Lessons of the Fantastical: Believing the Impossible (Night Circus)

When creating stories, we can develop any impossible scenario we want. The main issue in doing this is convincing the audience that these scenarios are believable. Believability is one of the most fundamental necessities of story. We have to create rules, give explanations, or no one will be convinced the worlds we create are genuine.

To make stories believable, we need to ground them in reality. This is the foundation of believability in all genres, especially fantasy and science fiction. We first have to set the rules of our worlds from the beginning. If we start establishing rules later, we run the risk of being unbelievable. In, Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, we are introduced to Celia Bowen who is the daughter of a renowned magician. We find out that he is renown because his performances are not just pretty tricks but actual magic. We are introduced to real magic at the beginning of the book before we even know that Celia is the protagonist. From then on, we have the idea in our heads that real magic is allowed in the work of the Night Circus. Later in the book, the sorcery becomes more and more impossible. There are impossibly sized circus tents that couldn’t stand in a natural world. There is a tent with an eternal winter garden in it. There is a live carousel that makes the spinning animals seem real and alive. If we were introduced to real magic as an explanation to their performances later in the book, the audience would feel cheated. We want to reduce the chances of cheating our audience and maximize believability.

When creating impossible elements in our stories remember to introduce the rules of the world as soon as possible. After we have our world rules established, start building your impossible scenarios as the climax rises. Increasing the grandeur of your over time will then be believable and more entertaining than a normal world.