When Your Magic System Isn’t Working:

Is it too powerful?
Is it a metaphor for something in our world, but you don’t carry through on it?
Do you have an explanation for how you get it that seems racist?
Is it all rainbows and unicorns and no dark consequences?
Does it turn off and on according to the whims of you, the author?
Does it never, ever fail? Is it almost too scientific?
Is it all about gaining knowledge from books and not about spontaneity or experimentation?
Do people get more of it who seem to deserve it?
Do you explain things in a perfectly straight forward way?
Is there a past related to the magic system that isn’t acknowledged openly?

Sometimes, I think that magic needs to mirror the injustices of our real world. Good people don’t always get rewards. Bad people aren’t always punished. Following the rules doesn’t always result in doing better.