I'm getting frustrated about writing.

Discussion in 'General Advice' started by Athol Magarac, Aug 19, 2018.

  1. Athol Magarac

    Athol Magarac I prefer reading posts without a lot of topics.

    I just can't think of any new ideas.

    There was this one old project that I wanted to do as a webcomic. It was directly influenced by the early days of Zebra Girl, it's maybe a cross between Questionable Content and Sorcery 101. The basic premise is that magic didn't exist in a strong enough form to stand up to scientific testing, (astral projection was written off as a hallucination) until suddenly one day magic became real enough for believers to learn how to throw fireballs. I realized that I'm just so clueless about how the world actually works that I need to just build a culture from scratch anyway.

    So now I'm stuck.
     
  2. Jemmy

    Jemmy Don't Do A Hit

    So, one thing I like to do when I'm making new worlds from scratch is to make characters. They don't have to be a main character, or even one you're going to write about directly. I usually start from smaller details to larger ones, but you can do it however.

    For instance, how would a scientist character feel about the sudden change? A supposed psychic? What about someone who wants nothing to do with magic? Figuring out how characters would react to such a life changing event can be helpful.

    Also, since your world relies on magic, I would suggest to make the rules of magic obvious to yourself asap. How strong is the belief needed to be before you can perform magic? What are its upper limitations? How difficult is it to control? How much can it break the laws of the universe?
     
    • Like x 2
    • Useful x 2
  3. Athol Magarac

    Athol Magarac I prefer reading posts without a lot of topics.

    I've been thinking about your advice. I kinda do want to leave the magic-system loosy-goosy where anything is possible in theory, but if the character can't do something it's because they don't know how.

    That's one thing that bothers me about shows like Supernatural. With magic and cryptids existing, why don't more people believe in it? Surely some evidence could be taken seriously.
     
  4. ChelG

    ChelG Well-Known Member

    Well, in the case of Supernatural in particular, the monsters eat everyone who sees them. A lot of urban fantasy stories also have a Void-y thing as an inherent magical property of the supernatural beings, magic specifically forcing humans to disbelieve in/ignore them.
     
  5. Athol Magarac

    Athol Magarac I prefer reading posts without a lot of topics.

    Still, there were people who did get saved, but I guess thought that no one would believe them. Then again, S&D were able to be honest about their lives in the mental institution and the docs thought they were nuts.

    I might start out that magic isn't really believed in at first, but people start seeing too much to not believe in it.
     
  6. Jemmy

    Jemmy Don't Do A Hit

    I think that kind of magic system can work out just fine! It would also go towards explaining why the people who can use magic don't immediately start causing immense havoc (or maybe they do, in your story!).
     
  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
    Dismiss Notice