Magic isn't a quick fix

Another repost from my previous blog. This post talks about what is, in my opinion, the reason so many people write off fantasy as not a real genre because the writer just "makes it up".

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Rik stared in horror at the beast before him. It was a creature even his nightmares could never summon. Slime dripped from its contorted figure as it peered back, a malicious smile lifting its decaying lips. Each of its four arms drew back, clenched tightly. Its black, soulless eyes gleamed, and the thing’s entire body quivered with anticipation. It slipped to the left, then to the right, moving far more quickly than Rik thought possible, and leaving a slippery trail of goo behind.

Desperately Rik scrambled through his options. Run? Even if he managed to miss the enormous path of slime staining the ground, he’d never escape before the lightning fast creature caught him. Nowhere to hide, either, without having to run a good distance first. He could fight, but his only weapon, a tiny blade no bigger than his palm and horribly blunted from misuse, would do little to penetrate the monster’s leathery, ick-covered skin. No one knew he was here, and the area was so harsh it was rarely visited and completely uninhabited.

Except, apparently, for the gruesome beasts that popped up out of nowhere when you’re trying to answer a call of nature.

Rik sank down to his knees and wrapped his shaking arms around himself, realising his time was up. He was going to die. The creature slithered forward, four hands reaching forward anxiously. It howled with delight as each bony finger brushed his arms and sides. Rik shoved down a bout of nausea and squeezed his eyes shut, and hoped it would at least be quick.

Then Rik had an idea. He gasped a breath and uttered the words of a spell. The monster released him with a furious scream and backed away. A moment later, it burst into flames and died. Rik returned home, having saved the world from a ferocious slime monster, and lived happily ever after.

. . .

Yeah, doesn’t really make sense to me either.

One of the things that seems to be a standard of fantasy fiction is magic. (There are exceptions, of course, but for the sake of argument, just go with it.) There are many different kinds, many ways it can be used, many rules of what it can and can’t do. It’s often a critical part of the plot or characterization, or both.

But magic isn’t a quick fix. If a spell is used to take out the bad guy and save the day at the very end of the story, there needs to be a really good reason why the protagonist didn’t do that in the beginning. Did they not have enough power to cast that spell until now? Did they need to be in the right place at the right time? Did they only finally figure out how the spell works as they were actually about to lose to the bad guy? Why? Why didn’t the character use this magic in the opening chapter and save himself all the conflict and drama in the middle? (The character claiming he or she “forgot” until the critical moment doesn’t count as a reason.)

The snippet I wrote above is an example of what happens when magic is used like fiction duct tape. It gives the impression that the writer broke part of their plot, and is using magic to hold it together. But rather than fixing the problem, using magic like this actually gives you more problems and plot holes to deal with. Chances are you’ll also have a lot of unhappy readers, who will feel they’ve been somehow cheated by what appears to be an easy way out.

If you write yourself into a corner, magic will not summon your escape window. Take the time to make it work, and make your magic mean something more than just a fast solution, and the whole story will be that much better for it.