S33E4 - Avoiding the Info Dump: Magic Systems

When you've spent time and effort creating a magic system for your story, you naturally want people to know just how awesome it really is. The magic is, after all, one of the major elements that draws people into their love of the fantasy genre. Even if we've spent hours and hours crafting each piece, each spell, each category, the chances that the reader needs to know everything is incredibly low. And the chance they need to know it all at once is simply zero.

If your plot requires the use of magic for the solution, you definitely need to explain the magic, how and why it works, and what limitations the characters have while using it. There are ways to go about that in a way that doesn't overwhelm the reader with a mass of information they'll inevitably forget. You must avoid the info dump.

Listen to this episode for advice and examples of how to best show the wonderful magic system you've built.

First aired June 13, 2022.