Local Authors > Writing Group
Need ideas for what Magic can do
fardawg:
--- Quote from: Jason R. Peters on June 22, 2011, 07:03:14 PM ---I want to make one final plug here that I respectfully disagree with the premise behind your original question.
It is phrased in such a way as to indicate:
1. You have an existing world or story and
2. You want to add magic over the top of said world/story
--- End quote ---
Actually... no. I'm trying to come up with interesting magic systems that I can build a world or story around (or at least weave it into an existing one if it fits - not just adding it superficially). I completely agree that a system shouldn't be window dressing. That is completely anathema to me.
I do have existing stories, but most of them have mundane systems because I couldn't come up with an interesting one, though I did have what I believe to be interesting limitations etc. It's usually the limitations or way of transmission that I use as a springboard to build the world. For instance, I came up with a system that uses a fluid in a specific way (I'm being intentionally vague), so I built a hierarchical political system around the people who have special access to it. The entire story grew from that premiss; though it did incorporate elements from another story that fit perfectly.
If I would find a system that would make a specific story better, I would change the world and story to flow from the system rather that just throw it on top. But that is not what I was saying in the post. What made you think that btw?
Juan Dolor:
--- Quote from: fardawg on May 31, 2011, 12:46:05 PM ---I find myself coming up with what I think are fairly interesting ways to receive, transmit, use, and limit magic. Yet I constantly get stuck on exactly what I want it to do. I usually end up with the basic Elemental magic, or magic that enhances natural abilities and properties of people and items: strength, speed etc. but I want something different. Any suggestions?
--- End quote ---
If you want your magic to do something different, start a dream journal. Your brain is coming up with strange ideas that defy logic and physics every night. Start writing these down. At first you will remember very little, but after a few weeks this will change and you will get a lot more.
Most of what you write down will not be directly useful, but you will get a lot of new ideas. And the exercise will ensure that you write every day, which is really a good idea for writers.
fardawg:
--- Quote from: Juan Dolor on June 23, 2011, 03:52:20 PM ---If you want your magic to do something different, start a dream journal.
--- End quote ---
I've actually tried that to generate story ideas. Unfortunately, my dreams are so fractured and fragmentary that it never works. There is nothing in them to latch onto. Thanks for the advice though.
Juan Dolor:
Mine are, too. So the short stories they influenced came out pretty weird. But after writing a few, the setting started to come together in a very interesting way.
Jason R. Peters:
If any single dream is too fragmented, one option is (similar to the powers idea) start crossing them.
Another option for both magic and story ideas is to randomize two wikipedia articles. Or one wikipedia article with a dream.
Examples:
I once dreamed I was at a benefit dinner with Michael J. Fox, I assume for Parkinson's. Mostly, I remember that he was unfailingly polite and a good conversationalist besides. I hit "random article" on wikipedia and was linked to a tiny article about the Thomas River.
What could possibly inform fiction or magic about these two items? Even the dream is relatively mundane. But possibilities are actually endless.
The first thing that jumped to mind is that a cure for Parkinson's was found in the Thomas River. Going with the magic element, said cure is magical in nature. A magical cure carries many implications for industries like pharmacy and medicine.
Or perhaps I associate Michael J. Fox specifically with Back to the Future (which I do). Perhaps the Thomas River navigated upstream takes people in the past, downstream into the future, and you can travel back and forth. Or choose a river you like better; the point of the article was just to jog ideas loose.
The best way to approach any article or dream for fiction is to solve a problem contained within it. I hit "random article" again (got a stub but linked over to) Kiribati, an island nation in the tropical Pacific. Remote places make me think of hidden magics, for example if the Kiribati are actually from another planet and the island is a crossover realm. Or perhaps their music has hidden powers not seen elsewhere in the world.
The article says a Japanese-proposed space shuttle called "HOPE-X" was to have a landing strip in Kiribati, but HOPE-X was cancelled. There could be a million reasons (many of them magic-related) why that happened.
Moving the same story to a fantasy setting, perhaps there's a city from which every ship sinks when it sets sail. All ships that land on said island are permanently grounded. Does it become isolated due to the island's curse, or does it thrive on a constant influx of new arrivals? The story's hero is one of the many determined to break the curse.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version