Soft vs. Hard Magic Systems

     When writing fantasy with magic systems the first concern needs to be if it seen as just the author's way to lazily solve plot issues instead of doing so in a more satisfactory way. The type of magic systems used can force you to pay much attention to avoiding this. More so in a soft magic system than a hard one.

    We need to define what each is as used in this discussion:

Soft Magic System

    A soft magic system is any, where the reader does not know the rules, and the writer did not set any. Truly, as far as the reader is concerned, anything could happen with the magic. Probably the most famous of soft magics is J.R.R. Tolkien's character, Gandalf. We the reader really has no clue what his magic is, what his limitations are, or what the cost of using it truly is.

Hard Magic System

    A hard magic system is where the reader has a complete understanding of the rules, limitations, and often the source of magic in a story. The characters do not need to also understand the magic, though the workings of the magic system are often given to the reader through a character knowledgeable in the magic. Every use of the magic has a cost, predictable result, and an explanation.

Everything In Between

    In reality, most stories fall somewhere on the spectrum between soft and hard magic systems. The author may have in their head all the rules but may keep them back from the characters and the reader. Fantasy is just that, fantastical so most of it will fall between the two. Often a writer takes this into account when determining what type of story they want to tell. The more mysterious they want their world the softer the magic will be. If the story is more a character development concept, then the magic may be harder so that character choices play more of a roll in the plot than the magic.

    Of course, J.R.R. Tolkien has used the entire spectrum when creating his worlds, from the softest of magics with Gandalf to the hard magic of how the ring. This shows that the type of magic system is less important than the characters and plot.

Avoid the Trappings

    Both types of magic systems have things to avoid, or at least keep in mind, when writing.

    The most obvious for soft magic systems is to use it as a save-all when you write your characters or plot into a corner. Of course, you want the magic to be important so the best way to avoid the reader feeling like you just use magic wildly is to foreshadow. As mentioned, Gandalf is purely a soft magic system, as far as we, the reader can tell he can do anything. To allow for tension in the plot, Tolkien used this knowledge by having him tell others to look for him on the fifth day. This set up a time clock for the battle where we watched the heroes on the verge of death and we were held in suspense if they will even survive the 5 days since we know if they did, Gandalf would fix everything. Tolkien foreshadowed that soft magic could save the day, but he focused us on cheering for the ones without magic to just hang on a little longer.

    Where hard magic systems are concerned, the biggest thing to avoid is to not turn your story into big chunks of exposition to explain the system to the reader. Many writers who sway furthest toward hard magic systems find the magic system itself just as amazing as if it were real and want to share how cool it is with the reader. This can hinder character development and plot. To solve this is to make the instruction of the rules for the magic a part of character development and plot. In the Harry Potter series, Hermione tried to cheat or take shortcuts to learn more and more magic. We learned a lot about the limits and cost of the magic through this plot line that was more about developing her character than us, the reader learning about the magic while learning more about the magic. It did not feel like a classroom lesson to us since we were experiencing the lessons Hermione needed to learn as a character.

The Reader, Not the Character

    One important thing to remember is it is the reader's perception of the magic systems, not the characters that determine where the system falls along the line of Soft and Hard systems. The reader and the characters may hold the same knowledge about the systems, but it can often be more fun when they have different impressions. The reader may see a system as Soft, but a character may think they know the rules and could make for some funny or detrimental undetermined consequences. Or, in the case of the reader knowing it is a hard magic system, the characters may not understand it and act as if there are no consequences which can push a plot along nicely.

A Final Word

    The most important thing to remember is the story is yours. You get to make all the decisions about your magic systems. Make them as soft or hard as you like; everything here is just advice to help you avoid mistakes that could push the reader out of a story. Step one is to write.