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Find a story of a magic system that evolves and see if you can follow that pattern. In the "Goose Girl" series, the characters discover long lost magical abilities, so their power grows as they lea...
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#3: Attribution notice added
by
System
·
2019-12-08T05:18:22Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/22223 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision
by
Paul Pehrson
·
2019-12-08T05:18:22Z (over 4 years ago)
Find a story of a magic system that evolves and see if you can follow that pattern. In the "Goose Girl" series, the characters discover long lost magical abilities, so their power grows as they learn more and try new things over time. In the book ”The Rithmatist" the power is changing in ways that were never before known. Is the magic changing? Are new rules being invented? We don't yet know, but I bet Brandon Sanderson knows. I think a good distinction to make in your own mind is this: you should know whether the magic system itself is evolving, or whether the magicians are simply getting better at it and discovering new things based on established magical patterns. Is the magic new, or is it an innovative way to use the magic? I think the distinction is important because it changes the way you talk about the magic system. Ancient knowledge rediscovered had one tone. Innovative ways of using existing magic has a different tone (and discovery arc). Making up new magic is still a different tone and arc.
#1: Imported from external source
by
System
·
2016-06-02T02:54:25Z (almost 8 years ago)
Original score: 3