Fantasy author, R. B. Michaels’s latest novel, Knights of The Wind 978-1-95-163054-6 is set in a world where magical creatures, such as elves, orcs, and dragons, exist among human beings. When evil that hasravaged the kingdom centuries ago, returns, a gifted knight, and a powerful mage join forces to protect the people and the kingdom. The fantasy novel, which is the first book of the series, is a ride from the start to end. Michaels’s writing is brilliant and vivid, it truly proves to be an escape from reality for the readers. Knights of The Wind is packed with adventures and magic.
One of the most interesting aspects of the fantasy genre is the magical element it has. In this genre, writers don’t have any rules holding them back from indulging in their wildest imagination. Writers can create new languages, new cultures, and new races. The characters and their stories are complex. The details are vivid and captivating. But a writer needs to use these characteristics and elements creatively. When it comes to magic, it can easily feel repetitive to readers. So, writers need to incorporate magic into their stories in inventive ways. Philip Martin from Writing World shares tips on how to keep the magic interesting:
· Keep the rules of magic consistent.
Magic needs to work according to firm rules. Don't create surprises of magic out of the blue to save your characters -- the fictional equivalent of pulling a rabbit out of a hat.
Everything should be set in place long in advance. Then, the writer (and his/her characters) must stick by those rules of magic, even if difficult. Things set loose into the story must play out their full consequences. Like Rumpelstiltskin, if you lay down a magical challenge, you have to accept the logical outcome.
As Jane Yolen wrote in Writing Books for Children (1983): "The world a writer creates may have as its laws that the inhabitants are nothing but a pack of cards, that animals converse intelligently while messing about in boats, or that a magic ring can make its bearer invisible at the long, slow cost of his soul. But once these laws are set down, the writer cannot, on a whim, set them aside. They must work in the fantasy world as surely as gravity works in ours."
· Limit the powers of magic.
For dramatic impact, as important as the powers of magic are its limitations. If magic is all-powerful, if a wand is waved and all problems are instantly solved, the plot is pointless. Where is the narrative tension in that?
What will the limitations of magic be? To be effective, magic might require some very specific set of actions, tools, or knowledge, or the participation of multiple characters, or any limitation that makes the story more interesting and draws out the tension and builds our fears that things won't work out for our beloved heroes.
Perhaps magic loses its potency with distance from a source. Or perhaps it can only be used in certain conditions, or only for certain purposes. It might require a zen-like approach: a complete clearing of the mind, as in Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass, where young Lyra must carefully put her mind at rest before she asks a question of the magical device.
These creative limitations can be as interesting as the magic itself.
· Make magic uncertain.
If magic is so powerful, it follows that it is not always fully understood. Magic should be accompanied by mystery.
Magic is powerful, and often uncertain, even dangerous, even to its own practitioners. What are the costs, feelings, problems, weaknesses, mishaps? In some stories, this leads to comic results: magicians are absent-minded, prone to misconjecturing, and sorely in need of malpractice insurance. In The Sorcerer's Apprentice, the magic at first is helpful, but once let loose, causes havoc.
In the Harry Potter stories, magic is a long, complex learning curve. It must be done just so, or risk failure, at first with comical effects as the Hogwarts students botch their lessons and wrestle with unruly magical herbs, snarling creatures, and spells that backfire or fizzle. But as the stakes are elevated, any misstep risks loss of life, limb, happiness, or a potentially total catastrophe.
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