Skip to main content

Magic the Gathering and Writing Novels: 5 Similarities and 5 Differences

mtgI had been meaning to go to the local game shop to play Magic the Gathering with real people for several months, but I was scared. I'm an introvert, I'm socially awkward, and I barely know the game. I was also worried they wouldn't be friendly or they'd be the wrong kind of friendly as there are some horror stories online in both of those categories.

I really wanted to get better before my martial arts weekend away, though. We often play board games and such while having some drinks. Last year a small group was playing magic and a friend and I thought we should bring cards this year.

I also knew my deck was a mess.

So I went to the shop. The woman at the counter asked for my DCI. Upon seeing my blank deer-in-the-headlights look, she said not to worry and got me sorted and ready to play. I had also forgotten my 20-sided die and she helped me with that too.

I stood around awkwardly until I eventually sat at a table. Of Pokémon players, I later figured out. Someone took out a fancy playing mat and I wondered what the hell I was doing there and I was going to lose and be made fun of for sure.

Eventually, I found the magic players. There was a small group that night, just 3 of us, but that worked in my favour. The two guys were really nice and helped me play and fixed up my deck at the end. I went back Wednesday to play again and needed less help.

They gave me suggestions of things to add to my deck. One of the cards needed replacing and I got the exact card to replace it with out of the booster pack I got for playing. They also told me some things about deck building like wanting the deck to have a little less diversity so the way it plays is consistent. When I got home, I had had so much fun that it was hard to sleep!

I went through one of my other decks to make it better.

I realized something too. Building magic decks is not unlike writing a novel. Here's why:

1. Pacing: In Magic, we want to be able to ideally play the right card at the right time based on what turn we are on. On turn one we want to play 1 mana and a maybe a creature that costs one mana if we are fortunate enough to draw those. In a novel, we want to ease into it. We want some action at the start, but just enough to pique the readers interest the keep them reading. As we go along, we introduce little things that make the reader ask why. Then we add a small problem. Then fixing that problem leads to another, slightly bigger problem. We hint at things, but don't confirm until later, which gives the reader reason to keep reading.

2. Characters: Creatures are like your characters. We have creatures that start out small and become big later, by bumping them or killing them to bring bigger ones out later. With writing, it takes some time to get to know the characters and it can be a great plot device to kill off a character if their death moves the story along.

3. Fuel: Mana is the fuel necessary to do cool things. They aren't exciting cards, for the most part. They are necessary to get the awesome things out onto the table. It's likeness in writing would be the stuff in between the major plot points. Those bits in between the points of climax. A lot of it is just words that might not have a deeper meaning. But like some special land cards, some of those words may foreshadow the events to come.

4. Bumps: In Magic, bumps are buffs for the creatures. You might have a little 1/1 creature that you bump with a +2/+1 or something, for example. In writing, we might give something to our characters along their journey such as armour, a magical item, or perhaps an annoying sidekick that turns out useful.

5. Obstacles: In Magic, our opponents will do anything to stop us from completing our goal of killing them, just like the antagonist will thwart our hero's attempts to complete the journey.

The major differences between the two are:

1. Dynamics: In magic, you plan all the pieces, but are left to chance when it comes to combat. There's no guarantee you'll get the cards you need when you need them. The story is different every time. With a novel, you plan the pieces, deviate as needed until the work becomes finished and static.

2. Chances: In Magic, you usually play best of three. You have three attempts to do things right. In novel writing, you have lots of chances while writing, but once it's published it is the same story and you can't do things like sideboard to reconfigure for different readers on-the-fly. What's done is done.

3. Control: We can't control the outcome of a magic game. Even control decks have weaknesses and one doesn't know what kind of deck one will be up against. There are too many variables. With novel writing, we are in the driver's seat. We get to decide if our hero needs to have his hand chopped off with a lightsaber because the journey requires him to suffer in order to realize his full potential.

4. Social: Magic is best played with 2 or more players. Novel writing is most commonly a solitary endeavor, though some writers get together to write in the same room as other writers, that would be more comparable to deck building in the same room. They may critique each other and offer suggestions, but the novelist must decide what is best for the book as only they can know their story intimately.

5. Language: Magic is a language all its own just like Music or French. Lifelink means a creature will basically steal life from the opponent and give it to its owner. Haste means a creature can attack right after being summoned instead of waiting a turn. In English, haste is a word with a negative connotation of not thinking before taking action, whereas in Magic it is often a good thing to be able to attack right away.

I hope you have enjoyed reading my thoughts on Magic the Gathering and its similarities and differences to writing novels.

Ciao,
R~

Popular posts from this blog

The Gauntlet That Was October

I had a lot of things happen in October. I watched Frankenstein in the cemetery with friends. I had tea with a friend. I started a new sport: curling. This is really fun and I'm enjoying the level of activity it provides and all the strategic elements. I'll do a separate post on it soon. Unfortunately, soon after my first game, I came down with Covid and so did the friend who I had tea with, so I think we both caught it at the place we went to. That wasn't fun. I already posted about that. I was fortunate to be free of it in time to attend Can-Con where I took in lots of panels, saw some of the wonderful writer community, bought many new books, and volunteered to help out in the rooms. The following weekend, I went to the livestream for Danielle Allard's new album release, followed by the in person release. As part of this, she has a 6 video series that releases every Sunday on her YouTube at 1:15 PM EDT. Video number 2, Falling Into Place, is one that I feel fortunate

Frisky Friday - Maple Syrup Porn

[caption id="attachment_10523" align="alignright" width="300"] Image created using Bitmoji[/caption] While delving into some Canadian film history this week, I learned that there is a thing called Maple Syrup Porn. I laughed when I read the term. I thought, "Is our adult film industry really called Maple Syrup Porn?" It's not. Some is Canadian, but it mostly refers to getting around censorship of sex. It was not only common in Quebec due to religion, but several places in the US. You can read more about it here . If you're looking to heat things up this weekend, consider a sweet old film from the early days of the sexual revolution. Maybe even drizzle a little syrup on your partner ;) Guid cheerio the nou, R~

On Edge - ROW80 R1-16

This sounds superstitious, but the fact that this is Leap Year has me on edge. Why? The last two have been rather difficult for me. In 2012, my work place was being divested and I was working multiple job roles because of all the people who had left. My marriage also ended. This led to a major life change, which included moving to Ottawa. I love Ottawa, so at least that worked out. The rest was hard. In 2016, I was restructured out of my job. This led to me floating about for a while on EI as I tried to figure out my future, trying some things like Copywriting out, and going back to school for screenwriting. After school, it took time to find work and I almost lost my home and car in the process. Scary stuff. It's now 2020 and I have a full-time permanent job again, but I'm filling multiple job roles because we're short-handed. We're also so far into year end that it's hard to train the person who is learning to be me for one of those roles. I'm just hopin