: Re: How long can a fantasy novel stay in metaphorical Kansas? I am writing a novel with the basic Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland or the Matrix if you want structure. The novel begins in perfect

It's not about the magic, it's about the action, and about fulfilling promises. You have promised the readers magic; if you don't deliver, don't be surprised if they get bored and leave. But, it depends on expectation. If the blurb says:

Tim was a mighty enchanter, but not even his magic could defeat the ancient dragon

Then you need to have Tim showings some magic pretty much immediately. On the other hand, if your blurb is:

Tim never believed in magic. His life was ordinary, and he liked it that way. Until one day, he encountered something that would change his life forever

Then it's fine to have the first chapter - or even the first few chapters - open slowly, establishing his normal routine before you introduce the disruption of magic.

Similarly, the story has a plot, and you need to get that plot started! If the first chapter is all setup, describing the world without actually having anything significant happen, then it doesn't matter if the magic is there or not - people will get bored, and want to skip to the real story.

On the other hand, if you open with a dynamic, exciting scene, and the readers get a real sense that the plot is advancing, the lack of magic doesn't matter.

It sounds like your beta readers are confusing lack of story with lack of magic. They're thinking that you are spending too much time on the setup, without getting to the story. And just from your description, it sounds like even you know that's the case. Everyone knows what a mundane life is like, they don't need to read 4000 words describing it. Instead of starting by laying out their current situation and then changing it, maybe consider starting with just a couple of scenes to show "I am a typical normal person", and then (if necessary later) drawing comparisons to 'how it was before' to indicate the change.

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: Copyright: is it OK to include very short (paragraph-length) text from other novels? Writing a novel, is it legal in terms of copyright to have a character reading aloud a passage from an existing

: Re: How long can a fantasy novel stay in metaphorical Kansas? I am writing a novel with the basic Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland or the Matrix if you want structure. The novel begins in perfect

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: How do you tell the reader that the setting is normal modern day? I am getting some feedback on my writing but one of the questions that come back is that the readers are not sure about

: Character motivations facing death? Would it be boring/unrealistic/silly/clichÃ© if most characters only had this main motivation for most of a story: saving humanity/their country/their familly/themselves.

: Give the actor multiple roles. It's fairly common in small cast shows to have one or two actors filling all of the bit parts, as long as those parts don't appear on screen together (or

: Copyright: is it OK to include very short (paragraph-length) text from other novels? Writing a novel, is it legal in terms of copyright to have a character reading aloud a passage from an existing

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