Magic is one of the foundations of the Fantasy genre. From the subtle manipulation of butterflies in the Lord of the Rings to the epic showdown in Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows (part 2, for movie-go-ers). But not all magic is created equal. Let’s have a look at the different functions of magic in stories.
Plot and character go together like a horse and carriage. Okay, that isn’t the original Frank Sinatra song, but plot and character do combine to form something greater than their parts. The way plot and character interact is very important to storytelling, and if done badly, leads to terrible stories.
The ‘fourth wall’ is a term from the acting world. It comes from the fourth ‘wall’ that actors pretends separates them from the audience. When they talk directly to the audience, they are ‘breaking the fourth wall’.
Whenever you write a story, you have to choose who you’re writing as, how the story will be narrated, and in what tense. I’d like to focus on narrative voice in this one: first, second, and third person. Of course, narrative tense is also important, as is which character you choose as a viewpoint, but in this post I’m focusing on the voice.
