Helping Authors Build Marvelous Magic Systems One Stage at a Time
Updated Mar. 31st, 2021 Originally Published Sept. 5th, 2018 What’s up, storytellers? I’m C. R. Rowenson, and it’s time to talk about magic. Specifically, about how to create a magic system I’ve built a lot of magic systems over the years, dozens of them, both on my own and while helping various authors build their own systems. While going through all of that, I discovered that there’s a seven-stage process
We recently talked about several of the more important magic system variables you need to address, but they’re only the start. To finish mapping out your system, there are five more magic system variables you need to know about. If this is your first time hearing about magic system variables or want a refresher, this post will tell you what you need to know about magic system variables. Now, let’s
I’ve got lots of ideas and I have the bones of a story. What I need to know is which type of magic system I need to build… and I suppose you already know the answer because of the post title… Maybe I could have planned that better.
I was thinking about it the other day while staking myself some vampires — you’re welcome — and I realized there were more reasons one might use a SME for their extraordinary system.
Today, we will look at how I took the knowledge gained from my research and developed more ideas for the viral magic system. That’s right, more brainstorming!
I told you before this post would dig into the details of the magic in Stage 3: Definition… well, I lied.
I didn’t mean to! Let me explain.
