okay, as far as sword skills and heavy armor stuff I am way up, but as far as magic I am way behind, and my class specialty is in magic. Please suggest ideas to get ahead in magic.

Use magic?

" Use magic? "

" @Pie said:

" Use magic? "

is that a question?!! yes I use magic. "

How does your class specialize in magic if he doesn't?  What?

" @mugugipan said:

" @Pie said:

" Use magic? "

is that a question?!! yes I use magic. "

No, he is saying use magic. That's how you get ahead in magic. Use it. "

It has been a long time but what I usually did to get my magic skills up was to cast Light, summon a skeleton, use the skill that starts with an M that lets you capture its soul, then kill the skeleton with a fireball. Rinse and repeat with higher level spells when you get to them. Also, use the feather spells constantly when you're walking around. Plus when you're unlocking something, use a spell instead of lock picking.

The mages´guild questline opens up a nice selection of trainers and stuff for mages, such as enchanting and spellmaking. Other than that you just have to use the spells of the schools you want to advance in, preferably your major skills. When you level up, you should get +2 or +3 bonus for intelligence and/or willpower. Both are important for magic users. Especially willpower helps, since your mana will refill much faster if willpower is high. 
Specializing in magic in an Elder Scrolls game might not be the best idea, but since you seem to have at least the sword to support your casting.

" How does your class specialize in magic if he doesn't?  What? "