Science (reality) vs Magic (fantasy) formats – Which do you prefer to use?

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  • August 14, 2008 at 3:02 pm #74574
    AlexG
    Keymaster

    This episode of Inside the Writer's Studio will concern itself around the question of Science vs that of Magic as to the origins for the transformational process in any given story.

    As a writer, which format do you prefer to use, one that is more a) reality based, b) fantasy based, c) a mixture of both, or d) do you keep it rather nebulous in character, possibly allowing the reader make up their own mind.  8)

    “I like a good story well told. That is the reason I am sometimes forced to tell them myself.”
    ~ Mark Twain / Samuel Clemens (1907)

    August 14, 2008 at 6:16 pm #74575
    JimmyDimples
    Participant

    Short answer:  All of the above.  ;D

    Long winded answer:  Depends on what I'm writing.  In settings of older times, I sometimes lean to magic.  More current ones, I use science (which seems to have the lioness' share of transformations in my stories, I admit), and in one story I have the two different elements duke it out for dominance.  And there's one where we have to guess, I suppose.

    Just one thing:  I'd be reluctant to call something "reality" based just because it has science-nature based mechanics behind it when it's ridiculously fast in happening or huge in effects.  I mean… from 5'2" to 11'8" in less than 60 seconds?  Tiny frail waifs to hulking Amazons? From A-cups to weather balloons before the commercial's over? From one sip from a test tube?  That's "realistic?"  😛

    August 14, 2008 at 6:34 pm #74576
    alex
    Participant

    I think there are different levels of "science". 

    There is foreseeable science, such as mentioning chemical and biological agents that increase muscle mass, bone density, and stimulate overall growth which works well with slow growth stories…and there is very advanced science, that deals with shaping of reality as we know it. While these are sometimes far fetched, they still work as a replacement for magic in explaining "miraculous" growths.

    I personally have a problem thinking of magic in a modern technological world.  While I enjoy it in fantasy scenarios, I find it silly in modern ones.  It's the same reason why I can't stomach some of the more traditional religious beliefs also.

    August 15, 2008 at 1:09 am #74577
    ratlaf
    Participant

    I'm with Jimmy on this one.  All of the above.

    For me it depends on the story and the concept and what I'm trying to do with the finished product.  Sometimes I do leave some of it to the readers imagination, so that they can fill in gaps that would be more exciting to them, and different from my ideas, but mostly I direct the readers where I want them to go.

    I took a look at my stories and it seems I lean towards the Science/Reality category (62%).  Again, it just depends on the story and some stories blur the line. 
    – My "Monkey Paw" story is magic but the wishes are based in science.  Go figure…

    August 15, 2008 at 2:05 pm #74578
    Fonk
    Participant

    Thinking back over my stories, I think I lean towards the science side of things. As has been said already, it depends on what serves the story best. I remember writing the Dr. Florida Crane story, and changing things around part-way through (from magic to science) because I wasn't satisfied with how it was working.

    I think, though, that we can all agree that it doesn't really matter how the transformation comes about, just that it does. ;D

    September 14, 2008 at 12:15 am #74579
    Mark Newman
    Participant

    I enjoy both, but to be honest the science in my stories is really just another form of magic that pretends to be science.  The difference is in how the user understands it, and to what extent the power that the science or magic brings is universally available.

    At bottom, the key in my stories is power, and science or magic are different ways to exercise power, with different rules.

    September 15, 2008 at 3:09 pm #74580
    Prophet Tenebrae
    Participant

    I typically prefer to operate in a world that's roughly contemporary with our own but where super-science/magic/superpowers are pretty much all on an even keel.

    Generally, as marknew says – science in the realm of FMG does not really act like science in a way we understand it. It's magic.

    Magic with different rules, certainly but still.

    I'd say that magic is more capricious but in the realm of transformation, science has a tendency to be more mad science… and it's almost as likely to go horribly wrong (or horribly right) as magic.

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