This week: Non-magical Character in a Magical World Edited by: Dawn Embers  
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Fantasy Newsletter by Dawn
Magic canoe great and quite useful but not everyone has access. In a world where there is magic, it might be a disadvantage to not have the ability, or a blessing, depending on the world and magic system. Today we take a look at how characters handle situations without those abilities. |
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Magic is fun to write. It comes in handy during many situations. There are many different types that can be used for a variety fo things such as healing, fighting, transportation and so much more. While it's great to have magic, often times in the fantasy world it's not an ability given to everyone. Well, depends on the story you are writing but for this newsletter, let's just assume that certain characters can't have magic. It can make things difficult if the friend can magically transport themselves instead of taking the bus or going through rush hour traffic. One could also struggle in battle if they are going against someone with magical abilities.
What does a not magic person do to survive in the world of magic?
While we don't want to copy other writers, one can get some ideas and inspiration from stuff people have already published. The Wheel of Time is a good example because not many men can wield magic, known as the one power. Warning: possible spoilers. Those that do tend to go mad because it's tainted so they don't want magic. However, some of the male characters get in sticky situations so they need to find creative ways to go about things. Sure, they have the typical weapons but there are other options that also prove fruitful. In particular, the character Mat is a little on the crazy, wild side but it inventive. He finds a way to use fireworks that he got from a tinker. Toss them into a fire and boom. The characters he is frightening almost think he has magic when that happens. And in the tv show, he basically uses it like dynamite to create a hole in a wall to get in somewhere.
Fireworks are an option or items similar.
Then there are characters like Frodo. He went through quite journey with many struggles in carrying the one ring and, as Sheldon from Big Bang Theory says, he had a terrible time doing it. Some of the books where the normal teen or young characters are transported into a world of magic, whether through a wardrobe or by falling into the mouth of a hippopotamus, have this situation where they don't have magic but find ways to adapt within the story to still go on to do great things.
Technology can be a way to get around the whole magic element. In some ways, or at least this is how I like to look at the many things I don't quite understand, technology is its own form of magic. Devices are handy. Vehicles take us places since we can't fly or think of somewhere we want to go and just end up there. Technology also cooks food, helps people survive through difficult medical problems and become some intense weapons too. Devices do sometimes bring us more into the realm of science fiction instead of fantasy, so that depends on how things are written or what gets used.
Another option to consider is that in the place of magical abilities, one can actual work and develop skills. Those skills can be used to do things that in the past, would have been impossible. Weightlifting is an example because at the start, even something that might be a light weight but is difficult to life. However, over time with the right program, the muscles adapt to the challenge. With the work done, what had once seemed impossibly heavy becomes manageable. And some day, what was once the hardest to do, all of sudden, it becomes a warm up weight. A character can develop a skill that helps get through challenges even without being able to twitch their nose or use a wand.
Sometimes they get a little help with people who do use magic. Relying on another person can be difficult for some. This can be really difficult if the character doesn't trust or like magic or those that have the ability. Many options for conflict exist when it comes to having magic for some, but not all. Makes for a challenge.
How will your character survive without magic?
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Do you have characters who can't do magic and how do they handle tasks compared to ones who can use it?
At the end of November, I discussed when it might help to take a break from writing or particular items. Here is a comment that someone was kind enough to send in over the topic of taking a break:
Comment by Santeven Quokklaus  :
On having a break...
I finish the first draft, do a quick edit, making sure the story works and makes sense, then I put it away until I have written enough other stuff to forget about that story. I am reasonably prolific and have a shocking short-term memory, so generally 3-6 months later I will come back to a story.
What this does is it lets me read it with what are essentially new eyes (and I am nearly always surprised; I even forget plot twists!), and I see so much more with that nice gap between finish, quick edit, and proper let's look at it again. (Of course, when there is a deadline, this isn't always possible, but if I can churn out a poem or drabble after a quick short story, then even that can help.)
So, yes, as you say so well in the newsletter, a break from a piece, to me, helps my work be the best it can be.
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Fantasy: December 25, 2024 Issue [#12904]
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