LTUE 32 - Monsters You've Never Heard Of class - Thursday, February 13th, 10:00am

Welcome to the Peppermint House!

Today's addition to Life, The Universe, and Everything comes from the class "Monsters You've Never Heard Of". Those included on the panel were:

Shirley Bahlmann: https://twitter.com/ShirleyBahlmann
Mikey Brooks: https://twitter.com/MIKEYBR00KS
Renee Collins: https://twitter.com/reneecollins_
Larry Correia: https://twitter.com/monsterhunter4
Andrea Pearson: https://twitter.com/andreapearson2
Robison Wells: https://twitter.com/robisonwells

The answers to the questions are thanks to these genius authors!

In almost every story there is a monster of some sort, how do we come up with these monsters? Here's one way authors do it!


LTUE 32 – Day 1 – 10:00am

Monsters You've Never Heard Of

*What's your favorite Hipster Monster?

(Not knowing what that meant exactly, this is what they had to say) Don't be scared or afraid to write about things that have already been used, vampires for example. Make it your own, it just takes some skill.

*What is your favorite underused mythology?

Mermaids. When researching mermaids from different cultures, from different fairy tales, you find that there are mermaids who cry tears of pearls, or mermaids whose tails change colors according to their mood, some really cool things. Research everything, from everywhere, and learn as much as you can.

Atlantis is one of my favorite myths, but monsters, I'd have to go with Nymphs. Nobody uses them, and they do some cool things, turning into plants, trees, other things.

My favorite monsters come from fairy tales that aren't western based: European, Japanese, Russian, Romanian, Chinese, Korean, Babylonian. So many different unused fairy tales, underutilized monsters. Just wiki “Monsters”, and entire lists come up. You'll never be able to go through the entire list in one sitting, in one day. There are so many!

Referenced Here: Monsters - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsters
List of Fairy Tales - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fairy_tales

Also, wiki "Foreign Fairy Tales" at http://www.wikipedia.org/, other lists come up

*What are some good resources when researching Monsters?

-Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures

-List of Legendary Creatures on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_legendary_creatures

-Adapt the legends to fit for your story, your purpose.

-Read some free eBooks on kindle by searching: Fairytales

Remember that monsters don't have to be living creatures. You can create a monster out of anything: Plants, Minerals, Aliens (humanoid, or non-humanoid), Things (Nouns), Animals, Make it up!

But also keep in mind that you should NOT use another persons creative intellect if they haven't been dead for a few decades. Example: You shouldn't use anything that Tolkien made up, or C.S. Lewis, or J.K. Rowling. Anything that was created from their imagination shouldn't be used in your personal works. Make sure to do your research so you don't get into any legal trouble!

*What are some Monsters people have never heard of that you've used, or liked?

The Tsuchigumo from Japanese folklore, which was said to appear to people with the "face of an oni, a body of a tiger, arms and legs of a spider, and wore giant outfits". 

A Pricolici from Romanian folklore, a werewolf/vampire mix.

The Tope Knight from one of the King Arthur and the round table legends. There was the black knight, the green knight, the red knight, other knights, and then randomly they had a tope knight... Why tope?

Zu, the japanese version of a griffin, takes the most noble of creatures, and puts them together. (I couldn't personally find any reference of said creature, so if you find it, let me know!)

*What is the line between keeping a monster a monster, and having it become “more human” - redeeming the monster?

     Any character can be a monster,

            any monster can be a character...

*What do you think is most effective in describing a monster that changes form?

Let details show your audience. Focus on the mental changes the character is going through, perhaps the physical changes depending on the situation. Sometimes having your readers imagination take over can help, but be careful doing that.

*What are some examples of "Mineral Monster"?

-Golems

-Moving rocks

-Volcanoes

*Final Words

Be sensitive to the cultures from which you get your "monsters". Some cultures don't see their creatures as monsters, but as religious figures. Keep things in reverence. You may tweak something if you're using it, keep similar elements, change it's name.