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The Magic System Blueprint: A Fiction Writer's Guide to Building Magic Systems
Your world deserves the best magic system you can dream of. A quality magic system can transform your story from average to unforgettable. But what do you do when your magic system becomes overwhelming? Or if you can’t quite figure out how to make all the pieces work together?
The Magic System Blueprint, by C. R. Rowenson, is a simple magic-building tool that allows authors to quickly map out their magic system. This innovative blueprint will enable authors of every experience level and background to
Gain a holistic sense of how your magic system worksUnderstand how your magic system fits into your storyDetermine how your setting and magic system are flawlessly incorporatedWhether it be game creation, worldbuilding, or novel writing, having a well-established magic system is the cornerstone of your story. With the Blueprint in hand, you can analyze any system in existence and build every system imaginable.
Blank Worksheets Available “The Magic System Blueprint is a must-have for the toolbox of any game creator, fiction writer, or worldbuilder, be they professional or hobbyist.”
-Ian Woodworth, Senior Editor at Big Town Small Books
“Reading and rereading this book made me more and more confident I can enrich my stories with wondrous magic that doesn’t bring huge plot holes and awkward Deus Ex Machina moments into them.”
-Lionel Sondy, Founder of the SONDYVERSE Edutainment ProjectTo see the Blueprint in Action, check out the following
Dead Robots’ Taste With Us
The Magic System Blueprint, by C. R. Rowenson, is a simple magic-building tool that allows authors to quickly map out their magic system. This innovative blueprint will enable authors of every experience level and background to
Gain a holistic sense of how your magic system worksUnderstand how your magic system fits into your storyDetermine how your setting and magic system are flawlessly incorporatedWhether it be game creation, worldbuilding, or novel writing, having a well-established magic system is the cornerstone of your story. With the Blueprint in hand, you can analyze any system in existence and build every system imaginable.
Blank Worksheets Available “The Magic System Blueprint is a must-have for the toolbox of any game creator, fiction writer, or worldbuilder, be they professional or hobbyist.”
-Ian Woodworth, Senior Editor at Big Town Small Books
“Reading and rereading this book made me more and more confident I can enrich my stories with wondrous magic that doesn’t bring huge plot holes and awkward Deus Ex Machina moments into them.”
-Lionel Sondy, Founder of the SONDYVERSE Edutainment ProjectTo see the Blueprint in Action, check out the following
Dead Robots’ Taste With Us
- GenresWritingNonfictionCrafts
214 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 4, 2021
109 people are currently reading
137 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
September 29, 2022
This is a thoughtfully engineered approach to creating comprehensive and cohesive fictional magic systems. Overall, a super helpful tool, complete with fleshed-out examples from popular stories in diverse speculative genres.
January 27, 2022
Ok so I have one caveat: approaching your magic system (and story) in a structured way as suggested in this book, and in any book about story structure and so on, is not for all writers and creators. I completely understand that no matter how opposite the intention of the author is, it could kill the creativity that some find in simply pantsing their way through writing a story.
I am not like that, I love making sense of chaos, finding patterns and structures in things, and I work (and create) best when I have a framework from which to build. From listening to CR Rowenson on several podcasts, he is very similar to me in that respect and that's probably why I think he's done an awesome job of describing the ways magic systems work, and the different ways a system could be manipulated to come up with one that perfectly suits the kind of story you want to write. I love his enthusiasm and passion too!
This book is about creating ALL kinds of magic systems, whether hard or soft, rational or irrational; fantasy or sci fi, fantasy romance or grimdark. So even if you're a pantser and you baulk at structures and how-tos, if you love fantasy or sci fi (especially for the magic or technology), this book will be interesting for you regardless, even if you don't use the blueprint for your own creations.
The suggestions made in the book have really excited me and I'm feeling my well of creativity bubbling up and can't wait to brainstorm my 'seed crystal' (as Rowenson calls it -initial idea), plug it into the blueprint and play about with the parameters for it until it feels right for the kind of story I want to tell!
I am not like that, I love making sense of chaos, finding patterns and structures in things, and I work (and create) best when I have a framework from which to build. From listening to CR Rowenson on several podcasts, he is very similar to me in that respect and that's probably why I think he's done an awesome job of describing the ways magic systems work, and the different ways a system could be manipulated to come up with one that perfectly suits the kind of story you want to write. I love his enthusiasm and passion too!
This book is about creating ALL kinds of magic systems, whether hard or soft, rational or irrational; fantasy or sci fi, fantasy romance or grimdark. So even if you're a pantser and you baulk at structures and how-tos, if you love fantasy or sci fi (especially for the magic or technology), this book will be interesting for you regardless, even if you don't use the blueprint for your own creations.
The suggestions made in the book have really excited me and I'm feeling my well of creativity bubbling up and can't wait to brainstorm my 'seed crystal' (as Rowenson calls it -initial idea), plug it into the blueprint and play about with the parameters for it until it feels right for the kind of story I want to tell!
November 16, 2022
I have a friend who doesn't like Harry Potter Series Box Set becasue it has no magic system. Thsi shows that, to some people anyway, magic systems are important. In this companion to Restrictions May Apply: Building Limits for Your Magic System, the author has set out to write a book on how to design them.
The contention is that systematising magic not only adds depth and value to the story, it provides inspiration for further stories since a logically deveoped system leaves room for reason ed extrapolation.
The author defines a magic system and goes on to list a system's components:
Names
Seed Crystal
Perspective
Types of Magic
Transference
Prevalence
Source
Flux
Naturalness
Ease of Use
Reliability, and
Consistency
Four sources are used for examples of each of these components: Series Order: Brandon Sanderson: Elantris Series: Mistborn Series: Wax and Wayne Series: The Stormlight Archive: Warbreaker Series: Alcatraz Series: Infinity Blade Series: Legion Series, The Lord of the Rings, the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the TV series "Stargate SG: 1". The lack of citations presumes a lot of familiarity with these works. I had never heard of Mistborn, for example, and have not been given any enthusiasm to read them by this book.
This kind of systemisation is useful, though, not only for creating your own magic systems for writing, but also for analysing magic in other works. It should be possible to break down the magic in The Magic Goes Away, The Wiz Biz and The Wiz Biz II: Cursed & Consulted, extrapolate logically for more insights into those books, and prove that Harry Potter has a magic system, after all.
The contention is that systematising magic not only adds depth and value to the story, it provides inspiration for further stories since a logically deveoped system leaves room for reason ed extrapolation.
The author defines a magic system and goes on to list a system's components:
Names
Seed Crystal
Perspective
Types of Magic
Transference
Prevalence
Source
Flux
Naturalness
Ease of Use
Reliability, and
Consistency
Four sources are used for examples of each of these components: Series Order: Brandon Sanderson: Elantris Series: Mistborn Series: Wax and Wayne Series: The Stormlight Archive: Warbreaker Series: Alcatraz Series: Infinity Blade Series: Legion Series, The Lord of the Rings, the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the TV series "Stargate SG: 1". The lack of citations presumes a lot of familiarity with these works. I had never heard of Mistborn, for example, and have not been given any enthusiasm to read them by this book.
This kind of systemisation is useful, though, not only for creating your own magic systems for writing, but also for analysing magic in other works. It should be possible to break down the magic in The Magic Goes Away, The Wiz Biz and The Wiz Biz II: Cursed & Consulted, extrapolate logically for more insights into those books, and prove that Harry Potter has a magic system, after all.
December 15, 2021
A lot of times when I read writing craft books, I read them, absorb (or not) the information and go about my life. This one, I actually tracked down the sheets and filled them out using the system, and it brought up a lot of questions and pointed out some blank spots in what I wanted to do.
This was so useful, practical, and fun. I anticipate going through this over and over again.
Fantastic tool!
This was so useful, practical, and fun. I anticipate going through this over and over again.
Fantastic tool!
March 18, 2023
Useful System for Designing Magic
This book presents a structured system for thinking about and building systems of magic, where the author uses a more liberal definition of magic (i.e. Clarke’s) that also includes advanced technology. This makes the principles in the book broadly useful to a range of genres, not just fantasy, as one might expect from the title.
I found the whole system clear and accessible, and I appreciated the sometimes subtle distinctions the author drew between variables of the system that seem very similar to one another. The author uses four example systems from popular fiction (Mistborn, The Lord of the Rings, The Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Stargate SG:1) to show how the variables in his system apply and combine to create very different magic systems. I especially appreciated the comments about how the aspects of a magic system can impact the story an author would tell, and how it’s possible to see the same magic system in very different ways, depending on the specific perspective.
While reading, I was mentally classifying the magic system I created for my WIP, and now I’m going to print out the worksheets and put it all down on paper.
This book presents a structured system for thinking about and building systems of magic, where the author uses a more liberal definition of magic (i.e. Clarke’s) that also includes advanced technology. This makes the principles in the book broadly useful to a range of genres, not just fantasy, as one might expect from the title.
I found the whole system clear and accessible, and I appreciated the sometimes subtle distinctions the author drew between variables of the system that seem very similar to one another. The author uses four example systems from popular fiction (Mistborn, The Lord of the Rings, The Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Stargate SG:1) to show how the variables in his system apply and combine to create very different magic systems. I especially appreciated the comments about how the aspects of a magic system can impact the story an author would tell, and how it’s possible to see the same magic system in very different ways, depending on the specific perspective.
While reading, I was mentally classifying the magic system I created for my WIP, and now I’m going to print out the worksheets and put it all down on paper.
January 20, 2023
A very interesting text with a bunch of back-up material for creating your own magic system. Whether you are a writer, a game designer, or script-writer this system provides a tremendous framework for thinking about magic in the worldbuilding process. C R Rowanson has put a lot of thought into this process and he has a good methodology for teaching this system to others. I don't know if the process is perfect but it is a great starting point for conversing about magic, magic systems, and its effects on your world.
My one small concern about this book is that it seems to assume a familiarity with the You Tube videos the author created. I don't know if the system makes sense without it. The videos are worth the time spent in my opinion.
In any case, this is on my permanent writing craft bookshelf.
My one small concern about this book is that it seems to assume a familiarity with the You Tube videos the author created. I don't know if the system makes sense without it. The videos are worth the time spent in my opinion.
In any case, this is on my permanent writing craft bookshelf.
October 4, 2022
Waaay too much for me, though I did get a few helpful tips out of it. This guide is more suited for high fantasy with very complicated magic systems, even though it breaks down more contemporary works. Halfway through, I started skimming the explanations, and I didn’t end up using the blueprint, since I didn’t find it to be a very valuable addition to my own story. Also, having to create a blueprint from all possible perspectives (i.e., author, reader, main character, secondary characters) would have been extremely tedious. If you don’t enjoy creating detailed bio sheets for your characters, you probably won’t like this either.
February 10, 2022
While I am an intuitive writer (pantser), I found this book to be extremely helpful. The book gave a firm grounding in the areas I needed to consider. Covers all the bases in creating a magic system for writers; I discovered many aspects that I would never have considered otherwise. I am using the book throughout the writing process to solidify my magic system, and I know that I will also use it when I'm in the revision phase. Excellent resource. Definitely a book I will continue to reference.
January 3, 2025
Not only does this book show you what's important in a magic system, it gives you a process to develop that system for your novel. The theory and instructions are clear. When you design your magic system using the process described, you'll know you've done your best. Your book and your readers will thank you for it.
March 23, 2024
I loved the ideas this book gave me for building a magic system. I haven’t come across any reading material quite like it. If you’re seriously trying to consider a new and inventive magic system for your own story, definitely read this.
November 18, 2023
Non il libro che mi aspettavo, più che altro pieno di esempi, ma comunque con diversi spunti interessanti e un metodo completo per creare un sistema magico per il proprio romanzo.
October 14, 2024
A good book for writers who need to dig into the practical details of creating magic in fantasy or science fiction books.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews