Elements of Magic: Short Story Part 1

Flames flickered down my hands as they died out. The rush of the battle and my Mana gone, I suddenly felt very tired and slow. The bridge was nothing more than a a few burning charcoal logs held by a thin string. It snapped as I watched, sending the entire contraption down to the sea.

The villagers looked weary, particularly at my hand where bits of flames still hung. I wondered what I looked like to them. A stranded teenager, in the middle of nowhere with no food, water, and pack. My face was black with soot and dust, and smoke filled my nostrils. Some of the villagers approached me, something looking at me in awe, others in horror, and others trying to avoid eye contact whatsoever.

One of them of them, a small, slightly fat man, bowed a little as he approached. "Are you...the Fire God?" He asked in slow, but clear English. He didn't raise his head. The other followed suit, bowing their heads. I was a little shocked at the turn of events, especially since I burned down their bridge, but I wasn't about to disappoint them.

"Sort of. The "Fire God" is my father." I explained. The man relayed the message in the village's language. The crowd's tension eased a little, glad not to be in the presence of a mighty being, but they had seen what I could do, and remained where they were.

"You...are...half-god?" The man asked.

I'd never thought of it that way. Actually, to be completely correct, I was 3/4th God, but that would probably be too confusing, and I doubted they would still be this friendly if they knew I was part "Death God"

"Yes, I guess you could say that."

The man shouted, and the whole village cheered. Suddenly forgetting to stay away from the ultra-powerful being, I was being swarmed by hundreds of the villagers. They cheered and kissed one another, and the crowd gradually shifted to the Town Center.

(I'll continue this later)

  

Magic is Might

Today is Friday the 13th for all you superstitious writers. Speaking of superstition, I've decided to write about magic, and how to use it. 

NOTE: I, Twain, am more of a Fantasy writer, than anything else. If we can get more authors who are better with other fictional genres, we can have each author specialize in writing about that genre.

Anyway, back to magic. Magic is fun. It's different. It creates interesting plot lines and characters. But, you have to be careful. You have to make the magic in your world believable. 

Yes, I know that sounds weird. Magic is supposed to be strange and mythical, which is fine. But if you have a character that can dissolve the world in seconds without any consequences, you're going to have a few readers shelving your book.

So, how do you make it believable?

NOTE: These steps do not have to be in order 

Step 1: Incorporate magic into your world. 

When you make magic part of the world, your setting, it becomes more believable. If it's just as easy to find a baker as it is a talented magician/sorcerer, then the whole world isn't gawking at your character because he just shot lightning out of his hand. Now, there are exceptions to this. If you want NO magic in your book, besides your character, you have to think of a logical reason as to why.

Step 2:  Set limits to magic.

This is a biggie. Newton's Law of Motion. With every action, there is an equal, but opposite, reaction. There has to be consequences to using magic. If any old wizard could shoot unlimited fireballs out of his hand, why isn't everyone doing it? Does he ever stop?  

I've heard of a thing where Wizards, when they used magic, completely destroyed life around them, literately sucking energy from plants. This caused a hatred of wizards, unless they could learn to control it.

In my book, for instance, magic is energy. There is this thing called Mana that flows through every living thing. Wizards have more Mana than the average person, and they have the ability to manipulate Mana. To them, the manipulation of Mana is magic.

The consequence, therefore, is that whenever they use magic, it cost them energy, and they feel like they've been drained of it for a while after a long session of magic.

Step 3: Make a way to stop magic.

This is more of my thinking than actual "How to write Fantasy", but I think it's important. Back to my example at the top of Step 2. There are bound to bad wizards, one who want to take over the world, kidnap the girl, whatever floats your boat. So, how do you stop them?

In my book, there is a solid/liquid metal that if it comes into contact with a wizard, their Mana manipulation freezes, and they can't use Mana as long as it's touching them. What I'm basically saying, give magic it's weakness. There needs to be a way to stop it

So, rehab:

Step 1: Incorporate magic into your world

Step 2: Set limits to magic

Step 3: Make a way to stop magic  

Old Advice

I think the biggest mistake that I see amatuer writers make is not conforming to the age old saying:

Show, Don't Tell. The thing I hate most is when I see people use "You see, Daniel had special powers..." If the whole book is about Daniel's special powers, you have to show them, possibly by having David do it himself.

Let's say Daniel had the power to rewind time temporarily.

"Daniel walked down the cafeteria, looking for an empty seat, the sloppy joe jiggling on his tray with energy. He noticed he was walking towards the 8th grade "section" of the cafeteria, and quickly changed course.
A little too fast. His feet slipped underneath him on the wet and milky cafeteria floor. His tray flew upwards, going in a large arch towards the 8th graders.

Daniel watched in horror as the sloppy joe smeared into the face of a beefy 8th grader. The entire school froze as the boy wiped the BBQ off of his face. He started to stomp towards Daniel, who was still transfixed. He grabbed his shirt, yanking him off the floor.

Daniel snapped to focus. He felt his energy dissapear, and the world start to rewind. The boy set him down, and marched backwards. Daniel himself moved positions as the sloppy joe flew back to him. He looked at the 8th grader, doing their same conversations, and walked towards the 6th graders.

What's better?

The above example or, "You see, Daniel had the power to rewind time..." I really hope you think the 1st one.

So, try to use the Old Advice

Show, Don't Tell