Magic, Coffee and Corkboards

So this week is less about meeting a daily word quota and more about making some big, lasting decisions about the universe I’m building.

Today I’m cork boarding. That is to say, I am going to sit down and think about my whole story arc and make sure everything makes sense, is paced well and conforms to the characters I have in my head. I’ve discovered I’m really, really bad at this part. I end up creating cards that are incredibly broad or which delve far too deeply into detail. Still, this is a learning exercise. I’m reminding myself constantly that the slow, painful steps I make with this story will hopefully become the ... ermm... somewhat less slow and marginally less painful steps of story number two.

If cork boarding is the grueling cold water swim that excites me least about the writing process then the raw, anarchic freefall of inventing something new excites me most. I’m talking magic. I need to think more deeply about how magic works in this hybrid fantasy / reality world my characters are inhabiting.

Key questions are:
- what limitations exist on magic. What can’t it do?
- what are the risks of using magic?
- will there be different “flavors” of magic and if so, how will they interact?
- how are magical abilities acquired? or are they simply innate?
- a more writerly question is, how do I make sure that my version of magic is not trite and hackneyed. Eek!

I have the beginnings of answers to these questions, but now is the time to really begin to make firm, binding decisions. Decisions that will inform not just how this story works but how my entire series of stories will work. No pressure or anything.

While I am thinking about all this, I’m dwelling heavily on three approaches to magic that other writers have used, simply because I admire how effectively their rendering allowed their stories to progress.

Patric Rothfuss - The Kingkiller Chronicles. The mental process involved in making magic is so crisply articulated in these books. The author manages to make the reader so aware of the constraints and limitations of magic in his universe that when something “big” happens, the reader has an “oooh” moment.
Kevin Hearne - The Iron Druid Chronicles. I love how fallible and imperiled the protagonist is in this series. He frequently uses magic to augment his abilities, but ultimately his survival is dependent on his wit and personality.
Naomi Novik - Uprooted. The guiding metaphors for two kinds of magic are at odds with one another. One is rigid and formulaic, requiring rote memorization and years of practice. The other is akin to foraging in the woods, finding a way that is different every time. These conflicting approaches form a solid foundation for character development.

So, with these beautiful approaches in mind it’s time for me to try to come up with something equally compelling yet completely mine. Hmm, may require much coffee.