Is it important to research the topic of your novel/story before writing it?
Let's say you're writing a story about magic. Does it have to be based on real facts and real magic or can you just make up everything and it doesn't have to be based on real facts?
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Research is an essential part in the path of an author. Be it fictional or non-fictional writing.
In fictional writing, you can't do "Das Rad neu erfinden" (german for "Reinventing the wheel"). It means: You can't always create new stuff about things, that already exists. So in that case, you have to research. If you want to create a magic System, it is clear, that you have to research real magic. Try to get a grasp for the laws of the magic, think about what suits your story the most, combine things. But the most important part of work in that case is: Research.
The same case is with fictional creatures. I spent a whole month just researching mythical and fantasy creatures, just to write one character. For people, that (roughly said) live in fantasy books and worlds, it feels more authentic and comfortable, if you researched your topic and based even little changes on your research. Heck, for one draft I even researched gods and their powers, family ties, and so on.
You see, even for fictional writers, research is a basic part of their work. Without it, it would also be a bit boring.
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It is probably impossible to fact-check magic because, at least for most of us, magic is not real. You could study existing fictional or mythological systems of magic, but the "facts" you find about those creations will have no more real-world substance than anything you might create yourself.
So unlike many subjects in creative writing, magic does not require a great deal of research and fact-checking. But in the place of those tedious tasks, it offers an even more difficult challenge.
Magic must make sense in the world you are creating.
Whatever rules it operates under, have to be consistent and binding throughout the entire story as well as across all sequels and offshoots. If it is nearly impossible to cast a particular spell during the low-threat early chapters of your tale, it cannot "magically" become easier when later your hero needs to successfully cast it or die. There needs to be a reason why your hero can now do what he previously couldn't. Without such reasons, your magic system is just an excuse for lazy writing.
In addition to making sense, your magic will need to fit your world. You have to be careful not to accidentally make your magic users overwhelmingly powerful. If an average mage can throw a fireball with devastating range and effect, then why do non-magic-users even train for combat. A battalion of skilled swordsmen couldn't stand in a fair fight against a single fire mage. They would never get within sword range.
So, in summary, does the magic in your creative works have to obey the rules established in other fictional and mythological works? No. ...but it still has to obey its own rules and the rules of good writing.
- Keep Writing!
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Your question can be read in two ways: are you talking of stage magic, or of a fantasy world with actual working magic?
If you are writing about stage magic, you should very definitely do your research: existing stage tricks and how they're done, industry practices, etc. This isn't to say that you cannot make up your own tricks, or suggest something impressive being done on stage without explaining how it's actually done. But you wouldn't want to invent a convoluted explanation for a trick that's actually very simple, for example, right? And you wouldn't want to unknowingly write about practices that the industry would consider unethical as if they're the norm. Research provides you a foundation, on top of which you build your story. Research isn't meant to limit you - there's no reason why you shouldn't invent your own whatever. But research helps you avoid mistakes, as well as sending your imagination into new directions.
If, on the other hand, you are writing about a fantasy world with functioning magic, the magic system itself is your playground, as other answers point out. You can base it on some existing folklore, or you can make it up from scratch. You can give plenty of details about it, or very little - whatever better suits your story. However, there would be other aspects of the story you'd probably need to research. Are you planning a big war between Good and Evil? You'd need to find out about warfare. Would your characters be dealing with hostile terrain? You'd want to find out about survival in those conditions. Etc.
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Make up anything you like (without violating copyrights and trademarks).
Outside of intellectual property laws, the whole point of fiction is to exercise your imagination.
That said, if you write for readers (not just yourself and your own entertainment), then they will expect certain things to be true about your story; and if they don't like it, they just won't buy it.
Much of this site is devoted to these unwritten expectations of readers and what turns them off or makes them stop reading or feel like they have wasted their money, or even actively insult and denigrate an author's work as both revenge and a public service.
Specifically the reader's representatives, in the terms of agents, publishers and professional critics: They have spent a career learning what readers will want to read, so unless you self-publish, you must pass those gatekeepers: Get an agent that likes your work for its saleability, so she can sell it to a publisher and make some bucks for both of you; and both agent and publisher will have in mind what critics might say about it.
I won't go into all the details, but readers do expect reasonable consistency of magic systems, characters, and the setting. Although you can just make all of these up (and I do), it might be difficult to sustain this sense of consistency if you don't do any planning or research at all. If your setting is medieval, you break consistency if your characters find magic iPhones or flying saucers they can pilot, or suddenly discover halfway through the story they have telepathy, because that was convenient for your plot.
But the answer is yes, you definitely can just make it up from scratch as you go along, and don't feel bad about it; I do it. I usually make several passes through my finished story to ensure consistency, and often will draw a map of my world as I go along and need new places.
I'm a discovery writer, and I've taught myself tricks to be successful that way. Perhaps you are too --- Making it up as we go along is how we work.
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