First off...sources? What was the quote from? What professionals? I'm more apt to believe 5 named sources on the internet (including the dictionary) than one sourceless one. As will most readers. This is the thing: incubi (whether true to their mythology or not) are known for feeding off sexual desire. If someone doesn't know what an incubus is, you bet your bottom they're going to look on the internet...which will then tell them its a sexual creature. It doesn't matter what its was supposed to be or what you want it to be. The common knowledge will write that out, and your story will seem lacking to your readers. As far as the names, I'm glad that its across the board as far as naming goes. At least its in character with that world, however, that doesn't explain why Purus is named what he is, unless he's an angel.
Even asking for ideas for characters is meaningless since we don't know your story. I could suggest Lollipop Lacy, girl reporter with flaxen hair and a zest for older men - does that help you? Probably not, although I suppose one could fit her in there somewhere, for some reason. But you see why it really isn't going to get you anywhere asking this? We aren't you - we don't know your story, we don't know what you want to do with it, where you want it to go - and we aren't writing it.
As you have read, though apparently been resistant thereto, many here have advised you that you need a story and not just character profiles and that is something we can't help you with. Your story is YOUR story. We don't know what you want to say, achieve, create and so we do not know the characters you need for your story. This is wholly dependent upon your story, what it is about, and how it develops. It is up to you to determine what your story is about. Is there some hurdle that must be overcome? What is the struggle? HOW will the character fight against this obstacle? Will they succeed? How will their struggle effect those around them? What changes will they find in themselves as they pursue this struggle? These are just a few of the questions you need to be able to answer. As you noted at the outset, you are just beginning to pursue writing your first story. There are some excellent writers among this collective and I would recommend being more open to what they have to say. They have given you good advice. If you let them, they will help you to discover the writer in you, but first, you have to be willing to listen and learn from what they offer rather than digging your heels in and resisting their advice.
Like i had said before, DMFA, an internet series that completely swapped mythical creatures. it has a massive following and nobody has corrected them, in fact a lot of people enjoy asking the writer questions and learn more and more of their world. also, like they did, i can include descriptions of the creatures in many different ways. I had actually explained why he's called that, his aunt and uncle have a secret and knew Servares family (angels) long before Purus was born. actually... that's a cool idea... i had never thought of the twists i could use when a young woman who a character could love is actually into much older men, there would be drama, angst, confusion and even a little humor. thanks! now i was being completely honest there but it does prove a point, you think that random ideas aren't helpful? well that's your opinion whereas i love random ideas and i feel it makes a mundane writing experience a little more exciting when all of a sudden you have to put a new character in and have it make sense! it makes things far more difficult and as such far more interesting. obviously if your not a very good writer then this will be a horrible idea as you will not be able to add the characters to the story in a believable way and the readers will be confused. i have not been resistant to these criticisms as around 5 or 6 of these i have said "yes i agree i will work on that" or "i will take that into consideration" or a version thereof. i must admit i find this whole thing to be very confusing, so many people just say "nope can't help you" but yet try to "help" me by saying "do it yourself" if you went into a school and said to a class "i want to write a story but i don't have any characters, who should i write this story about?" the kids will give you loads of ideas! they will ask for robot dinosaurs, angels, demons, themselves but with super powers! and everyone will enjoy it! it's a fantasy novel... not a mystery or crime novel. all i wanted was a few random ideas that could spark my imagination. why is that so hard? why has everyone turned such a pure and innocent art like writing into a science? it takes the fun out of things.
The naming aside... how about those sources? Those professionals? Or is the DMFA the source that you're referring to? I was a little confused by that, as I went to check it out, and it seemed to just be an online comic place.
Sources: Walker, Barbara G., The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets, New York, HarperCollins, 1983, pp. 431-432
This might have something to do with it, found the review on Amazon: "It documents, entry by entry, the fate and historic distortion of matriarchal religion by triumphant patriarchy in the last few thousand years and makes sense of many of the seemingly senseless customs and rationalizations of creeds and beliefs of our major religions and our folkloric traditions. The Los Angeles Times called it a feminist-scholar's gold mine and a browser's delight."
You know, I’m not quite sure how I feel about it. While I can appreciate the need to document history that is often marginalized or forgotten, this review and the others I looked up give me the impression it does so with a healthy dose of bias. History is by definition, fact. And I prefer to get my facts from impartial sources with little to no agenda. I enjoy reading about different mythologies and would likely enjoy the subject discussed in her book; I just don’t think having a specific perspective (be it female or male) should really matter. I guess I would have to read it myself to make up my mind.
History, as we know it is atrociously littered with generally accepted falsehoods and fabrications. Just an FYI. I hate reading history with an agenda as much as the next guy, but you can't always trust what's accepted as mainstream history. Too many distortions. History favors the "winners" and the Europeans. But that's opening another can of worms so I'll just leave it at that and say do solid research with an open, yet critical mind.
And to the OP, I'll just reiterate that you should just write your story. Stop trying to prove yourself to people here, as I'm mostly sure you've gotten most, if not all of the advice you will regarding your question. Characters and ideas mean nothing. Plot means very little. Develop your plot, develop your story, and let the characters come to you. We can help you with your writing, a little bit with research, even with a bit of character development to avoid creating generic cut-outs, but not much else. It's your story and all we can do is bounce ideas that really have next to no value. I wish you luck with this story, I really do, but you don't need our help--at least not in the way you think you do.
i actually didn't know why it was. i suppose that pretty much sums it up though a little cynical. i personally hate reviews, everyone interprets things differently, i would say read it for yourself and make your own judgement and not rely on reviews. much like video games there will always be a lot of biased reviews. (i'm looking at you IGN)
i was a little slow in posting my reply to the others and missed your posts. as for this i do agree with you, "history is written by the victors" is a common phrase which holds a lot of truth, the winners will write their own history whether it is true or false and many people will believe it because it'll be in text books or taught in schools. as always i thank you for posting. as for your comments it has been heard and taken to heart.
Hey, it's no biggie. can't be glued to the computer (unless you have some glue accident or something... ) Anyway, you're absolutely right regarding history. I've decided against arguing history and religion with people because it's hard to say say what really happened. There are facts present, but gaining access to them without the bias of human interpretation is no easy feat (near impossible unless you're a scholar yourself ha ha). And hey, all I can say is you're probably in a much better spot than you think and we'll all be here anytime you have questions. But I'll warn you, questions like "does this sound good?"; "need character! Help!"; or "will this story work?" tend to be treated more harshly than "normal" threads. We're all typically pretty friendly folk--despite what some might be willing to argue--just very opinionated. (which is why we're writer's anyway lol!)
hehe that's some read, while i can see that everyone is very opinionated i don't quite understand why so many people are rude about it... oh well i suppose it is the internet. to the mods/admins: this can be closed now.
Okay, so... thread 'closed' and all that jazz... You do realize that she's not a professional, right? She's a knitter, turned feminist, who wrote books on knitting, witchcraft, and feminism. That doesn't make her a professional... it makes her an author. But you get my point, that if everyone has a preconceived notion that incubi are sexual, and as long as the dictionary has a different definition than you... that it doesn't matter what your intent will be, your readers will automatically expect sexual, right? As long as you understand that, I'll shut my mouth. But you haven't actually acknowledged that fact thus far... (I apologize for beating a dead horse!)
Sorry it took so long to respond, I had packing to do. @Andrae Smith You are right about history, of course, and I apologize for my poor word choice. I should have used “the past” instead of history. Because unless you know a mad man in a blue box, the past is immutable. I am not so naive though as to not be aware that how people interpret, record, and pass down what happened will always be subject to whoever is doing the telling. It’s up to each individual to slog through the mess and discover as much truth as possible and try to pass on as much of that truth to the next person as objectively possible. It’s this last part that I have the impression the author didn’t live up to. While second-hand reviews should always be taken with a grain of salt, they are able to at least give you an idea about the subject in question. Even the positive, 5-star reviews it received (which I read first) were worded in such a way as to give me the impression that the book was written to pander to a certain demographic. The fact that the negative reviews accused it of that outright only helped substantiate the feeling. And despite your distain for them, @DerpyDoo, I can’t say that I see how taking second-hand reviews into account when evaluating whether or not to read a book is any more fallacious than taking another outside source (in this case the DMFA) and taking its information as gospel (in this case the definition of incubi) just because it quoted said book.
I didn't mean to suggest you're naive ha ha! It was more of a provocative food for thought. And you're right, the past is immutable no matter how we tell the story (the history).
And in the beating a dead drum category... Yes. It is. Creative writing can be very complex and even confusing as you try to lay out and populate a world and make that creation interesting enough to draw people to want to read about it and your 'people' - even if those people are mythological creatures or... robot dinosaurs. Well, DD, you have just shown that creating characters is not the problem. But is that really what you want? Robot dinosaurs? The fact of the matter is, a fantasy novel is just a mystery or crime novel or whatever set in a fantasy setting. It's about what happens to those robot dinosaurs and how they interact with their world. LOTR is a fantasy series but it's not about the Hobbits and elves, etc. being different from humans it's about the quest. And it is in their similarity to us abnormal humans that make the characters and their task so relatable to the fans. For another example, in The Outlander, again, this is not about what makes the characters different from humans, it's about the hurdles they must face and, intrinsically, the common thread, their humanity. That's what the reader or, in this case, the viewer relates to. Even in the characters' difference, it is their similarities, their humanness, that draw the reader in and make him care about what happens. Creative writing, and fiction most especially, is hardly pure, and rarely innocent except in the blind optimism of novice authors that they are writing the GAN. If you want to do it right, it is more akin to a complex dance where you must use just exactly the right steps or you will trip over your own feet. It is the forever pursuit of - never quite achieved - perfection. Yes, it should be fun. If it's not, why bother? But there is a certain science to the art as well. The trick is to find the perfect, or as close thereto as possible, balance. The beings you create to populate your worlds are a part of you. That is the only way to fully know and appreciate who they are. Something spawned from the minds of others is only an empty shell. It's a picture on a wall when what you need are three dimensional warm blooded (or cold blooded ...or boiling anti-freeze or whatever) beings. Others may be able to trigger ideas as your story progresses but, in the beginning, and in the final analysis, it's all up to you. You are the god that builds your worlds and you are the ultimate power over the lives of your creations. In this dance, you are the fiddler and it's up to you to make the music! As I said before, there are a lot of excellent, experienced, and knowledgeable writers here who are always more than willing to offer help and support in proper portion. Unfortunately, as some of those same authors have already noted, who populates your stories is something they cannot help you with. That one's all on you. Good luck with your project. I, for one, look forward to seeing what you will make of your characters.
i acknowledge that many readers will think they are sexual but as i stated before i will explain in the novel that they are not, weaving it into the story. it is our job as writers to immerse the readers into our world, you could make up anything but as long as you are subtle with things and explain them clearly to the reader then they will accept our worlds laws and embrace the story. DMFA hasn't used this writers book as fact, they have their own sources. i was simply using the book as an example. that and i would not put all my chips on one person. i mentioned one source but that does not mean it is my only source. though this thread has gone on long enough and i have no intention on keeping it going. thank you all for the information and guidance you have given me, i will take note of what each of you has said and will use said guidance to improve my work. (i probably wont be coming back to reply to anymore posts)
first off: I apologise for missing your post, i must have started to type up my reply to the others as you posted yours. now onto the rest. Thank you for the read, it was interesting. i hadn't thought of LOTR being anything more than your average fantasy story but i definitely see your reasoning. I can see how focusing on someones Humanity can be more powerful than simply comparing different species, showing what they share in common and yet at the same time what drives them apart can create so many obstacles for the protagonists, it practically writes itself hehe. thank you for all the information and your thoughts on the matter, it has definitely given me a lot to think about.
