At this point, you're either extremely overwhelmed or you've got your new world almost totally nailed down. #FantasyMonth is winding down to a close and I just want to take a brief minute to say a humongous "THANK YOU" to everyone who has helped make this the best Fantasy Month yet. I am overwhelmed by the sheer number of comments and interactions and discussions that have been happening both here on the blog and over on facebook and instagram. THANK YOU. This really has been the best fantasy month ever.

Yesterday, we talked about fantasy creatures of the mythical and legendary variety. But today I'd like to focus on fantasy creatures of a slightly less well-known type. As you are building your world, you may come across the sudden thought of, "Huh... does this world contain all the same kinds of animals as mine?"

And it's a good question to ask.

Now, before you go crazy and invent an entire animal kingdom of your own... let me assure you that, just like you need to be careful not to make up a whole new lexicon of words when you're naming things, you also want to keep some things about your world familiar and friendly for your audience. Using animals from our world is perfectly fine.

But... you might also want or need to make a few of those animals slightly different than ours (like Tolkien's "oliphants." Or make up a few of your own like Andrew Peterson did in his Wingfeather Saga. One of my favorite examples is as follows:

The common thwap was a little bigger than a skonk—not much more than a ball of fur with skinny arms and legs...--On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, Andrew Peterson

He never does tell you what a skonk is.

In addition to this example, Peterson has a whole list of animals he's created, from Toothy Cows (which made an appearance at the 2019 Silmaril Awards) to Snickbuzzards to Daggerfish to Horned Hounds to Bomnubbles... there are plenty of fantastical and unfamiliar creatures to whet your appetite and draw you further into the story. But he also has dogs, bears, wolves, and other various regular animals, too... which keep you from getting too overwhelmed.

Lloyd Alexander kind of created his own animal in Hen Wen, the oracular pig.

H.L. Burke created "cat owls" in her "Song of Ice and Fate" duology. They were cute and fluffy and I totally want one.

I have to admit, I haven't done much of this for my stories so far. Creating new/different animals is a place where I just haven't ventured much in my books. Though I did create a couple of fun space creatures for my flash fiction stories about Blake and Earl... that was kind of a blast.

The Minstrel's Song series, as I mentioned yesterday, has quite a large list of myth-creatures. But when it comes to animals, I pretty much stuck with the animals that already existed. And I think I pretty much only mentioned horses and a mule. Oh, and sheep. And a lizard. Maybe some birds? But not many other animals made it into the books.

In Turrim Archive, which has NO mythical creatures, I did create two made-up animals. First are the "grymalkyns," which are giant cats that are used for riding. Yes. GIANT. The others are large, scale-plated lizards called "leythan" that can be ridden or used to pull massive loads.

I'm not sure yet what sorts of animals Revelod contains, but I'm excited to find out.

When creating animals for your stories, I think it's fun to look at the animals we have and try to imagine them somehow different: bigger, or smaller, or with some additions, like wings on a cat, or horns on a hound. Another way to make something fantastical is to simply take two animals and sort of mash them together and see what happens (like in the cat-owls example). Or you can do it like Andrew Peterson and create a creature, describe it vaguely, give it a familiar role (garden pest) and let the reader's imagination take over. This is where you can have a lot of fun in your world building and just cut loose a little. See what crazy creatures you can come up with!

Have you read the Wingfeather Saga?

What are some made-up animals you have come across in your reading that you really enjoyed or that stood out to you? Have you made up any animals of your own? I'd love to hear about them!

Tomorrow is our last regular post for Fantasy Month! And we'll be discussing a VERY important aspect of world building. Possibly the MOST important thing we've talked about all month. You definitely want to come back and read that post tomorrow!

Creating Fantastical Animals for Your Story World