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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/22222
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/22222
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

All you need to do is establish the idea of **progress in magic.**

You need to introduce the reader to the magic system as it stands at the beginning, sure. But for this case, you _also_ need to demonstrate that magic is something that can be investigated, innovated with, used in new ways for new uses.

A simple example would be: early on,make some mention of a discovery or an evolution that has _already occurred_.

It can be relatively minor, but _any_ magical discovery has potential to have impact and cause conflict. That should be plenty to find a small story hook. And in that little arc, you tell us what we need to know:

- That magic is not "complete"; it progresses and evolves.
- That breakthroughs _have happened before_, and will presumably continue to happen.
- What the pace and dynamics of "magic science" are in this setting. (Are there magic-scientists? Are there geographical pockets that have technologically advanced far beyond other areas? How disruptive have advances been?)
- What does a real discovery look/feel like?
- What's necessary to succeed at innovating in magic?

...and so on.

The point is, a solution is to _show_ that magic-tech is fluid, evolving.

Establish that, before the setting starts to calcify into something set and unquestionable, and the reader won't think "whoa, they're breaking the rules." If you _tell_ us "Listen, this setting is still _figuring out_ the rules," you should be fine.

Original score: 13