Help! whats the protocol for fixing an error!?

[shamguy4]

hello people... long time no speak...

well I decided on a novel idea!
I started setting aside a time every other day to write my book. (I cant write it everyday cause tuesday and thursday I'm swamped with college classes and have no time)
I dont know if thats a bad thing but I dont know what else to do...

Anyhow I was writing notes on my book.
Todays notes were on rules I had given to the magic in my book. As everyone should do, I began to write down all I knew about the magic I had created and since it was getting a bit out of hand I needed to add more rules.
I'm very strict and er... neurotic when it comes to making laws on my magic. I want my book to make full sense, not just partial.

I hate those books where magic has no rules or just doesnt make sense or somehow no ones able to use it except some old wise crackpot.

well I came across a major problem in my book! I had given my character an object that was magical. Problem is, if the rules apply the object cannot be magical... at least not yet... later on maybe... But right now objects cant hold magic value...

It's kinda hard to explain myself and right now your probably reading this with your head on a tilt

But whats the protocol for fixing a big error!? I cant go on writing my book unless I somehow fix this!!
Do I just keep writing? Do I write more notes? Or do I just sit and brainstorm to find a way to bend the rules and somehow give him this object!??
I dont like bending rules... but theres gotta be some sort of glitch that I would be satisfied with...

Help!

 

[The Ace]

How about it's his ? The old ancient prophecy angle, the trick is him obtaining the skills to use it. The object will obey the rules and part of the story will be his awakening.

 

[Hilarious Joke]

I don't know how to help you, but I do commend the making of laws, and more importantly in my opinion, limitations to magic. I'm very against over-powered individuals that seem to be able to do anything.

 

[shamguy4]

well its kinda like the object looks very natural... there are many other similar objects out there (example: a sword: a weapon many people have)

but this one is special and does all these amazing things.
(using example above: his sword maybe... never misses the opponent or something like that...)

the reader will for sure be wondering how this is possible.
My first idea was later on when my character learns about magic and he 'awakens' the magic, the answer isnt really clear for now, but obviously the object was magical.

problem is the object could not be using magic if magic wasnt awakened until later...

Im giving away too much of my story and I dont feel comfortable doing so but I think you get the point.

the object isnt a sword, but thats just giving me more good ideas...

 

[The Ace]

No, it has an inherent ability to bond to it's owner and protect him and itself without seeming magical. Anything it does to protect itself or it's wielder can be put down to coincidence or luck, (discovered in another pocket, arrow missing its mark, chance interruptions etc. etc.) a bit of a challenge to write but........

 

[shamguy4]

your saying I should make it like the object was meant for him through destiny and stuff...
but I still dont like how it has even the slightest hint of magic before a later event that MUST take place.

 

[Lenny]

In that case, then, why not make the object completely unmagical until shortly before this big event, or during it - some sort of spell is put on it, or it's fused with something magical, making the object magical.

So until the event, the object is normal, and after the event it's magical. This way there isn't even the slightest hint of magic before the later event takes place.

---

Take the sword example, and lets say the event happens halfway through the book.

For the first half, the character uses the sword, and it's just an instrument. He has to move it to parry blows, slash at people, and stab them. After the event, however, and in the second half of the book, the sword leaps to do these things itself.

 

[Pyan]

Can't it have latent, or hidden magic?
The power is hidden deep within the sword, and can't come to life before something earth-shatteringly important happens to it/him/them...?

Edit: great minds.....

 

[shamguy4]

@ Lenny
yes with the sword that works out nicely, and i have thought of that. but with my object.... it wont work
my object would fail to function...


ok my object is.........is............a robot
my character finds a robot and discovers quickly that it is smart and intelligent and can do 'stuff' other robots cant.

well if i make my robot regular and unsmart in the beginning... well lets just say he would not have kept it when he found it, except that he reallized it was special.
And it needs to be special before the event... the robot does a lot of important things before the event.

And worst of all the event happens close toward the end of the book, so I cant work around that.


@pyan
no I cant do that cause... well I cant give away all of my book!!

 

[Ursa major]

@well if i make my robot regular and unsmart in the beginning... well lets just say he would not have kept it when he found it, except that he reallized it was special.
And it needs to be special before the event... the robot does a lot of important things before the event.!!

Robots are processor controlled: they can be reprogrammed. If there's been a bit of proper engineering involved, it should be capable of being upgraded in a controlled manner. So...

Have the robot in a state where the upgrade is there but not yet live. Your robot can still do something special, but perhaps it suffers from bugs.

At some point, the upgrade is activated, letting it do more "special" things. (And to make things more realistic/interesting, the upgrade brings with it a new set of bugs.)

 

[shamguy4]

I had a thought that maybe it gained knowledge from long ago and it still retained it on its chip even when the magic was gone from it.
when the magic gets reawakened in it, it starts getting even smarter.


problem is long ago would mean it cant be smart enough to do things now let alone speak the modern language....

 

[Lenny]

problem is long ago would mean it cant be smart enough to do things now let alone speak the modern language....

Ah! Not necessarily.

I imagine this is a Sci-Fi/Fantasy story, yes? If not, then it seems to have few traces of SF in it.

The great thing about Science-Fiction is that you can use your imagination to create anything. Look at the speed at which technology is advancing in our own world. Which leads me to say - programs can be created to learn things. They take in inputs from their environment, analyse them, and learn from them. Which is an answer for the first part of your statement.

And the second part - there are programs in existence that can distinguish easily between languages. Surely the robot could have an advanced version of a similar program which allows it to take in words, compare them to saved word banks, analyse the differences, and sounds, and whatever else makes up the word, and quickly learn the modern language - all languages evolve from an original. Look at English. That's language that has evolved from Latin, and Greek, and French, and German. And if you compare all the modern languages, you'll find interesting links between the words. So it's a safe bet that the modern language of your story could have evolved from the language the robot first knew.

 

[shamguy4]

But I wanted this robot to be special and different than all others... I wanted him to be able to decipher enemy programs and stuff like that.
I have him use the robot to controll enemy stuff which it somehow learns the programming in two seconds where a regular robot would take a little time...

yes its sci-fi/fantasy

also so far, robots in my book were limited, meaning there brain couldn't learn more than it knew. only new robots or special ones could understand more knowledge and grow

 

[Ursa major]

I have him use the robot to controll enemy stuff which it somehow learns the programming in two seconds where a regular robot would take a little time...

You'd have to have a good explanation as to why a robot of such obvious value to a country's defence would be left to be found. (Unless it was an old alien model that was dumped.)

 

[shamguy4]

very good Ursa major!!!
he found it in a pile of very old trash in an abandoned place.
Stop getting my story out of me!!!

 

[Ursa major]

Oops!

 

[jenna]

Seems like the robot is very central to the story, so you're going to have to find a way around it. Don't forget there are ALWAYS exceptions to rules, especially in fiction! And you're God of your created world, so the rules are yours to make. There have been a lot of good suggestions so far, for me it's harder to make one without knowing more of the plot, and I know you're not prepared to give it out!

 

[shamguy4]

well I have decided to work first on the rules of my magic till I have them fully sorted out.
I feel I made the rules too harsh and very straight that it almost looks like my magic is boring...
Iv'e given it so much restrictions... no one in my book would want to use magic... its too hard
So I'm going to work on that and see about my robot afterwards...

 

[Hilarious Joke]

I would love to read these rules.

 

[shamguy4]

yeah there really cool rules...
it allows everyone in my book to use magic...But of course theres a catch... its what makes it possible