- It has to be a world which I can identify with to some extent. Ideally this would be through characters (I understand their motivations whether it be for good or evil) and the geography and/or history of the world. There should be echoes with Earth I can spot. It helps me to see where the author is coming from.
- I then want to see what is unique about that world, the things that don't echo with Earth and where I can see the author's imagination hard at work.
- I want good conflicts of interests between characters and for their world to have a bearing on this. Conflicts in a magical world carry more danger than in a non-magical world for the simple reason magic can be used to settle scores.
- I also want to see how magic is limited to possibly prevent the world being destroyed or a particular species being wiped out. If magic is not limited, then the story will automatically become a story of whoever is the most powerful will always win and for me there's not much of a tale in that. How do the magical underdogs survive? There are stories in that.
- I want to see the disadvantages of magic - not just as in 4 above - but that magical species know they can cancel each other out or get revenge in other ways so they have to find alternative solutions to their problems. What are these solutions? Do they work? Does anyone magically cheat to undermine those solutions? There are lots of story ideas in those questions.
- By the time I've read the story I either have fallen in love with the world and its characters and would love to visit or I adore the adventure but know the place is so dangerous I'm glad it's confined to the pages of a book!
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AuthorI'm Allison Symes and write fairytales with bite, especially novels and short stories. Archives
October 2019
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