Haust Wrote: Both. 

A purely book-heavy setting like IRL western schools make some sense for theoretical things. And some theory would be necessary. But it's a model we use IRL because it's cheap and easy (books are cheaper than hiring more tutors) and there aren't really any huge consequences if some kid gets algebra wrong. 

Not so much when the kids are slinging fireballs in class.

Well excuse me for wanting to fling fireballs at the damn math teacher back in High School! 

I've not written anything about school in decades. Seriously, I've feel no reason to. It might be the fact that I hated school. When I researching into writing Y, I stayed clear of the novels that delved into school life. I wasn't interested in writing it and was put off from reading it.

Even with my current cast of characters. I have a story where one character is in basically a college and I'm not going to go into his school life at all. The university is just part of the setting where the city is more important. And I can't say I've any plans to write contemporary or magic schools. My characters will likely always be older or in a situation where I don't talk about anything that resembles a high school or a bordering school. The older I get, the more I rather work with older characters.

Edge Wrote:

Haust Wrote: Both. 

A purely book-heavy setting like IRL western schools make some sense for theoretical things. And some theory would be necessary. But it's a model we use IRL because it's cheap and easy (books are cheaper than hiring more tutors) and there aren't really any huge consequences if some kid gets algebra wrong. 

Not so much when the kids are slinging fireballs in class.

Well excuse me for wanting to fling fireballs at the damn math teacher back in High School! 

This is admittedly a mood. 


Just, IDK, slightly higher stakes when you have teenagers with the unbridled powers of destruction?

Haust Wrote:

Edge Wrote:

Haust Wrote: Both. 

A purely book-heavy setting like IRL western schools make some sense for theoretical things. And some theory would be necessary. But it's a model we use IRL because it's cheap and easy (books are cheaper than hiring more tutors) and there aren't really any huge consequences if some kid gets algebra wrong. 

Not so much when the kids are slinging fireballs in class.

Well excuse me for wanting to fling fireballs at the damn math teacher back in High School! 

This is admittedly a mood. 


Just, IDK, slightly higher stakes when you have teenagers with the unbridled powers of destruction?

True. 

I don't have a lot of words devoted to schooling in my novels and often just reference the fact they exist. I build the story more on the characters' lives outside of the classroom. Having said that, here is an example paragraph from my scifi series:

“Nova happened upon a reflector unit before being informed of its ability or function. He was hungry after the trip and attracted by the hunt scene it portrayed. Seeing the realistic representation of a rabmuffin, Nova fell upon it with all fierceness, destroyed the cerebral interface, and ripped large holes in the rather expensive three-dimensional membrane. Balvendro was not pleased to say the least.”

I try to tell it like it is.

I generally choose the golden mean but still more often to the textbook and tests

Umm... how about a survival magic school where all the students are told to kill each other with some freaky rules to it?
Pretty much the first arc of my work. The second arc is vastly different though.