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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E.E. Rawls Writes 
great interview really enjoyed it.
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Claire did most of the work. 😉 Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed it.
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Glad you enjoyed! 🙂
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Nice post and interview. It’s always good to turn regular tropes on their head! 😉
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Thank you! I agree, I like turning regular tropes into something unique. There are so many possibilities that way! 😀
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Definitely. 😀
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This is the most I know about fairies, from this post. Interesting. Enlightening. 😀
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We need to sign you up for fairy boot camp, Tess! Then you can learn eeeverything there is to know about fairires. 😉
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Wow. This is going to sound really weird (I’m sure it’s a coincidence, too), but the fairies I created for my story world are very similar to Claire’s. There are some differences, but the essence is the same (winged and about the same height as humans).
I agree with the idea about putting one’s own spin on fantasy tropes, creatures, and such. It shows that the writer made an effort to offer something different than what’s already out there. And, it also helps with making your story world more unique. 😉
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Mine are similar too, I have to say (and I made them 10 years ago 😀 ). I think we have enough differences though so that each of ours is special in the worlds we created for them. 😉 It reminds me of this post I wrote last year though: https://rawlse.wordpress.com/2015/04/13/original-is-that-even-possible/ It’s so true!
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LOL! And that’s what’s so interesting. Even if you compare published novels that feature fairies, you’ll find that each one portrays that race in a slightly different way.
I remember that post! 🙂 And in hindsight, yes, I still agree that it’s hard to be truly original. We can only tell the story the way we can as unique writers.
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I’m so glad that’s true, too! Otherwise, where would be the variety? 😀
That was a fun post to explore! And an encouraging conclusion, that our stories can still be unique because we ourselves are unique in our writing.
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Great minds think alike, ladies. 😉
*scurries off to go read E’s old post.*
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Agreed, Claire! 😀
What did you think of that post: “Original? Is That Even Possible?”
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🙂 I really liked it.
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Yay 😀
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[…] E. Rawls is hosting a guest post on Making Magical Creatures […]
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Thanks for hosting me today, Elizabeth! 🙂 Love the picture you put with it! 🙂
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My pleasure! I’m glad you like the picture. It’s one of my fave fantasy fairy artworks online. 🙂
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What is the website you pull it from?
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Can’t remember, it was from over a year ago…
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