Creating an imaginary world from scratch that is interesting and believable can be very challenging. Fantasy authors have the unique challenge of building a magic system that excites readers, supports the story, and follows genre rules. Fantasy author and book coach C.R. Rowenson believes there are the seven stages a writer must go through to create an effective magic system. These stages include: 1) inspiration , 2) idea generation , 3) alignment , 4) definition , 5) restrictions or limitations , 6) testing , and 7) iteration.