Well i have been called horrific, but i dont listen to my phyciatrist. Anyway im in the prosses of writing a 3 book story about power, greed, death, rebirth and well spirits make up the most of it. but im having trouble finding info on them. Im thinking i should just decide for myself what they can and cannot do its my story right? Cant i make this decission? or will people be too confused?
You certainly can make it however you like. In your story pigs can fly and shoot laser beams from their snouts . It would never hurt though to do a little reading for ideas or things you might want to use. i suggest wikipedia and typing in spirits, ghosts, soul whatever specifically your looking for (Spirit is a broad term). At the bottom of the wiki page, you can find lists of websites and books that you could use for further research.
Cheers, but my main concern is confusion for the reader. I guess if i explain it well enough people will understand. But will it still appeal to the reader if so many elements are brought together. All up i have counted 5 different types. Two stand alone, the other 3 are in a rank system.
So long as you can make it feel real and make it clear what these spirits are and do I can't imagine a reader being confused. All you have to do is tell them.
It's usually more interesting for a reader to read about creatures they've never heard about before, so create your own quirks for a species. Research can be useful though, and it might give you some ideas so do a bit, but don't go overboard.
I'm not an experienced writer by any means, but if there's one thing I've learned its this: it's more important that your themes and tropes are consistent rather than actually being logical. Just map out the rules, limitations, and idiosyncrasies your spirits have to follow and don't break any of them for anyone!
you could do one of three things 1. base your spirits off of the spirits of real religions (ancient Japanese onis, native American ancestral spirits) 2. Base your spirits off of those real ones but twist them to your own designs 3. Invent a whole new kind off spirits. I.E. instead off spirits being immortals from the great beyond are actual very common, mortal, and merely resemble traditional spirits in that they are transparent, float, and creepy.
