Describing Exotoc Spieces and Races

Hi, Mekolo and welcome to AW!

mekolo_deisne:
Does anyone have any advice or good links as to how I introduce an exotic animal or race of people?

Click to expand...

It's difficult to give specific advice without knowing a little bit more about your novel. Is it set on a completely different world to our own, or are these animals/people visitors or part of our own world?

Depending on your answer, it can help to read some YA books that deal with a similar scenario. For example, if your novel is set on a different world but with a mix of humans and other creatures, it might be worth checking out a novel like Christopher Paolini's Eragon (regardless of what you think of the merits of the story, he does introduce his species in a clear way). If your novel is set on our world but with weird creatures, then Holly Black's Tithe, Ironside and Valient might be worth a look (she has faerie style creates living in New York).

From my personal experience, I'm all in favour of subtle clues rather than big pronouncements, i.e. you give a hint that something isn't quite 'normal' with a character and gradually build that up so that the reader gets a sense of the whole. For example, if you have a character who has horns growing out of his head, you can have a reference to the character stooping to get through a doorway when he comes into a room and then build up little traits (e.g. he might scratch one horn when he's talking, which would allow the narrator to describe it).

Another way of doing it depends on who your narrator is - are they familiar with these creatures/people or are they completely new? If they're completely new, then your narrator will probably be surprised or shocked (so a "Bloody hell! You've got horns! In your head!" wouldn't be amiss).

If you're bringing creatures/people into our world, then you can use comparisons with existing creatures/animals (e.g. Bob the demon had two horns, like a goat's but neon green, growing out of the top of his head). If it's an alien world, then you can achieve the same affect by comparing it to another creature on that world, thereby introducing two species at the same time (e.g. his fur was blue, like a Klaptrap's, but coarser).

Hope that's of some use (and I swear, I do not have an obsession with horns!)

MM

You only need to describe something if it is important to the plot. If you are writing about humans, you do not always tell the colour of their eyes or their nationality or the style of their shoes.

Similarly, if you are writing about aliens or exotic animals, and you are telling a story, only describe the things that push the plot forward. For example, if you watch a few Star Wars movies, check out how often a freaky physical feature is important to the story. Hardly ever. Why does Chewbacca have hair like that? Nobody knows. Does it ever figure in the story? Is it important? No. It is purely a visual element in a pile of visual elements. He is presented like that so the viewer will have a certain emotional response to the character. When you are writing such a character in a novel you will probably use a different technique to bring about that emotional response in the reader. Description of exotic beings has to be about more than description.

However, if you are writing from the naturalist point of view like David Attenborough TV then description itself is important.

The best way to describe a world, spieces and so on is...SLOWLY!

Don't cram it all in on the beginning, and don't cram it all in on the middle. Just let it trickle through naturally as the plot progresses.

Describe them as you see them. No other way to do it really.

Well, by experience, I do it in two ways.

Dialogue, when a group stumbles into something, and one of the characters would give a very brief idea about the creature.

The second way I did it, was when my character was wandering through the forest alone. He sees this creature, gives a little thought about it, and decides that its no harmful. At least, what he thought.

In other books I've read, some authors just write up the name of the creature without even describing what it is. Leaves you off into your own imagination IMO.

The best advise I can give is to read what's been written and learn from example. Even if you haven't seen "The Lord of the Rings" movies, many who enjoy that genre can picture what a hobbit looks like.

Putting things into context is a good way to start. Simply stepping aside and describing something can make it feel flat and distant and stop the story. But if the person describing them is doing it for a reason, or doing it in comparison to something else, then you can describe and move the story forward at the same time.

For example, if the species is aggressive and about to attack, your POV might notice its claws or fangs because that's what they most fear. They probably wouldn't notice the pale hairs running along the base of its spine. If the POV has a terrible fear of snakes and your species is scaled, the POV might have an involuntary reaction to them based on her fear. You could describe the scaled skin as it pertains to the POV's phobia. Maybe even describe the rest as a way for her to talk herself out of being afraid of somethng she rationally knows is a "person" when her insticts tell her SNAKE!!!!.

If the species in question in the POV, then they'd just think of themselves as normal. You wouldn't describe how your hand works or what it looks like, you'd just reach for something with it.

Danthia is correct. One thing I've learned, agents and editors hate a laundry-list description of a character. Don't just say, "She wore a white blouse and brown knickers." Say, "She spilled ink for her quill down the front of her ruffled, white blouse and onto her brown knickers and had nothing else to wear to the elf ball." As Danthia said, work the character's mood, emotions, and characteristics into the story to move it forward.