Story Alchemy: Developing Magic Systems in Fiction

April 2025 Newsletter

Magic is the heartbeat of many fantasy worlds—a force that pulses beneath the surface of every word, and fantastic creature, and shiny portal in a forest. It’s the element that transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary, providing a sense of wonder, danger, or mystery that defines the genre. Whether it manifests as a subtle clue or as a spectacular display of world-altering power, a well-constructed magic system does more than dazzle the reader. It strengthens your narrative, deepens character arcs, and drives the plot forward in ways nothing else can.

But magic, despite its fantastical nature, cannot thrive on imagination alone. Like any narrative tool, it must be thoughtfully developed, logically sound, and internally consistent. A magic system without boundaries or purpose can quickly ruin a story’s believability. Readers may suspend disbelief for dragons and necromancers, but they won’t forgive a magical solution that appears out of nowhere or contradicts the very rules the story has established. In short, it has to work in an almost scientific way.

Creating a strong magic system requires a balance between wonder and reason, creativity and constraint. It calls for decisions about how power works, who can access it, and what it costs. It demands that magic feel as real and inevitable to your characters as gravity feels to us.

So how exactly does one do that on the page? Let’s break down the creation of a magic system to find out.