I think I have the magic system/cosmology sorted out for The Skin of the World, my new series I’m developing. Fantasy writers love to invent magic systems; but creating a magic system of any complexity, that makes sense, without logical contradictions, is…hard.
Is it strange to talk about logic in the context of magic? Magic systems have to have rules around them; if there were no restrictions, everyone would be a sorcerer, and everyone would have the nuclear option, which doesn’t make for a very interesting story.
At some point, you just have to gloss over things. I suppose some folks spent weeks/months/years cataloguing spells, levels of practitioners, different kinds of practitioners. But as you don’t need that much detail generally to write the story, it can be a lot of wasted time. On the other hand, winging it as you go can put you in a spot where you’re 100k words in, and realize you have a massive hole that destroys your entire story.
I have a 150,000 word manuscript pretty much finished, that I’m going to be doling out in episodes in my newsletter — The Skin of the World. All the world building for a new series. I think it hangs together. I’m sure, somewhere, if I didn’t, someone will point it out. 😉
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