What Is Text Magic?

Text magic is the power to transport someone through the written word to fantastical lands with wondrous people and creatures. It is imagination and whimsy, but it can also be terrifying and thrilling. It is how I came to writing and a powerful way …

In the introduction to my collection of modern fairy tales, When Magic Calls, I talk about text magic. Text magic is the power to transport someone through the written word to fantastical lands with wondrous people and creatures. It is imagination and whimsy, but it can also be terrifying and thrilling.

Effects of Text Magic

Through text magic, you and I get to step outside ourselves to escape and recharge. Even if this break is only for a few pages — a moment or two — you feel refreshed and energized afterward. You might have ridden a dragon, met a naked selkie man, or broken a curse. Now you are empowered and ready to face the obstacles in your own life, at least for a bit.

The lessons learned during forays into other lives can be applied to our own situations. That is the magical component of these texts. Through stories, we discover what kindness looks like, what heartbreak feels like, and where inner strength comes from – all from the safety of our favorite reading nook.

When wielding text magic, more areas of our brains are at work than when we listen or watch. That is what makes the experience so immersive, real, and powerful. We truly see, hear, feel, taste, and smell the places and beings we explore.

How I Use Text Magic

Text magic is how I came to writing. For years, I was a passive wielder of this wondrous energy, relying on the words and worlds of others. I still find solace in these places, but now I also cast such spells from scratch to create my own magical creatures and adventures. I might not be a perfect practitioner, but I am a faithful one.

Through text magic, I hope to take you on adventures. To give you experiences you can learn from and enjoy. To make your heart pound, your fingers tingle, your mind race. To craft a spell that lingers with you, so you carry a touch of magic for the rest of your day or week or life.

What kind of magic do you wield?

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Author: Caitlin Berve

Caitlin Berve is the author of When Magic Calls: A Collection of Modern Fairy Tales and currently working on a fantasy novel involving an arranged marriage, damsels who save themselves, and non-human shape-shifters. Through her company Ignited Ink Writing and MFA, she edits other people’s novels, creates video tutorials, teaches, and writes. Caitlin seeks to fill the world with the kind of writing that lingers with readers, pet all the fluffy and scaly animals she can, and find magic in modern times.

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What Is Text Magic?

Text magic is the power to transport someone through the written word to fantastical lands with wondrous people and creatures. It is imagination and whimsy, but it can also be terrifying and thrilling. It is how I came to writing and a powerful way to escape and learn.

Author: Caitlin Berve

When Magic Calls, Fairy Tale HistoryCaitlin BerveMarch 5, 2020Ignited Ink Writing, LLCtext magic, When Magic Calls, reading, writingComment

What Is Text Magic?

Effects of Text Magic

How I Use Text Magic

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