Making Magical Creatures Unique

This week is the blog tour for author Claire M. Banschbach’s new release: Adela’s Curse, and I’m participating today with a guest post from Claire. The topic is (you guessed it) magical creatures in the fantasy genre!

With so many stories out there about dragons, wizards, elves and such, how does one story stand out above another? How do you make magical creatures that are outside the norm? Here is Claire to talk about just that. 🙂 We’re glad to have you on the blog, Claire!

Making Magical Creatures Different

I love fairies. I’ve always found them particularly fascinating. But there are certain “stereotypes” if you will when it comes to fairies. They’re either little, mischievous beings with cute gossamer wings that flutter about, or dark fey creatures of the ethereally beautiful sort.

So, when I set out to write this little story that had presented itself, I knew I wanted to steer clear of most of that.

My particular brand of fairy stand just shorter than their human counterparts. Their wings are broad and long and made of a tough membrane stretched over light bones so they can actually carry their owner around. They don’t have pointed ears. Yes, they do fall into the category of being more graceful and elegant, but I imagine having magic would help with that.

The point of this is that when you write magical creatures, it doesn’t have follow all the norms. I saw a post recently about elves. Why are they always the mysterious race on the verge of dying out? Why can’t they be the up-and-comers? Is it actually a rule that they have to have pointed ears? On another note, does a goblin have to be green and evil? Can a dragon have feathered wings?

You get my point. It’s like writing diverse characters. You don’t have to create an entirely new race of creatures. Tweak one or two things on the “norms” and suddenly you have something new and different. Maybe all fairies are allergic to flowers. Suddenly you have something fun to play with. Perhaps your griffin decides to go vegetarian. There’s got to be an interesting back story on that one.

Changing up a magical creature can push your plot in a fun direction. It can help you solve difficult plot points, or might just give you some new crazy ideas.

What about you? What’s your favorite magical creature and how would you change it?

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Participating Blogs in the Blog Tour: Schedule

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