Sanderson's 3 Laws of Magic Systems

I've never done a post on magic systems. The closest I've gotten to it is my post on writing magical items. One of the reasons I haven't approached magic systems is because others have done a much better job talking about them than I can, and to be honest, I haven't studied them that much. But my work-in-progress does have some magic systems in it, even though I don't always think of them as magic systems, and so today I'm bringing you the source that I use when I need help with magic in my story--and really, it's such a good resource that it deserves its own post on my blog.

Brandon Sanderson is one of the top-selling fantasy writers today, and what's even cooler is that he understands and is conscious of what does in his writing and can teach it well to others.

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Writing (Magical) Items: Weapons, Attire, Potions,Tools, Steeds

I used to loathe the idea of having to research things like weapons for my fiction. It's just not something that interested me. I'd rather just say "he had a sword," or "she pulled out a gun," and get back to the plot and characters. But I know some items, especially if they are important to the main characters, should be specific, should have names technical or given. Then one day this part of the writing process came alive for me when I applied The Legend of Zelda to it.

I don't consider myself a "gamer," but there are some games that I fangirl over and have played with a deep love. Zelda is one of those. I haven't played all of them but several. One of the coolest parts about The Legend of Zelda, is that Link, the protagonist, acquires all these wicked weapons during the course of the game. They're unique. They're personalize. They're awesome. Once I married my love for Zelda with writing, I finally gained an understanding of and appreciation for characters' items.

Whether you write speculative fiction, like fantasy and sci-fi, or stick to the real world, you can get something out of this post. Even if your characters' items aren't Magical they can still be "magical," and should be. In this post I'll be talking about how to take your characters' items to the next level, what makes an item a good one, and how to use an item well in your story. But first, lets talk about the different kinds of items your character might have, both fantastical and realistic.

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