Monday, June 7, 2021

Evolution of the Magic Codex: inspiration & spark

This post is Part 2 of a series to augment the Author's Manifesto available for free download. Start with Part 1 here.

This and other inspirations of mine are gathered in the Spark Directory for you to explore.

Find more mystic content in my Magic Directory.



In Part 1 of this series, I began developing the magic system for my saga. When I set out to organize all the magics that played a role in my stories, I realized I would have to expand my magic system to account for all the powers showcased in the saga.

Since the magic system was growing organically, expanding to include and account for magics in the stories, I decided that I should present it as an in-world scientific taxonomy, like the taxonomy of species. As new species/magics are discovered, the taxonomy expands and occasionally is reorganized to reflect modern understanding.


Check out this Author's Manifesto for more of my inspirations!


This liberated me to leave holes to fill in as I felt inspired, rather than needing the complete system worked out to the finest detail. I could write and publish and still be undecided on things like the nuances of time magic or the magic of the turned.

This fleshed out schematic stayed in place through my debut publication Awakening in 2014 and up through the publication prep for my sequel Broken in late 2019. Then I started on a glossary for the books, at the suggestion of numerous readers and peer editors.

The glossary began with short definitions and quickly grew too long to be a glossary. So I decided to make a separate document explaining the magic concepts, so the glossary itself could have brief taglines and link out to the separate codex for more info.

I basically spent all of 2020 making the Magic Codex. It origianally was just going to be a PDF download like others on my site, but it kept growing and growing, as I explained things based on my current notes, clarified things I'd been thinking about but never noted, and ran into an ever-expanding list of related ideas that needed explanation.

I realized I should format it as a book for publication, as an official part of my Tales of the Known World saga. I wanted a real copy, not just a PDF, if only for my own reference. By the time I finished, the Magic Codex was over 400 pages, longer than both my finished novels combined! I now keep a copy on my desk and use it to look up notes whenever I need them.


That's it for this post! Up Next: Filling the taxonomy with new magics...

Download the Author's Manifesto here, or start your adventure below.






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