Welcome back! Let's return to Charlie Jane Anders (author of All The Birds in the Sky) and #8 of her "10 Writing "Rules" We Wish More Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors Would Break"...
8) Magic has to be just a minor part of a fantasy world
This is one I’ve heard a lot lately — probably because of the success of George R.R. Martin’s novels, in which magic starts out as a quiet rumor at the fringes of Westeros, something most people don’t really believe in. It’s only once you get to the later books that magic really starts to become something that most of the characters are aware of. And this is an absolutely brilliant approach to fantasy writing, and a breath of fresh air — but it’s not the way all fantasy novels should be written from here on out. There shouldn’t be a law saying that magic should be kept to the margins of a fantasy world, any more than you’d say a space opera shouldn’t have too many spaceships. Magic should be limited, sure — but it can have limits and still be central to the characters’ worlds.
Squish magic in a little box?! Sure, a different world (and how did we get there?!) can survive without magic... but what is life without magic? Use as little or as much as you want! All I ask is that you use it consistently and that I can make sense of it without losing the story! There is so much magic and types we haven't really uncovered yet - so search for it, the world needs more... #teammagic
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