his essence? Cosmic toenail clipping?), and wants it back. The more power she puts out there, the greater the chance the god can pinpoint where she is, and boy would it be bad for her if he ever caught up to her! She has to be self-regulating for her own preservation.

2. The god intended the blessing, but it's a direct tap on his powers. He's got enemies, and he can't afford to have too much power going out at any point. If she starts soaking the power pool, he might limit the flow. Or, if he's in a battle or just coming out of one, she might be left completely to her own devices, ouch!

Originally Posted by Capulet

2. The god intended the blessing, but it's a direct tap on his powers. He's got enemies, and he can't afford to have too much power going out at any point. If she starts soaking the power pool, he might limit the flow. Or, if he's in a battle or just coming out of one, she might be left completely to her own devices, ouch!

That would be a good idea but for how utterly implausible it would be for the reader. Are there enemies that she needs to fight? The god is feeling generous, so he's releasing a lot of energy that day. Need to put her in a tight spot? The God's simply having troubles of his own and can't afford her any power.

It's a nifty thought, but given how abusable it is for the sake of plot convenience, it may be a thought best left on the shelf.

In the 'Earthsea' trilogy LeGuin makes wizards limit their magic because using magic upsets the balance of the world.

On another track, if she is on the run maybe using magic could make her visible in some way, like switching on your mobile phone to make a call.

Hmmm, all good points. I especially like themooresho's idea as at the end of book 3 (I have outlined all the way through to the third book) she is required to perform a feat of unusually powerful magic, but it will be a good 15-20 years down the line so plenty of time to get in some practice but would explain in book one why she is so utterly hopeless at magic use and keeps getting her companions killed.

The gods in my books don't actually have much to do with mortals. Except one who is controlling events for various reasons. So to have the god of life take an active interest in how his "Cosmic toenail clipping" is being used is a bit out of character for how the story works. Nice thought on that though Capulet. (to be honest I haven't entirely figured out why its in the world, but it features heavily in the third book so I will get round to explaining its existence at some point!)

Good comments! Thank you!

Originally Posted by Gamer_2k4

That would be a good idea but for how utterly implausible it would be for the reader. Are there enemies that she needs to fight? The god is feeling generous, so he's releasing a lot of energy that day. Need to put her in a tight spot? The God's simply having troubles of his own and can't afford her any power.

It's a nifty thought, but given how abusable it is for the sake of plot convenience, it may be a thought best left on the shelf.

That's true, it is very abusable as a writer. The trick is to use it as the limitation it's supposed to be, and not as an out when things get sticky for your character. The readers can enjoy the "oh crap" moments she experiences when she thought she was going to be able to tap the battery, but suddenly it's gone. Think of them as kryptonite moments, where the almost-always powerful Superman suddenly has to rely on his will and intellect instead of his dominating physical strength.

I like #1 because it adds not only another antagonist, but one that's more powerful than your super powerful protagonist. No matter how great her capacity to do harm to those around her and get her way, it's contingent on her exposing herself to the one (known) source of power that can and is actively trying to destroy her.

The appeal of #2 is the randomness of it. Your readers, and the protagonist, won't always know just how much power is available to her, and it'll hang over her decisions. It becomes its own plot device, one that you correctly state can be abused. Your readers are looking for something clever and engaging, and a full battery 24/7 won't give that to them. Don't let it become like an Astroboy battery that dies every episode! lol

Hmmm, nowI want to write one of these, ha ha!

Hello Potty,


Were the powers not meant for her to have or did she apparently come upon them by accident? If you believe in fate, then a supreme god might have destined her to find and touch the artifact no matter how well its previous owner may have hidden it. It appears from what you have written that the magic was a gift but it was a gift not meant for her. Apparently not or else she would not have it. It’s the world around her who might believe that she shouldn’t.


If you wish to make her a god, then a godhead must descend into her spirit. (a benevolent one else the god might take over and destroy her identity)


A good way to limit her powers is by leaving her ignorant of the mechanics. Without magical parents, a mentor or dare I say, Hogwarts Professors, she can only use little bits of her power that she has discovered serendipitously through her experiences, leading her ultimately to the end of her quest where she needs to know all, or nearly all, to perform whatever great feat of magic that you and the muse have in store for her.



If the book has already been written and you are trying to retrofit her limitations into the story then I don’t know what to tell you.




In the future you might try working with only the barest charcoal sketch of an outline. Then, with Calliope at your side, hurl words at the narrative. You can eliminate superfluous material later. It is easier to redact the extraneous than to retrofit the necessary. If you work from a full blown outline then writing can become as joyless as constructing a legal brief.




Despite what Dorothy Parker said about her process: I hate writing. I love to have written. Writing can and should be fun. When a story flows from your fingertips like magic, one writes faster and better. If you work from a tight outline, it can be laborious. Am I correct in assuming that this might be the cause of your dilemma?




Don’t be like Dottie, Potty.


Peace.

I would recommend reading the Dresden Files, after 11 or 12 books, he has a fairly good grasp on his idea of magick and I like it.

I am writing a story where the characters develop an ability for something which is not magic but will give them great power. Unfortunately it makes them ill to use it.