Welcome, Writer
Your Journey to Mastery Starts Here
You’ve been called to this craft. Most people dream about writing a book — you’re actually doing the work. Whether you’re starting your first draft or polishing your tenth revision, you’re in the right place.
Our Mission
Writing is more than just an art — it’s a powerful spell you can learn to cast with precision. Write the Magic exists to bridge the gap between creative inspiration and technical mastery, giving writers the tools to transform their ideas into fiction that captivates, resonates, and endures.
Craft
Structure
Voice
Polish
Timeline
The Journey
Writing is more than just an art — it’s a powerful spell you can learn to cast with precision. Write the Magic exists to bridge the gap between creative inspiration and technical mastery, giving writers the tools to transform their ideas into fiction that captivates, resonates, and endures.
The Book
Write the Magic started as a craft guide for writers who were tired of vague advice. It became a 4.4-star Amazon bestseller with 154 ratings, combining story structure with the deep magic of literary technique.
The Method
The 24-chapter plot outline and Plot Dot system evolved from years of developmental editing and studying what makes bestselling novels work. These tools have helped thousands of writers structure their stories with confidence.
The Mission
Derek Murphy earned a PhD in Literature and spent over a decade as a developmental editor, book designer, and publishing consultant. Write the Magic distills everything he learned into practical tools for serious writers.
What You’ll Find Here
Guides, Tools, Books & Professional Critique
Free in-depth guides on every aspect of writing craft. Professional manuscript critique from a PhD in literature. A book that treats writing as both art and discipline. And a full academy for structured guidance.
My Philosophy
Deep magic is not a spontaneous explosion of creative energy. Real power comes from deliberation, skill, and a working relationship with the muse. I teach both the art and the craft because neither alone is enough.
My Approach
Every guide, tool, and course on this site is built around one principle: your writing should get measurably better. Not inspired. Not motivated. Better. That means structure, technique, feedback, and revision until the work is undeniable.
01
Craft
Writing Craft Archives
Plot structure, character development, pacing, dialogue, scene construction, revision techniques, and every technical skill you need to write fiction that holds up under scrutiny.
02
Secrets
Storyteller Secrets
Detailed guides on plot structure, character arcs, pacing, dialogue, and every technical skill you need to write publishable fiction. Start with the red flags guide or the 12-week writing plan.
03
The Book
Write the Magic
The art and feeling of storytelling — voice, atmosphere, emotional resonance, world-building, and the invisible magic that makes readers unable to put your book down.
04
Services
Manuscript Critique
Part philosophy, part practical guide. Write the Magic bridges the gap between creative inspiration and writing technique. 4.4 stars on Amazon with 154 ratings. Read the full introduction or get the book.
05
Course
Bookcraft Academy
Get honest, actionable feedback on your first 5,000 words from a developmental editor with a PhD in literature. Includes genre analysis, character sympathy, pacing critique, and publishing advice.
The Book
Ready for the Complete System?
What Writers Say
What Writers Say
What Writers Say
“I have paid so much money for courses and books and editors that won’t reach 15% of the knowledge you share. I was always puzzled when people told me I needed to add more conflict, but now it’s a lot clearer. This changed everything for me.”
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Popular Writing Guides
How Do I Make Weather a Character in My Story?
Weather isn’t just background noise. When done right, it can be as powerful as any character—a force that shapes the mood, reflects emotions, or even drives the plot forward. But too often, weather in fiction is purely decorative—something a writer adds to set the...
Why Do My Settings Feel Generic?
A great setting doesn’t just describe a place—it makes the reader feel like they’ve stepped into it. But some settings feel… flat. Vague cities, empty rooms, generic forests, interchangeable taverns. No matter how much you describe them, they lack personality. They don’t feel like places where real things happen, where real people live. The best […]
How Do I Write Vivid Descriptions Without Slowing the Story Down?
Description can make or break a book. Done well, it immerses readers, making them feel like they’re inside the story, breathing the air, feeling the tension, seeing the world as if they’ve stepped into it themselves. Done poorly, it slows everything down, turning an otherwise gripping story into a slog through excessive detail. Some writers […]
A Note on the Theme
Why the Tarot & Astrology?
Is this woo-woo? Not exactly. Here’s the real story.
I got a little too deep into the “magic” theme of my book, and it was fun — and this site matches the style I had in mind. But there’s a real case to be made, and my PhD research was about exactly this.
Stories about the planets and their celestial movements were the first myths. The constellations were characters. The seasons were plot arcs. Ancient civilizations looked up and saw drama: gods warring, lovers separated, heroes on quests. These celestial narratives became the most well-structured stories in human history — stories that survived for millennia, passed down and refined across cultures.
The reason they survived? They were perfectly structured. They had clear characters with distinct motivations. They had rising tension, reversals, dark moments, and triumphant returns. They had beginnings, middles, and endings that satisfied on a primal level. The planets moved through predictable patterns, and storytellers mapped human experience onto those patterns.
“The stars taught us how to tell stories. The tarot taught us how to remember them.”
The tarot deck, far from being mere fortune-telling, is arguably the most elegant story structure tool ever created. The Major Arcana preserves both the character archetypes (The Fool, The Magician, The High Priestess, The Emperor) AND all the events that can befall them (The Tower, The Wheel of Fortune, Death, Judgment). It’s a complete narrative system encoded in 78 cards.
The Fool’s Journey through the Major Arcana IS the Hero’s Journey — centuries before Joseph Campbell wrote about it. The Fool starts naive and whole, encounters mentors and adversaries, faces destruction and transformation, and returns changed. Sound familiar?
So when you see the celestial imagery on this site, know that it’s not decoration. It’s a reminder that story structure is ancient, powerful, and deeply human. We’re drawing on the same archetypal patterns that have made stories resonate for thousands of years.
Want to go deeper? Read Writing with the Tarot (coming soon) — or explore how the Major Arcana maps directly onto the 24-chapter plot outline in the book.
Start Your Writing Journey
Choose your path into the world of Write the Magic.
derek@writethemagic.com
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