How much magic is acceptable? It feels like cheating!!

[lathark]

I don't normally reply to these but...

Bring on the turmoil. Stop protecting them with magic, put their babies in danger too, and have the sorceress break a leg, ...and the arm, so she can carry only one. Then have one them develop a terminal disease, so it really messes with their focus.

[Mazrak]

Originally Posted by Laerten

For example:

I am stuck at a point in my book where a young couple are giving over care of their twin babies to a 'sorceress' for protection (they are being hunted by the baddies as they are going to fulfil a prophecy). I cannot seem to convey enough emotion for this scene and I was going to have the sorceress use magic so the parents 'forget' their distress but after I wrote it the scene just seemed flat for such an emotional moment. I deleted the magic!

Any help? I can't move on until I have sorted this out as I feel the amount of magic used (or not) in this scene will affect the rhythm for the rest of the book.

In this example I would not use the magic. Simply for the chance of survivall of the parents. They should know what they have sacrificed and why so that they keep on running/hiding/fighting against the baddies.

The amount of magic that is acceptable I think would be up to a point that it would still be believable for the reader and fits in your world. The reader shouldn't get something like: Why don't they just use magic here like they did before and their problems are solved. That can be difficult to do and therefore planning can also be an immportant part of writing.
What I did in one of the worlds I created with the magic was making it addictive and so dangerous for the user. It can be used safely but the stronger the spell used the stronger the addiction. To much of these spells and the sorceror would end up like a junk.

[Shingetsu]

Magic is troublesome, it needs a very beliveable system of what can and can't be done and limits with side affects.

Aes Sedai with their different abilities and power; the Blood with their different jewel ranks for power(Anne Bishop); the Skill and destroying the users body by using it too much(Robin Hobb), all have interesting systems for magic with consequences.

In The Syphony of Ages by Elizabeth Haydon there was no "magic" exactly, but swords with elemental properties and different races with "abilities." One of those abilities is being a Namer, where Rhapsody would sing to get certain vibrational responses to happen.

I agree though, it does feel like "cheating" in a way. I suppose it's working on the system so it doesn't feel that way. Which is why I will be requiring allot of thought about my own...

[Laerten]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I am in the middle of a re-write of the problematic scene and have come up with the following solution:

My 'sorceress' has no direct contact with the parents (she sends another to get the babies) as she is hiding nearby and 'reflecting' on the events which have lead up to this situation arising. This also solves the problem of introducing the reader to the central prophecy theme without having to have a prologue.

When the babies are brought to her there is a mention of the parents anguish/distress without having to go into greater detail or show the use of magic.