What I’m Working On – 7th February

[k_a_webb]

Recently I’ve been making a start on thinking about how the different magics of the World Walkers’ Web work, from the Day, Twilight, and Night magics of the races of Beshaki, the the desert magic of Oracle and the magic coral of Pendragon. The problem with working in such a huge fantasy setting is attempting to make all of the magics as logical as possible, especially as I have so many different magical races, and giving each of the races abilities that make sense. I wouldn’t want it any other way, not really, because I love working on these things, but at the same time it can be the most difficult part of the process. If anyone does have any ideas I would appreciate them. As I’ve always said I love getting input from my readers.

Mirrored from K. A. Jones Writing.

Comments

Well...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

I tend to use natural systems as inspiration. So, when writing speculative fiction, I often do things in batches, like working on Quiar. Then I can look at how the elements within a given setting work together. With a complex setting like World Walkers, I would probably start with the fundamental structure of what magic is, then build from there to how it works in different locations.

When I got the idea for A Conflagration of Dragons, I spent a couple weeks designing the character races, the dragons, some wider cultural stuff, and some linguistic stuff before I started writing the poems. Because all of that material influenced what happened in the poems.

My go-to guide for designing logical magical systems is Authentic Thaumaturgy (http://www.sjgames.com/thaumaturgy/) by Isaac Bonewits. It was intended as a gaming guide but works very well for fiction too.