 Drama: April 01, 2015 Issue [#6893] |
  Drama
This week: Magic as an Element of Drama in Fiction Edited by: Joy  
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“Of course there must be lots of Magic in the world," he said wisely one day, "but people don't know what it is like or how to make it. Perhaps the beginning is just to say nice things are going to happen until you make them happen. I am going to try and experiment.”
― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden
“Books are a uniquely portable magic.”
― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.”
― W.B. Yeats
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
― Arthur C. Clarke, Profiles of the Future: An Inquiry Into the Limits of the Possible
“There are some things, after all, that Sally Owens knows for certain: Always throw spilled salt over your left shoulder. Keep rosemary by your garden gate. Add pepper to your mashed potatoes. Plant roses and lavender, for luck. Fall in love whenever you can.”
― Alice Hoffman, Practical Magic
Hello, I am Joy , this week's drama editor. This issue is about using the concept of magic to add mystery and drama to our stories.
Thank you for reading our newsletters and for supplying the editors with feedback and encouragement.
Note: In the editorial, I refer to third person singular as he, to also mean the female gender, because I don't like to use they or he/she.
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Welcome to the Drama newsletter
Magic is available to every genre. The idea that magic can only be used in the fantasy genre can be limiting ourselves as writers. Not only in fantasy, but also in Horror, Science Fiction, Romance, Women’s fiction and Young Adult stories magic can play a part.
While realistic fiction is made up of stories that can really happen, if one element of those stories uses magic in some way or if the protagonist keeps a magical trick or two up his sleeve, magic can be introduced even into a most down-to-earth fiction. After all, just think how many among us believe in the magical powers of thoughts and prayers.
As an example, in Latin American literature, especially Gabriel García Márquez and Isabel Allende have used what is called Magical Realism. Magical Realism introduces the elements of magic into a realistic background. This way myths, folk tales, and fables find a modern applicability, and magical traits given to characters--such as levitation, telepathy, and telekinesis--become modern realities that can change into hallucinations and mirages.
Another genre that uses magic to a greater degree is Science Fiction. The nature of magic in Science Fiction is a mysterious one, and unlike Magical Realism, it is not set against a realistic background. The magic in science fiction is used in worlds different from any known reality, and we can only imagine its realism as a possibility. Another important point is that the magic in fiction cannot undo science. Most anything should be explained by scientific advances or set rules. There are degrees of magic in the sci-fi genre, like science-fantasy, space opera and other distortions inside the genre, but the stories generally go from possible to impossible.
A rule of thumb in using magic in any genre is to insert inside the stories a human interest and a façade of truth. The magic, for example, can change people or other situations around them in some way or communicate to them feelings and ideas otherwise impossible to express. In Laura Esquivel's Like Water for Chocolate, the magic is in the recipes or rather in the preparation of them by the main character Tita who has the ability to show her love and other emotions through food.
Maintaining an air of mystery is a plus, as well, because over-explaining chases away the curiosity of the reader. In addition, rules and consistency are needed both for the magic and the characters. Without those, contrived endings may end up resolving the conflict, giving way to the much feared Deus Ex Machina ▼'Through the machine of gods,' meaning any situation where something unexpected, unrelated, or farfetched is brought in to the story line to easily resolve a situation or the conflict.
The areas to consider and questions to ask about magic in a story are:
 The origins of the magic:
Where did this magic come from?
Is there a myth that this magic has sprung out of?
What is its scientific or spiritual explanation?
How long has it been around?
Is this magic connected in some way with an object or a thought or an action?
Can this magic be integrated into the story’s science, ecology, and society?
Characters and magic:
How much of this magic the characters are aware of?
Have they--in total or one or two of them--figured out how this magic works?
Are there any records kept pertaining to this magic? Text books?
Is the magic inside a religious text?
Is this magic forbidden to the characters?
Do all the characters know this magic exists?
Can this magic be used in war or in limited areas or in every area?
Limitations are needed in magic. Even in a fantasy play like that of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the magic is limited to a love potion and Puck’s changing the head of Bottom into that of a donkey. As far as limitations go, the questions to ask can be:
How often the characters or any one character should use magic?
Are there requirements like that of age or learning or inheritance?
Can this magic become more powerful or less powerful?
Can the character using the magic change in some way?
Will the magic work all the time? If not, when will it not work?
What is the punishment for breaking the laws of this magic?
In using magic in any genre, keeping to the rules of that magic is the general way to go, but sometimes, if the author is capable enough, he can find a way to bend the rules or make them ineffective. In either case, giving the magic a cost adds drama to the story.
Almost always, magic is pilfered from life and is used as a storytelling tool. After all, how the author delivers his story counts the most for that story's success.
Have a wonderful, magical spring! 
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This Issue's Tip: If you wish to make sure you reflect the conflict of the story in the opening, you'll need to give the readers a real scene; that is, something happening in real time, in live action, and never as summary.
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Feedback for "Concurrent Conflicts in a Scene"
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Quick-Quill 
The movie Now You See Me is full of live action. There are set ups that lead the viewer along in the character building. It laid down the information and clues that were tied up at the end. I am amazed at this and stories like this one. I view them with awe and want to write stories like them. To pull the reader along is my desire. I just had a review on my book. This is one of a few where the reader has said they couldn't put it down until they were finished. That tells me I'm doing something right.
Yes, keeping the reader on his toes is the idea, and I am quite sure you're doing many things right, even perfectly. 
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