How does a writer go about creating a magical system when magic isn’t ‘real’?
Fortunately, we have centuries’ worth of books, letters, writings and documents detailing all kinds of magical systems by people who believed them to be very real. Lift the hood on modern magical practices and the structure of religions, and you’ll find food for thought. The trick is taking those elements and making them something unique to your world, rooted in your special brand of magic.
Mystical practice–whether occult or religious–has a core need to create a sense of altered and heightened reality in its devotees. The means of doing so is well documented, and validated by psychology. Trance states can be induced by repetitive actions (chanting, rocking, dance), by chemicals (peyote, wine, hallucinogens), by physical hardship (fasting, grueling initiation rites), by sleep deprivation or extended solitude. Once the right mental buttons have been pressed, susceptible initiates will have visions, hear voices, feel non-existent stimuli, believe themselves to be flying. Most ritual initiations have some element of acting out a form of death and resurrection. These are the stuff of belief and religion–and the same building blocks of magic.
Liturgy has as its intent the opening of liminal space, thinning the veil between our world and the next. Blood and sacrifice often factor in at some level, literal or metaphorical. There is power in speaking the old words in the old ways, dressed in clothing that denotes being set apart from daily occupations, in a space deemed to be sacred, with the intent of achieving a mystical connection with something greater than ourselves and tapping into that power.
Think about the rules for the magic you create. Who has magic and who doesn’t? Must you be born with it or can it be acquired? Can you learn to improve your magic, or do you come ‘factory-equipped’? Do abilities differ in type and power? Is magic permitted in the society? Desired? Feared? Persecuted? Do people with magical abilities hold special positions and do they have a choice about being inducted into those roles? How can magic be misused and what are the consequences? Who are considered the ‘bad’ people with magic, who are the ‘good’ people and why? Is magic hidden or openly used? What are the limits and costs of using magic? Where does the power come from? How has the use/understanding of the magic changed over time or vary depending on the status of the user? Always build in a Kryptonite for your mages so that they don’t become all-powerful. Magic must have a price, both to learn and to use or else you’ve got a lot of godlings running around throwing lightning bolts and it’s bloody boring.
Study what makes ritual and religion tick, and you’ll understand the psychological drivers necessary for a convincing magical system. I can usually spot when an author has no first-hand experience with a faith tradition or is contemptuous of anything mystical because their attempts at written magic fall flat. They are missing the heart, the transcendence. Magic has rules and structure, but it is also emotional and transcendent. Miss that, and all you’ve got is a shopping list for odd ingredients and some funny words in bad poems.
My Days of the Dead blog tour runs through October 31 with brand new excerpts from upcoming books and recent short stories, interviews, guest blog posts, giveaways and more! Plus, I’ll be including extra excerpt links for my stories and for books by author friends of mine. You’ve got to visit the participating sites to get the goodies, just like Trick or Treat! Get all the details about my Days of the Dead blog tour here: http://bit.ly/2eC2pxP
Let me give a shout-out for #HoldOnToTheLight–100+ Sci-Fi/Fantasy authors blogging about their personal struggles with depression, PTSD, anxiety, suicide and self-harm, candid posts by some of your favorite authors on how mental health issues have impacted their lives and books. Read the stories, share the stories, change a life. Find out more at www.HoldOnToTheLight.com
Book swag is the new Trick-or-Treat! All of my guest blog posts have links to free excerpts—grab them all!
Trick Or Treat w excerpt from my Caves of the Dead Jonmarc Vahanian Adventures http://bit.ly/12s2f4T
A free excerpt from my Coffin Box Deadly Curiosities short story http://bit.ly/SDCIjx
Trick Or Treat from @JohnHartness Black Knight Chronicles excerpt from Hard Day’s Knight Chp1 http://bit.ly/1LFKD57
Free excerpt from Jean Marie Ward’s Real Weird http://jeanmarieward.com/and-stuff/real-weird/
Trick Or Treat w excerpt Stuart Jaffe’s Southern Bound Max Porter Paranormal Mystery: http://www.stuartjaffe.com/mp-sample/
Use your free Audible trial to get my books! Shadow and Flame Audible https://amzn.com/B01DMIWDBK
About the Author
Gail Z. Martin is the author of Vendetta: A Deadly Curiosities Novel in her urban fantasy series set in Charleston, SC (Solaris Books); Shadow and Flame the fourth and final book in the Ascendant Kingdoms Saga (Orbit Books); The Shadowed Path (Solaris Books) and Iron and Blood a new Steampunk series (Solaris Books) co-authored with Larry N. Martin. A brand new epic fantasy series debuts from Solaris Books in 2017.
She is also author of Ice Forged, Reign of Ash and War of Shadows in The Ascendant Kingdoms Saga, The Chronicles of The Necromancer series (The Summoner, The Blood King, Dark Haven, Dark Lady’s Chosen); The Fallen Kings Cycle (The Sworn, The Dread) and the urban fantasy novel Deadly Curiosities. Gail writes three ebook series: The Jonmarc Vahanian Adventures, The Deadly Curiosities Adventures and The Blaine McFadden Adventures. The Storm and Fury Adventures, steampunk stories set in the Iron & Blood world, are co-authored with Larry N. Martin.
Find her at www.GailZMartin.com, on Twitter @GailZMartin, on Facebook.com/WinterKingdoms, at DisquietingVisions.com blog and GhostInTheMachinePodcast.com, on Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/GailZMartin and free excerpts on Wattpad http://wattpad.com/GailZMartin.
