Ways to Add Magic into Your OC's World 🪄

Magic! 

From near-science to forces of nature, to unknown powers outside of our comprehension, magic in stories can take many forms. You might already know that you want magic in your OC’s world, but you’re not sure how to implement it. Not to worry! This article will help make the arcane into the mundane, and you’ll be slinging spells in no time!

Let's think about the World Setting

If you’ve already got a good idea of what sort of world you’re writing for, let’s start there. As time marches on, so does our understanding of natural forces. At one point, dangerous substances such as mercury, lead and asbestos were used for medicine, water piping and insulation respectively. Perhaps your world has evolved the same way over time; or has the potential to. Is your world modern? Magic might be understood so well that it’s just another branch of scientific research. Maybe spells are cast through apps instead of with wands and tomes, and creating new spells involves literally coding them into existence. 

Maybe magic is so deeply ingrained in your world that technology never evolved to replace it. The washing machine was a revolutionary tool for women in our world, but they wouldn’t need it if they could wave their hand and clean a week's worth of laundry in an instant, would they? Consider how deeply ingrained magic is in your world, and how accessible it is. 

If you need more help developing your world, check out my article on world building!

Accessibility questions to ask yourself

Consider these questions when adding magic to your world, and it will feel much more natural. So… what is ‘accessibility’ in terms of magic?

• How easy is it to use magic?
• How easy is it to get magic tools?
• How common is magic in your world?
• Is magic a privilege only reserved for the few or is it a common right held by the public? 
• Is it a science that requires refinement and study? 

To summarize and give a proper example, just like writing and written language is to us in this world, maybe magic is an integral part of interacting with others and the world around us, and is taught in schools. Maybe it’s instead something more complex than the average person can grasp. That’s what ‘accessibility’ is in this case.

Examples for you to consider!

Here are some world ideas!

• A modern world where people code magic spells and cast them using apps.
• A parallel modern world with magical technology (aka magitech) instead of electricity.
• A world set at the beginning of an industrial age of magitech.
• A medieval fantasy world where nature is magical, and humans harness nature to create potions and magical items.
• A world where magic is like alchemy, privately practiced in sects of scholars and where all magic has a price.

Remember to use #uvfeatureme if you create a world with any of these ideas. I know I’d love to see them, and so would the other staff!