Last year I got stuck on a short story for a collaborative writing project called "7 SINS" over at disguisedwriting.wordpress.com. The idea behind the project was to write seven stories, each from different authors, where characters who identified with corresponding virtues would take on costumes and identities related to the corresponding sin. I chose "Pride" to have a character who was a civil servant enter into the life of Marie Antoinette.
It was only about 2500 words and I hate most of what I wrote there.
Because nobody else wanted to attempt "Envy", I have tried to finish it as it would be the seventh entry, right before the conclusion. I had the idea of a youth mentor take on the identity of Eris, Goddess of Discord. She would go from being insecure about her relationships with others in that she would put their desires ahead of her own to the point of only being truly happy alone, to becoming someone who instead manipulated others for her own personal gain.
I'm 1600 words into it and I can barely stand what I've written.
The problem I am having with this project, and I suppose with writing using magic in general, is that there is no organic change for the characters. They are one person, they put on a costume, they are a completely different person. With identity death, I feel I am removing the point of the original character. Without it, I am not depicting substantial change.
In my other stories, identity only actually changes with a change in circumstances. In "In Moderation" Justin is actually upset when he looks in the mirror and realizes that though his appearance has changed, he hasn't. When people begin to treat him differently he still hasn't really changed. When he reacts in a new way, then he has actually changed who he is. In "A Hard Sell", Tim doesn't change but his anonymity causes him to act in a more honest way that reveals his hypocritical nature.
I think I could only make either of the two "7 SINS" stories work by having both characters not change their behavior in response to being in costume (which wouldn't fit with the other stories in the project) or indicate that the characters identify with the corresponding sins more than they are willing to admit (which seems to go against the theme of the project). I could have circumstances after getting into costume cause the change but the idea is to have the characters do a complete 180 and it isn't realistic to have a person completely change who they are in response to a single event since who they are determines the response. I could drag the change out of them across several instances but that would require time that neither the short story nor other limitations in the project would allow.
Magic is cheap.
Comments
Magic
What is magic?
The first time I held my new born son I fell in love. That was magic.
Many times in my life I've had "Aha!" moments, which magically transformed me.
Magic is a paradigm shift. It is not cheap.
Your problem isn't with "magic" as much as it is with what caused the magic.
Simply because the number of words is restricted doesn't mean you can't set up conflict and resolution. Study your characters. What does your protagonist want and how is the other character standing in the way? An "Aha!" moment might include a "but for". But for the political power of the evil sheriff Robin could have more efficiently helped the poor. So Robin dons a disguise and magically works toward resolution.
Magic is simply a "deus ex machina" of choice. Some people love it. I've only used it in about 2% of my stories.
Hope that helps.
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
You make some good points.
I've been thinking about your comment and I think magic is really only cheap when it is used to resolve conflict. Maybe I can feel okay with it if I use it to both resolve and cause conflict with the same change. Conflict - Her insecurities prevent her from having a healthy social life. Resolution - The costume allows her to have more control and influence in social situations. Conflict - The way she wields her control and influence causes harm to others. Resolution - Though she believed lying for personal gain was wrong before, she realizes not being honest with herself and others was causing harm to herself and those who cared and wanted to help her.
I guess it's how magic is used that can be cheap but you have to admit that rather often in fiction magic is used for resolution without causing equal conflict.
I Think We Agree
If the suit gives her the confidence to have the personal growth it becomes a great skeleton for a story.
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
I agree with the other comment...
Magic is NOT the problem here... honestly, I think the biggest problem is in the way the prompt itself is set up. It pretty much forces you into committing identity death in any story that could fulfill its specifications in the totality. So, if you dislike identity death, then you'll get stuck eventually. Period.
I'd just not even participate rather than do that, myself. Either write a story featuring identity death, or trying to and eventually getting stuck because I just can't bring myself to do the deed...
I'd sooner give a character a gruesome, but complete, death, than force them to live through an identity death.
Abigail Drew.
I guess you two are right
I think my problem isn't actually with magic but with how magic is sometimes used. Using it to change something physical such as appearance or clothing is okay but as soon as I feel like I have to use it to create an inorganic change in personality it feels cheap to me. I've already handed off the project to another writer. At least it isn't permanent identity death since the objective is to have the changes reverted in the conclusion but I still couldn't bring myself to write such a sudden and major change to my satisfaction.
I decided to recycle what I have into a dual identity story where the kind but insecure mentor goes out at night to release some stress in destructive ways. But the changes will occur slowly and will be the result of character and circumstance, not magic.