The penultimate edition of Holiday Heat comes out this Friday. Pre-order your copy now!

Since it’s November, and therefore NaNoWriMo, I wanted to give you a few “Writers, don’t do this” tips from my own experience.

Number 4: The Patrick Rothfuss Tip

No, this isn’t about how long it’s taken Rothfuss to write another Kingkiller book. I really enjoyed the first two Kingkiller books, but I’m also cognizant of the fact that Kvothe is pretty much unstoppable. He does have stumbling blocks, but he seems to ultimately be successful at everything he does: magic, fighting, music, sex, etc. And as much as I loved the Harry Potter series (before JK Rowling showed her true colors), it’s not really clear what the wizarding world’s limitations are — is it will? Is it inherent magical ability? Is it emotions and control? This is never explained. And it’s even less-explained on Buffy — how does Willow grow in power? What are her limits? (If you read the comics, the answer is “none”, which is pretty lame.) Charmed is the same way.

The best stories show that magic, or powers, have a cost. On Marvel’s Agents of Shield, they showed that every time Daisy uses her powers she risks breaking her bones, to the point that she could be killed. In most RPGs, magic users have a limited amount of MP before they run out of magic. On the Discworld, wizards know that using too much magic can attract the attention of the Dungeon Dimensions, and anyway they have to charge up their staffs and prepare their spells in advance. By putting limitations on your heroes — for example, in capacity, ability, or knowledge, or a combination — you give them reasonable obstacles to overcome, either via straight-line attack or by going around the problem. And that’s better for your story, in general, than just saying “and then Piper blew up the demon. The end.”