BOOK!

I've been working on a secret project for a few weeks now, but today, finally, all the bugs are worked out and I'm ready to go. So, without further ado, may I present...my new writing book!

Well, ebook novella to be technically accurate. 2k to 10k (Amazon UK) combines my most popular writing blog posts (all updated, expanded, and edited), new chapters on creating characters that write themselves, making story structure work for you, and beating writer's block, and a whole bunch of other new stuff inserted all through out. 

The book is short and simple (a brisk 30k!), and, like the post it's named for, focuses on practical, everyday advice to help the average writer, pro or beginner, work faster and better. It's also only $0.99. Hard to beat that!

The book is currently available on Amazon only since this is my first foray into self publishing (and I wanted to try out this KDP thing everyone's going nuts over), but I hope to expand to other platforms soon. In the meanwhile, I hope you'll bet a dollar on me and give the book a try.

And if you tried my 2k to 10k triangle already, I'd love love love to put your testimonial up! Please contact me or leave a comment on this post with your success story and how you'd like to be identified and I'll put it up. Your help means a lot, and I really do love hearing how other people are using my methods. 

Thank you tons, and I really hope you enjoy the book!

- Rachel

PS: The original blog posts that form the bones of this book will remain up and free on my site forever. I wrote this book as an expansion and deepening of those initial ideas, and while the book has a ton of new content, the old stuff will stay exactly as it is. TL;DR: The original 2k to 10k post isn't going anywhere, so no worries! 

Wherefore art thou Steampunk?

I'm a little ashamed to admit this for fear of proving myself terminally uncool, but the Steampunk explosion has baffled me since it began. I've been drawn to it ever since I first saw some of the amazing things people were doing, but I couldn't quite come to terms with it as a category. Especially when it came to books.

Don't get me wrong, I can see the aesthetic appeal. The Steampunk "look" has always been imaginative and lovely, combining the brass and dark wood accouterments of a more elegant age with the endless technological enthusiasm and hope for the future of the industrial revolution. But aesthetics aren't enough to make a genre. Just as there's more to Urban Fantasy than vamps, tramp stamps, and black leather, there has to be more to Steampunk than gears, anachronisms, and airships.

Of course, to look at the explosion of Steampunk publishing, you wouldn't realize this. With Steampunk culture picking up, um, steam, books that have only minimal Steampunk-ish elements are being marketed as "Steampunk" to a steam hungry public. The Peculiars is an excellent example of this "steam washing" (OH HO, I am clever!). While I enjoyed the book itself more than The Book Smugglers did in the review linked above, I have to agree with them that this was Steampunk in marketing only. To quote The Book Smugglers:

The Peculiars is not even remotely a Steampunk novel. There are a couple of innovative inventions created by Mr Beasley and mention of Zeppelins but these are not widespread enough to make it an effective part of the worldbuilding at all. Steampunk to me means that not only a world has these developed technological elements but they also must affect the world at large and the people who live in it. As I keep repeating whenever I see the label carelessly attached to just about any book with a dirigible: dirigibles do not Steampunk make!

I agree with this sentiment 100%, but if dirigibles do not Steampunk make, what does? Because if we're defining Steampunk on a strictly technological basis, then any of China Mieville's Bas-Lag novels (King Rat, Perdido Street Station, etc) would count. In fact, considering how popular and well done Mieville's novels are, they should be cornerstones of steampunk literature, but they're not, which leads me to believe that Steampunk is more than technological.

Another common element in Steampunk besides the actual steam is a Victorian sensibility. The gentleman (or gentlewoman) explorer/scientist is as much a Steampunk trope as the gears themselves.
But one of the most celebrated Steampunk novels, Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan (which, for the record, has the best interior decoration of any book EVER), takes place during World War I, decidedly after the Victorian era. Same with Cherie Priest's fabulous Boneshaker, another quintessential Steampunk book that takes place in America West during the Civil War. So while it hits the Victorian time period more or less, it's far more of a Western (which, to be fair, is another area Steampunk loves to co-opt) than a story of Victorian adventure.

Defining what is and is not "Steampunk" can feel a bit like trying to describe the smell of motor oil. You can't really lock it down, but it is certainly a thing all its own. That said, though, as someone who's actively trying to read more "real" Steampunk, the tendency of marketers to take advantage of this nascent genre's popularity by slapping gears, antiqued fonts, and misleading copy on books that have only a tenuous relationship to Steampunk in order to trick me into buying is really pissing me off. Far be it from me to demand 100% truth in advertising, but if something is called Steampunk, then dammit I want more than a passing mention of a blimp!

This line of logic begs the question, though: What do I want from my Steampunk? If it's so hard to define, why is it so popular? What force allows marketers to slap gears on covers to make books sell? Why do we like it so much? What is it about Steampunk that's turned the collective crank of geek imagination so hard?

I've pondered this puzzle quite a bit over the past year as I've tried to get in on the Steampunk fun. At this point, I'm not even sure Seampunk could really be called a genre, not in the same way Fantasy or Science Fiction or Alternate History are. It's probably more accurate to think of it as a stylistic classification rather than a new branch of fiction. But while I have clearly failed to come up with a definition of "Steampunk" solid enough even for my own internal use, I have come up with (and this should come as no surprise to anyone who reads my blog on a regular basis) a LIST! A lovely little list of elements that I think make Steampunk so addictive to the modern geek.

Rachel's (Non-Definitive) List of Probable Reasons Why We Like Steampunk So Much

1) It Looks Freaking Cool

There is absolutely no denying that the Steampunk aesthetic is boss hog. Personally, I think this explains why it's such a popular costuming choice. Who doesn't want to look amazing? Also, Steampunk elements provide almost unlimited costuming potential since they can be freely added to other outfits to make them "Steampunk X" such as "Steampunk Bobba Fett" or "Steampunk Flintstones." Steampunk is like the Ranch Dressing of the cosplay world. It goes with everything!

On a deeper level, though, I think the Steampunk aesthetic feeds our natural human longing for the past. I am thrilled to death that I don't have to wear corsets to be seen in public, but when I see those gorgeous Victoriana gowns, I can't help feeling a longing for the lost elegance of a more mysterious, elegant, and poetic time where a lady wore her gloves even while piloting her mechanical golem. Steampunk stirs the imagination, and while I don't think anyone would actually like to return to the days before internet, women's rights, and modern medicine, it is damn fun to play dress up with such lovely materials.

So the visual appeal of Steampunk is well noted, but what about novels? Looking great at a convention is one thing, but books aren't visually based. You can get pretty far describing brass goggles, but unless you've got a bitching airship to wear them on, they're just flavor. So for Steampunk to survive in novels, it has to bring something more than just a pretty face to the table, which brings me to my next item...

2) Rekindling the Love of Discovery
One of my favorite aspects of Steampunk is the feeling of discovery and adventure it brings along with all those gears. It's the "anything we can imagine, we can build" spirit that fueled the industrial revolution taken to the next level. In Steampunk, it's the scientists and engineers who hold (and usually go mad with) all the power. In this way, Steampunk actually has a great deal in common with the Technology of Tomorrow excitement of the 1950s, but with a less corny aesthetic.


Also, since Steampunk science is very malleable (often through the addition of some kind of supernatural element), science fiction rules of bullshit technology can be applied without penalty. As in "Quickly, Bethesda! Load the Unobtainium into the gyrocopter! We're taking off for Shangri La!" which is just plain fun. I mean, come on, who doesn't want to get into that gyrocopter?


But even deeper than the technology is the feeling of exploration. In most Steampunk settings, even those that don't add in the supernatural, the world is often presented as a more magical, mysterious place. This is why I think Westerns and Victoriana are such common Steampunk settings - both of these cultures had a fascination with exploration and settlement of new lands. For the American West, it was claiming and taming of seemingly endless land. For the Victorians, it was the exploration of Egypt, China, and "Darkest Africa."  And though now we can look back and see this exploitative expansionism for what it was, the thrill of adventure is still there in Steampunk, and we love it.

Humanity loves to discover things, to seek out new worlds. Even Steampunk that never leaves 1900s London is filled with new inventions, exotica from far away, and characters who are excited about all of it. There's a feeling that it's an exciting time to be alive, that the future is happening right now, and that excitement lends its charge to any stories told inside the Steampunk setting.

3) More Rules, More Tension
This one is actually my favorite part of Steampunk. As I mentioned above, most Steampunk takes place in the past, often during the long reign of Queen Victoria or her alternate history stand-ins. By placing a story within the Victorian culture, the author picks up not only a stellar wardrobe, but also a whole host of incredibly oppressive social morality standards (often made even worse in alternate history or complete fantasy Steampunk) that serve as an elixir for instant conflict.

For example, if you had a modern story about a smart young girl who wanted to be a brilliant scientist, you'd have no real barriers to her success other than the pervasive and quiet sexism of academia. This is a huge and serious problem, but it's not the kind of conflict you can easily base an adventure story around. Now, take this same girl and stick her in an alternate history Victoriana setting and suddenly you've got a smart, determined young lass who wants to trade in her petticoats for a leather apron so she can start building her airship and pushing the boundaries of steam technology. The character herself hasn't really changed, but by moving the sexism barrier from difficult to prove hiring discrimination to corsets and mustached old men in bowler hats crying "a girl can not build steam engines!" we move the moral enemy from passive to active, which makes for a much better adventure story.

The heavy handed societal rules found in most Steampunk (Victoriana or not) helps move the fight against the man to a personal battle rather than a societal one, and tension in novels is all about significant personal action. The harsher the rules and the more immediate and severe the punishment for breaking them, the more exciting it is when our heroes upset things, and the harder we, as an audience, can root for them. The Steampunk setting provides an absolutely perfect set of hooks for this kind of storytelling.

4) The Lure of the Strange and Unknown
The final, and perhaps most enthralling aspect of Steampunk is its intrinsic relationship with the strange and unknown. Practically every Steampunk has a mystery or supernatural element of some sort: monsters, vampires, zombies, portals to other worlds, or a mysterious new technology that will turn the world on its head. It takes those classic figures of discovery: the dashing explorer, the mad scientist, the kooky inventor pushing the bounds of human possibility -- the same ones that filled boy's adventure books during the Victorian era -- and retools them for modern consumption. Steampunk takes these old tropes and makes them new again, just as Steampunk costumers stick old gears on top hats to create something unique. It's the classic human cycle: everything old is new again. And, in the case of Steampunk case, everything old is cool again.

Humans love oddity. We love spectacle and the feeling of a mystery and being on the edge of the unknown. This is what Steampunk can deliver at its best: that rush when you see something miraculous, and for a shining moment, everything feels new, exciting, and possible. This feeling is why Steampunk stories are so often described with words like "thrilling" or "adventure." That is what Steampunk gives us, good old fashioned adventures in a strange and unknown world were everything is still possible. It's fantasy dressed up in top hats, parasols, and psudo-science, and I see nothing wrong with that.

All that said, I'd like to end this post by admitting that Steampunk still baffles me a little. When it first burst onto the market I thought it was a fad, but I've been waiting for it to die out for years now and it's still going strong. I've been trying and trying to figure it out, and while I think it brings a lot to the table, when people ask me "do you think Steampunk is here to stay?" I don't know what to tell them. On the one hand, I feel a genre based largely on aesthetic can't last, but it keeps enduring.

So, since I'm stumped, I turn to you, gentle reader. What makes Steampunk for you? Do you think it's a fad or the beginnings of a new alternate history renaissance? Please leave your answers in the comments, because I'm really curious. Also, if you have any Steampunk refs, please let me know! I'm having such a hard time finding stuff that's really Steampunk and not just adventure stories with gears stuck on.

Yours sincerely will bells on,
Rachel

These are amazing!

So I'm working on something pretty fun for you all, but it's not quiiiiite ready yet. So, in the meanwhile, I wanted to share this amazingly awesome lecture series on writing by fantasy author and pretty cool dude Brandon Sanderson.

I linked these on Twitter before, but if you're at all interested in writing fantasy (or really, writing anything) and you haven't had a chance to watch/listen to these yet, I very much suggest you take a few minutes and give them a go. Here's one of my favorites where he talks about his plotting method.


I've started working a lot of these ideas into my own plotting system. And this is just the surface, there's so so much more. If you don't want to sit down at watch a 20 minute lecture (who has the time?), these are totally great to just listen to as well. I like to put one on while I'm cooking/doing things that don't need 100% brainpower. It's like a mini-writing workshop!

It's always such a joy to listen to someone who really knows what he's talking about. I can not recommend these enough.

(Real blog post coming soon, I swear!)

- R

Eli in art form!

Lo, these many moons ago, I commissioned some Eli art to celebrate the release of my Omnibus. Well, they didn't quite make it in time, but they're just in time to fill the gap before the final novel! So, without further ado, check out this great Eli art by Razuri-chan!

First up, Eli! Observe the Daggerback cards - they rock my world!

(full size)

Next (one step behind Eli, natch) is Miranda! Love the rings, though they really should be even bigger. I always imagine her rings looking like those giant hunks of rock you see on QVC. Her hair is amazing, though!

(full size)

And here's Josef! Note the lovely Heart of War on his back, though he seems to have lost most of his other blades. Oh well <3 .="." p="p">

(full size)

And finally, Nico. This is actually the picture Razuri did for me first a while ago. Yes, her coat is the wrong color, but I still like it. Poor Nico, your life is about to get even worse in Spirit's End!

(full size)

I hope you enjoyed seeing the Eli cast in glorious color! And just as a bonus, here's a lovely review of The Spirit Thief! Looking like a good Monday for Rachel. Hope your Monday is awesome, too!

<3 p="p">

R

I, Feminist

It should come as no surprise to anyone who's ever read one of my books or spent more than five minutes in my company that I am a feminist. And when I say feminist, I don't mean any of the incredibly bizarre, fanatical, and unflattering definitions others (mostly men) have given that word. I mean that I think women are people who deserve equal right/pay/treatment/education/etc.

When I declare my feminism outright, like when I'm raging about how we're so far in the future we're landing robots on Mars and yet we still don't have equal pay for equal work in this country, people give me funny looks. This prompts me to give them a funny look back, because really, WTF? How can any enlightened person not be a feminist in this day and age? Can you look me straight in the eye and tell me that I'm not a full person? That I don't deserve the right to make my own choices/own land/have my own money? Are you going to tell your mother she lacks the presence of mind to vote? Right, didn't think so.

(And just for fun, the next time you see a lady backing off and saying "oh, I'm not a feminist," ask her if she wants to give up her right to vote. Because you know who got you that shit? SUFFRAGETTES, the most badass feminists ever.)

SO, feminist, not actually a very radical thing anymore thanks to a lot of brave ladies fighting fights that should never have had to be fought in the first place. And I, as a child of this enlightened age who didn't want to let her esteemed foremothers down, set about writing my books with strong female characters who defy labels and break barriers. BOO YA!

But one of the problems of being aware of things like unknowing stereotypes and sexist tropes is that you can get caught in the trap of over thinking. I'm in no way saying we shouldn't think about these things, ignorance never makes anything better, but there is such a thing as going too far in the other direction. For example, when I was writing the Eli novels, I had serious doubts about Benehime's character. Not to spoil anything for people who haven't read the series, but Benehime is... not a nice lady. She is, in fact, a horrible lady who does horrible things in the name of love.

I can't tell you how long I agonized over this. I mean, the woman becoming a villain for a man is one of those tropes I hate. I actually rewrote her parts in Spirit War and Spirit's End several times trying to get her right before I realized I was going about this all the wrong way.

The most important part of being a feminist author is treating your women like real people. This doesn't mean always making them admirable. When I actually stopped and looked back at my books, I realized that in trying to keep Benehime from being a woman brought down by love, I'd hobbled her character.  Once I stopped worrying about whether or not I was being a "good feminist" with her and just let the crazy lady do what she was going to do, the book got so, so, so much better. Because the truth of Benehime's fall is far more subtle and complex than her relationship with Eli, and she had to be free to be every bit as awful as she really was.

As a lifelong feminist and a former English Major who thinks about story a LOT, trying to make sure I'm aware of and avoid common feminine stereotypes is a huge part of every book I write. But recently, I've started to realize that I was trying so hard not to write hookers, victims, or doormats, I was completely cutting out the character possibilities of those spheres. The truth is, characters come in all flavors, and putting something completely out of bounds just because others have done it badly before is just another way of limiting women, and limiting my own stories.

What I'm trying to say is that while it's great, even necessary, to keep my feminism in mind while writing, sometimes you just have to stop worrying about what message you're sending and let the characters be themselves. Just as I define my feminism by saying that I am a person and deserve to be treated as such, so do I show myself as a feminist writer by letting my female characters be themselves, flaws and all. The most important thing is not that they are female, but that they are fully realized characters capable of being whatever they need to be.

In the end, my main goal remains unchanged. I'm a working woman writer trying as hard as I can to tell the best stories possible, all filled with amazing ladies. I do this not because such writing is my duty as a feminist, but because I like amazing ladies. I think they're awesome and inspiring and I want more of them in the world, so I'll do my best to put them there.

And that's all there is to it.

An Early Preview of SPIRIT'S END!

It's that time....

YES! Time for me to put out a four chapter preview of SPIRIT'S END! You got a taste of the prologue at the end of THE SPIRIT WAR, but this should really let you sink your teeth into what's in store for our favorite thief! Oh Eli, you didn't sign up for this, did you?

Blogging will pick back up now that I'm done with edits for a bit, and as we get closer to November, I'll be doing all kinds of give aways for copies of the full book! In the meanwhile, enjoy the sample and let me know what you think!

DISCLAIMER: The sample text was taken from my copy edit of the final manuscript. Any errors you see are mine and will not appear in the final version!

EDIT: So I just realized that the conversion to HTML stripped out all of Benehime's italics! These have been fixed! Sorry for any confusion. Now you should be able to read all the horrible things she says just fine.

CHANGE OF PLANS - Not actually going to DragonCon

Well, after hearing that a bunch of my fans aren't going AND I'm not on any panels, I've decided to just throw in the towel on DragonCon this year. If you were coming and planning on seeing me, I'm very sorry to flake, but I just can't justify the expense. T__T Contact me here and I'll make sure you get something to make it up to you!

Again, NOT going to DragonCon. So sorry for the last second change. I kept trying to make it work, but it clearly just wasn't meant to be.

I promise to do more cons in the future! Thanks everyone!

-R

Writing Relationships

Sorry about the lack of updates. I have been wholly and delightfully eaten by edits (and if you think the blog's been neglected, you should see my house. We're going to be eating off paper plates by tomorrow.)

Last night, however, I hit a block. The pivotal emotional scene of my novel was just not working, and nothing I could do seemed to make it work. So, I did what I always do when I am despairing over scenes, I messaged fellow writer Kalayna Price, author of the fantastic Grave Witch series and all around best person. (This is one of the unsung amazing perks of being a writer, you get to be friends with other really freaking good writers!)

Now, one thing you have to understand about Kalayna if you haven't read her stuff yet is that she writes some of the best emotional knots and you will ever read (also, the sexiest, sweetest, absolute best love scenes). The scene in question was a confrontation between my hero and heroine who are having, shall we say, a bit of a rocky turn in their relationship, and since Kalayna is one of the best relationship writers I know, I turned to her for some expert advice on how to make the scene gripping and emotional without being overwrought.

Okay, so I'm paraphrasing. My actual question involved way more swear words and T__T emoticons. But, as usual, Kalayna came through with brilliance.

Kalayna: Just close your eyes and imagine what needs to happen until you have the right sized grin is on your face.

And this, folks, is why I bug her all the time. Just like that, I realized what was wrong. I couldn't make the scene work because I'd gotten so caught up in getting things right I'd forgotten what the scene was about. The most important part of this exchange wasn't the details or the plot or even the revelation of information. It was the people. Two people who love each other a lot but who are having a really hard time. Two people I love, and love to write, and it took another writer to remind me of that.

So there you are, I am spreading Kalayna's trade secrets all over the internet. Use them for awesome! And read her books, they're bestsellers for a reason.

Back to editing!

The only one who can hold you back is you

Answering my emails this morning, I came across a letter from an aspiring writing asking for advice and encouragement for making the jump from hobby writer to pro-writer. This is no small order for anyone, but once you add in kids and a job, it can seem impossible. She was already writing most days, so I told her that was the absolute best thing she could do. But thinking about her question reminded me of the days when I was in the same boat (though minus the kid).

The number one bit of advice every writer repeats is "Write!" I do this too. Every time someone asks me how to become a writer or what to do, I say "Write! Write every day you can. Don't give up! Keep writing!"  It's gotten to the point where the word Write! is starting to lose its meaning because I've repeated it so much.  But that doesn't matter, because writing is the fundamental act that makes you a writer.

I'm kind of embarrassed to admit this, but years ago, when I would wake up very early to write in the mornings before work, I used to talk myself out of bed by telling myself "Writing is your great dream. If you can't even get out of bed for it, you don't want it." This is a pretty cruel thing to say to yourself at 5 in the morning, and I'm not recommending guilt as motivation, but I will say it worked for me.

Here's a secret, though. When I was starting out, I didn't write every day. There were times when I quit writing for months at a time, or days when I got up to write and ended up wasting my entire two hours reading web comic archives. It took me a year and a half to finish my first book, and another year to finish my second. But there, friends, is the kicker. Though there were days I didn't write, days I flubbed, sometimes even months when I walked away from the computer, I never stayed away. I always came back.

The difference between the writers who make it and those who don't is that the writers who win are the writers who never quit. This is the secret to all writing: You only fail when you stop. So long as you are writing, even if you're not writing as much or as fast or as well as you'd like to be, so long as you do not quit, you have not failed.

In the end, the only thing that will ever determine whether or not you become a successful writer is you. Not publishers or agents or luck or even readers. You. You are the only person who can write your books, and you are the only person who decides when to give up or keep going. This is the writer's greatest power, and no one can ever take it from you.

And now, from one person who didn't give up to another: it's absolutely worth every second. You can make it. Never quit writing.

Teaching Your Reader Magic

The other day while I waiting in line for my delicious burrito, and the chatty lady struck up a conversation with me. It quickly came out that I was a fantasy writer (because come on, I didn't work this hard to not tell people), and the lady honest-to-god clutched her pearls and said, "My goodness! Isn't it hard having to make everything up?!"

My answer at the time was of course not. I love not being held down by the real world. But her question stuck with me, rattling around in my head, and I realized I'd like to change my answer. It's not hard having to make everything up, what's hard is making sure your reader understands it all.

Every time you make a new world, you undertake the burden of exposition. In order for your reader to appreciate the story you're trying to tell, they have to understand all the circumstances surrounding it - the world, the rules, the powers at play. This burden is most pronounced in fantasy and scifi, which have the fewest crutches, but even the lady writing cozy mysteries set in Cape Cod has to do a certain amount of set up so people understand why the character's actions matter.

I like to look at this problem as a matter of teaching. When I introduce a new fantasy world to the reader, my first job is to teach them how things work - the magic, the world dynamics, all that good stuff. But I can't just dump all this information on people, because I'm also an entertainer, which means if I don't keep the audience enthralled, they leave and I fail.

Teaching your audience about your world is one of the most subtle and easiest to screw up aspects of writing. Too much and people get bored with all the overexplaining, too little and people don't know what's going on. Explain your magical system in a giant lecture and people's eyes glaze over, just like in real lectures! But if you don't explain how the magic works, people won't understand why it's important. 

Since this sort of thing is so easy to muck up, I like to watch when people do it right. To this end, I will now employ a visual aid.

The Portal video games do the best job of explaining a new world I've ever seen. They tell you almost nothing in dialogue, instead relying on ambiance, inference, and your own curiosity to expand the world. But even better is how they teach you to use your portal gun. The entire first Portal game is really just an extended tutorial teaching you how to use this very unique mechanic, but you never feel like you're being lectured. The learning is the game, and by the time you finish Portal you can give a lecture on the subject yourself, and all without a single info dump.

Now, novels aren't video games, but as Uncle Iroh says, "It is important to draw wisdom from different places. If you take it from only one place, it become rigid and stale."

Pixar's WALL-E is another amazing example of how an entire world, complete with history, rules, and conflict, can be explained without saying a word. Contrast this to the stop action movie 9. I was pretty excited about this movie when it came out and dragged several friends to see it. Despite its stunning visuals, though, the movie was ultimately a dud. This happened for many reasons - bad plot, terrible pacing, etc. But what really got me was the movie's terrible habit of overexplaining everything. The movie would show you this cool, mysterious thing, and then, just when you were starting to appreciate it, they would explain every. Damn. Thing. Characters would actually stop what they were doing to lecture each other on what had just happened.

To say this was boring is a disservice to the concept of boredom. It was excruciating. I hate nothing more than wasted potential, and 9 was painful for me. There was so much there, so much potential for a beautiful, mysterious, dangerous, interesting world, but the writers seemed to be going out of their way to kill it at every turn.

Nothing kills wonder faster than dry explanation, and nothing kills a book faster than sloppy info dumping. It's not easy to explain a complicated magical system through good writing, but being good is never easy, or everyone would be awesome all the time. But really good books, especially really good fantasy books, let the reader discover the magic for themselves. They teach and cajole, pulling the reader in with wonder and the promise of knowing more.

This balance a matter of practice and craft, of paying attention to what you're doing and listening to your beta readers, asking where they got confused or slowed down. It's a lot of work and tinkering and delicate, subtle changes, which means it is hard as hell to get right. BUT, once you manage to pull it off, it will seem effortless, natural, like magic, and that is the sign of a well done book indeed.