Putting that Hellhound into a Story

Yesterday’s post about hellhounds represents the kind of research a writer does when s/he plans to use a legendary monster, magical helper, or mythical place in a story. First, determine what is known about the place creature and how the beliefs about it change from place to place. In my case, I want to know what makes a hellhound a hellhound and whether or not it’s different in the American South.

Basically, I think stories simply work better when they use attributes that generally fit the legends about the place, creature, or phenomenon because this matches the story to what people have heard and/or believe about the thing being described.

Naturally, authors are free to make up whatever they want, but the descriptions fall flat then they don’t link up to the readers’ general expectations about the critters or places. What I cannot forgive is the use of real places or real groups of people that don’t coincide with actual facts. For example, traditional witchcraft and Wicca are real, so the reality of these groups in a story needs to mesh with their beliefs and methods, not made-up stuff that doesn’t match the real world of these groups’ practices.

What’s real in the real world needs to stay real in the story. What’s mythical or folkloric in the real world needs to stay true to the parameters of the legends. Doing this makes for a better story and one that sounds true enough that readers think it could have happened.

–Malcolm