Thursday, May 26, 2016

Thursday's Links to Writing & Marketing Blog Posts


By: Alex Limberg

You want to pull your reader out of his everyday life and draw him into your fantastic world? Want to wow her with things she would have never imagined possible?

Then you need to introduce magic into your stories!

Here are a couple of hints on how to create a special experience with magic:

Clearly Set the Rules Upfront

First things first: To make your readers go along with your action and feel suspense, you have to set the rules of what magic can do in your world and, more importantly, what it can’t do.

Imagine if your wizard would just have to snap his finger and could achieve anything he wanted. The story would have no serious obstacle anymore and it would become boring quickly. To prevent that, you have to define the limits for your magically skilled characters and for their spells.

Maybe a spell only works for objects your magician touches. Maybe its effect only lasts for three minutes, maybe it doesn’t work in windy places. If at a later point you don’t want your magician to use their skill in a certain situation, because your plot has other plans, you then have a very plausible deniability.

If possible, make it clear what magic can and cannot do early on in your story. Then your reader will not feel tricked by you, the author, and by a sudden “deus ex machina.” And when a powerful spell lets the magician take off into the air to save himself, your reader will willingly accept it. After all, the magician already used his skill in scene one to get a book from the high shelf.

Because I know keeping a story realistic and engaging at the same time is a delicate tight rope act, you can download my free e-book about 44 Key Questions to test your story. It will help you make every single part of your fantasy tale tight and unforgettable.

Magic Is Tied to the Magician

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If you missed my latest writing and marketing tweets, here they are again:
Happy writing and running, Kathy

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