Keeping it short tonight, but I’m dipping back into writing fantasy, and oh man do I love it. I suppose the problem is that I get lost in the potential of things, what different pathways and choices could possibly lead to. I was thinking of things to write about for this, and I just want to gush about magic systems in writing, maybe even theorize one.

I think I love magic systems in fantasy and sci-fi settings because they add a new dimension to the narrative. When we write stories in a world that mirrors our own, the only rules that might bend and change are social ones, not literal laws of nature. A magic system has tons of benefit and potential. It can change the laws or rules of the story world. They are often systems with a power hierarchy, often mirroring science or some pseudoscience to a remarkably specific degree.

This is awesome to me, because I just love the idea of authors and readers just toiling with these new systems of pure imagination. Do you know how many hours I’ve spent just daydreaming about superpowers and creating different magic systems?

I’m going to just spitball some on the fly for fun:

An ability to alter your luck or serendipity greatly, but the luck is being taken from your own future endeavors. Good luck now, bad luck later at random.

A true component-based magic system, assigning values to different aspects of the world. Like a frost breath spell shows a mage eating a habanero and a mouthful of snow. A fireball demands a fist of blood, the testicle of an angry goat, and some tinder soaked in flammable oil. This system could be very in-depth or could be very whimsical and imagination based. I like the idea of creativity of component allowing twists on spells and the like, but hard magic systems of this nature would require a heap of research.

I’ve been working on a fantasy story for some time now alongside more contemporary fiction, and I’ve written a whole magic system out for that, but I’m starting to think I’ve only scratched the surface. The days could grow long with what I want to write about these things. Hell, I even spent a day or two solving a time paradox. That’s making me want to get back to it.

Well, have a great night and a good weekend, and I hope that whatever you do, a smile and some kindness find you. Maybe you can add a little bit of magic back into the world.

Stay crunchy nerds,

Kbat