How to Make Your Magic “Real” in Your Fantasy Writing

I’m a fantasy author, which means I really can’t bring myself to write anything without magic. There’s something about writing a battle scene with characters that can attack with purple lightning that just soothes my soul. One thing my readers always comment on is how relatable and realistic my worlds are, and they want to know how I do it. One way I make my worlds seem real is by making my magic systems “real.”

That’s easier said than done, right? It may seem so at first, but I’m going to give you a few tips on how to make your magic real!

The first thing to keep in mind is limitations.

Limitations, limitations, limitations!

The reason it’s so critical is that any kind of power without limits seems fake. Think about it. We face limitations every single day. There’s a limit to how fast we can run or ride a bike. There’s a limit to how much work we can do each day. There’s a limit to how long we should stay in the sun or how much we should eat.

Think of war. Even without magic there are limitations. Weapons are only so powerful. You can feasibly have only so many bombers or tanks. The size of a country’s fighting force is limited by the country’s population and size. The armed forced can only carry so many guns and rounds of ammunition. Their armor is only effective up to a certain point and against certain weapons and attacks.

Now, think of a war fought with magic. Imagine what it would be like if a person or group of people fought with a magic that was unlimited. It would be totally unbelievable and unrelatable. Limitations bring about challenges. If someone has a magic power that can literally do anything, then the story and world are flawed.

So, you may be thinking, “Well, that’s great Andi, but how can I put a limitation on something like magic that isn’t real anyway?”

Honestly, there are many ways to give your magic limitations. It would be impossible to list them all, but here are a couple to get started:

1. Magical Objects – One of the simplest and straightforward way to bring a little limitation into your magic is to use a magical object. You can take this a number of different ways. Make the object respond only to one character. Have the object’s owner not understand how to control the power or make the power itself a mystery. In my book The Lost Heir is I bound my magical objects (which I called kraylocks) to their owners. So, if a kraylock is broken, the person dies. This also brings another complexity to the battle because the sorcerer (or sorceress!) isn’t wielding a sturdy weapon. They have to take greater care to ensure the tiny glass sphere isn’t broken.

2. Levels – This is the same basic principle as in most conventional video games. I’m not suggesting you go and write your characters with actual levels, but use the principle. Someone who’s an apprentice isn’t going to be able to execute a spell with the same level and amount of power as a master. Let’s say your character was thrown into an unexpected situation filled with adventure and new challenges, as many fantasy heroes are. He or she is essentially starting at level one, even if they have a natural talent. They’re going to need to learn and be trained to understand how to summon their magic properly and efficiently. They aren’t going to be an epic wizard the moment they’re given their staff. Have different magic users with differing levels of ability and spells.

The second major way to make your magic real is to help your readers understand how the magic system works and where the magic comes from. I always like to say that magic is Fantasy’s equivalent of science. It can’t just exist because you say so. That’s too convenient, which again, doesn’t make sense and doesn’t feel real. I don’t mean for it to sound like you need to go into a ten page explanation, laying out every single minute detail. You’ll lose your readers. Write out all the details for yourself, and then give your readers just enough to help them understand and keep them interested.

Where does the power originate? How is it controlled? Can everyone use it or only a handful of people? What happens when too much is used? Can too much be used? How does it work? How do the casters channel it? These are all great questions to ask yourself when building your system.

Have some other ideas of how to make your magic real? Share them in the comments!