Comments on: More writerly madness

By: Jo

Jo — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 07:42:00 +0000

OK, yes I can see that. Never thought about it from that point of view. That’s why I am not a writer LOL

By: Glenda Larke

Glenda Larke — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 06:49:00 +0000

Why do we have rules? If you have a world with some people in it, mages perhaps, who can do magic, and you make them able to do just about anything - then where's the story?

Any problems come along, they just zap them - end of problem, end of story.

Limiting magic makes for a more interesting story.

By: Jo

Jo — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 06:42:00 +0000

Ah well, its your fault for limiting yourself I guess. I have never really understood why authors set out rules of magic – there must be a reason because you all do it. Not all the rules are the same although some are very similar.

By: glenda larke

glenda larke — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 23:49:00 +0000

Actually the problem is more that my water magic, as used in the book, cannot do the impossible a rule I imposed on it. So, a character can't bring a dehydrated body back to life by pumping it full of water, for example. But he could make a cloud up in the sky because clouds can exist.

And the problem I was trying to check out is whether an intended manipulation of water would break laws of physics, and therefore break the rules that I myself set for my character's magic!

However, I think I can still do what I want as long as I am careful about angles...

By: Jo

Jo — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 06:27:00 +0000

Surely the whole point of magic is that you can do more or less anything with it if you want. Like those stories that include "gates" so the protagonists who live in a society without modern transport, can trot around their worlds without the months or even years of delay which would normally occur when walking or riding horses.

Now if you are writing sci fi, then your physics must be more believable. There are physicists out there who would read and pooh pooh inaccurate science, they also write books, witness Catherine Asaro and, once upon a time, Isaac Asimov. Peter Hamilton's books are full of science, I am not clever enough to know if its good or bad science, but I am sure there are readers who would know. But if its magic, the science doesn't matter IMHOP