The exploration of the Otherworld and its supernatural inhabitants is one of the most exciting aspects of fantasy for many readers and writers. It is a world that is linked inextricably with the human world—sometimes positively, sometimes negatively–but also that has its own rationales, and just like ours, it is populated with a multitude of inhabitants, good and bad and in-between, from orcs and dragons and trolls to fairies, angels, elves, giants, dwarves, unicorns, griffins, demons and lots, lots more.

Like the human characters of fantasy, Otherworlders must feel real, but there are important differences between them and humans to think about, in order to make them convincing.

• Otherworlders are generally immortal. Sometimes, it’s true that Otherworlders can actually be killed, but they never die through disease or accident or biological ageing. Think about what immortality really entails—both good and bad. There is no fear of death, but neither is there the urge to create. If there is no mortality, then there is also no need to have children. Otherworldly emotions may be stunted, or else extreme. Without mortality, there is little to distinguish the passing of time at all—no past, no future, only an unending, continuous present, with restlessness and boredom constant features. There is tragedy in this, and pathos, as well as possibility.

• Otherworlders often act in very ‘fateful’ or pre-determined ways, and know little of free will or choice, which is part of the compensation of being mortal. This aspect of Otherworldly character can be used quite effectively—both in its traditional sense and by reversing it. This reversal is used in many old stories, such as Sleeping Beauty, where the last fairy goes against the fate imposed on Beauty and of her own will, changes the course of destiny. Similarly, in Andersen’s The Little Mermaid, the mermaid rejects her immortality and powers for human love.

• Read as widely as possible on the traditions of the various Otherworlders. For instance, two books I have found very useful in terms of fairies are Katherine Briggs’ wonderful A Dictionary of Fairies ( which I’m sure must have been a key reference book for J.K.Rowling!) and the Reverend Robert Kirk’s amazing 1691 book, The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies. There are many others. Sometimes, it’s not at all easy to find information about specific otherworldly beings–for instance, I had to trawl through hundreds of scattered references, including on the Internet, to build a coherent picture of the Jinns, the Otherworlders of Arabic myth for my four-volume fantasy series, the Chronicles of El Jisal.

• Though the traditional behaviour of Otherworlders can quite easily be subverted by writers, take great care if you are trying to actually subvert the core of the archetypes themselves. Taking a character like ‘wicked, greedy dragon’ and simply turning it into ‘kind, wise dragon’ is not enough. The archetypal image is there for a reason—the dragon hunched over his pile of gold and going out to breathe fire and death on villages is a kind of representation of the greedy, wicked raider/bandit who torches villages, kills people and hoards stolen gold in the hills. Subverting the image also subverts that understanding, and you should have a good reason for doing it, and not just a whimsical one. For instance, you could have the dragon and the villagers uniting against a common enemy—a powerful, oppressive ruler, for instance, or an invading army. Just remember, it’s got to ring true.

Image by black-butt3rfly.

Sophie Masson has published more than fifty novels internationally since 1990, mainly for children and young adults. A bilingual French and English speaker, raised mostly in Australia, she has a master’s degree in French and English literature. Her most recent novel, The Madman of Venice, was written for middle school children, grades ~6-10.
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