Fantasy books certainly don't need any mythical creatures thrown into the mix, but doesn't it make it that bit more fun? My first published book with mythical creatures was Unicorns Rule. And, you guessed it, was about unicorns! It followed characters that I had invented back when I was in primary school, but I changed the story since then to make it (what I considered) better. When writing my unicorn character, I was carefully to keep to older myths and legends. None of that pooping rainbow rubbish! As always, I imagined what I would have wanted to read when I was younger. I design the books for a younger me, knowing that if I would have liked it, then there will be other children who enjoyed it too. The levellan, a very localised mythical creature, formed the basis for a story I wrote and serialised for my class in Lockdown. Check local stories to see if there is a creature you could use in your book. Other mythical creatures include the Nemean Lion (my own take on the lion ...
It is a truism that writers' minds spring to life the moment we are nowhere near our computers. As soon as we are snuggled up in bed, beginning to drift off to sleep, the best plot twists and most amazing characters appear in our mind's eye. This is why I have an array of notebooks by my bed, as well as about six pens (just in case the first five don't work!), because I know I will not remember these details beyond the morning.
Be smart, writers: ready your notebooks!
Here is an example, and the story of how The Year We Lived came into existence...
There is only one thing more immersive than a good book. No, not a film. I love films, but there isn't that envelopment which you get when you read, when the pages reach out and hug you into their story's embrace. The only thing more encompassing is a dream. In dreams anything is possible: any world; any time; any person - the opportunities are limitless. The only problem is we don't get to choose them.
There are inevitably those dreams which are so boring you would never bring them to life, although these tend to be the ones which trick you over the following days as you try to remember what was real and what was dreamed.
There are recurring dreams, too. Ones where you go back to the same place or time as another dream and, even though you know in your dream that you've only ever dreamt this reality, it seems wholly believable at that moment.
But then there are the dreams which take you as far from everyday life as you could imagine. These are where those notebooks come in handy! Writers, you will never have the same dream as someone else. Whatever we dream is unique to us, even if these dreams are in the similar vein to someone elses, there will be something which makes it different.
November 2018 there was one such dream for me. I remember waking up and thinking how amazing that story-dream had been. I can't remember now whether I was a character in the dream, or only sitting on the sidelines and watching it all unfold, but I do remember thinking how amazing it would be as a story. I was keeping a sketch diary at the time and, over the following days, the sketches were all filled with scenes from that dream, eager to preserve the images so I could recreate them in my new book. Of course, I couldn't believe no one had come up with it before, so I looked around for anything which was remotely like it. Surely my subconscious could not have imagined such a story. But no, my imagination really was working overtime while I slept!
Five years down the line, and I am so grateful of that sketch book and all the notes I scribbled down. It's true that the plot developed out of the one I had dreamt, but its core remains true to the tale my mind told me.
Clemency laughs at me for the quantity of dream sequences I have in my writing - and I certainly do have quite a few - but looking at how inspiring they have been in my own life, why wouldn't I?!
Top Tip: Find a notebook and keep it beside your bed. You can jot down the occasional story idea which comes to you in a dream, or you could even have a go at keeping a dream diary. Your next story idea could be waiting there in your subconscious!
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