I posted this yesterday over at the great website FANGS, FUR & FEY and I thought a couple people might find it interesting, so I decided to repost it here. It's in reference to a question asking why various writers picked the creatures they did for their books, and I ended up talking a little bit about creating monsters:

I'm a bit monster crazy, so populating the Netherworld in Nightmare Academy is one of the most enjoyable parts of writing the series. I have a few guidelines I try to follow in the creation of my beasties:

1) The monsters in the Nether are perversions of existing animals (for reasons that will become clear in future books).

2) There are NO classic monsters (vampires, werewolves, etc.) and a very limited amount of mythological monsters (gorgons, hydras). I have nothing against classic monsters, but this series isn't about them.

3) Every monster has to have a unique ability and it's best if that ability offers an opportunity to turn the plot. Example: Hags suck memories. They prefer to eat the ones that bring you the greatest pleasure or pain and, when they're finished, you don't have them any more. This ability gives me an opportunity, story-wise, to explore some great internal issues in my characters.

4) Finally, many of the monsters are more interesting when they have a human dimension, so I usually try to give them one. I'll use the Hags again as an example:

Hags live in the ruins of a crumbling manor in the Nether, filled with filthy ballgowns and remnants of high society. Even though they're hideous, they think they're absolutely gorgeous and you're much more likely to survive an encounter with them if you appeal to their vanity -- flattery will get you everywhere and might just help you keep your memories intact.

Actually, since I ended up talking so much about them, here's J.P. Targete's interpretation of what they look like:



Fun, huh?

I will also often create a monster around a story-issue or plot point. For instance, Mimics can shape-shift. They do this for a very practical reason -- to survive, they must drink sweat. Unfortunately, in their natural state, they have no mouths so they need to mimic something with a mouth to prevent starvation. As creatures, they're fun and interesting but they also opened up a lot of story avenues - is the person next to you a friend or a monster?

How do you go about your creature creation?