Young Writers Society

When you hear the word "dragon," what comes to mind? European? Eastern? Pern?

And what about related creatures, like wyverns and salamanders?

Whenever I write dragons I make sure they have one characteristic that is not dragonlike at all. Like feathers. Or giving birth to live young. Or something like that.

I have a cool book called "Dragonology." It has detailed pictures of the bone structure and stuff of European and Western dragons, wyverns, and others. It's awesome, and great for inpiration.

I agree with sunshine. Try making up your own dragon species as well.

Marsupial dragons, supersonic speed dragons, birdlike dragons, acid spitting/lightning shooting/ ice breathing dragons, and ETC.!

And keep the dragon owners different as well. One man-ed dragon crews are quite cliché, so try and come up with something more interesting; even if it is just a couple people more, it'll completely abolish a repetition in dragon books, and keep readers more interested.

Hello, all-

I happen to be writing a trilogy which focuses heavily on dragons, as well. I though I might give a little run-down of my kinds and let you guys have at it. >_>

There are five land types- which go by the names Forest, Mountain, Desert, Ice, and there used to be Plains dragons before the [as yet unnamed] War [in the country I've created that these dragons live in].

The Forest are the most common (your basic European dragon, no nose-horn, standard, straight-backwards horns, snake-like tail), with Ice being the least common- to Humans.

The Mountain dragon- self-explanatory. They're basically fire dragons and prefer the warm, red-rock mountains of the west. They have nose-horns and are very stocky.

Desert dragons- of course- live in the desert and they've got spines all over them like horned lizards in Texas and similar places. They're the 'least intelligent' of the breeds and spit venom instead of breathing fire. Their tails are arrow-tipped (figuratively speaking) and the point is venemous, too.

The Ice is the biggest, stockiest, and live in the barren tundra-like mountains of the north. Very isolated, usually living in singles even when raising their hatchlings. Very proficient in ice magic but breath fire.

OK, that's probably enough for one post. ^_^ Have fun!

Okay, well I'll post mine that I have been working on for ages, and it actually is rather similar to Gladius in some ways. Great minds think alike, eh?

Anyways, there are six different types of Dragons. Forest, Light, Spirit, Water, Fire, and Shadow. [In honor of Legend of Zelda. =p] The dragons vary slightly, with different powers that are transferred to those people they choose to grant their gifts to. If you're gifted by a dragon, it is one with the type that best fits your personality.

I haven't worked out exactly what evah type looks like yet, but that's coming.

Fire dragons live in a desert climate and are for the aggressive/opinionated personalities.

Forest are for the more passive types who are laid back.

Spirit are for the more observant but still rather passive types.

Water are also for more opinionated people, but also the ones that are rather undecisive and change their mind alot. As in, turbulent as waters.

Light and Shadow are the rarest, and are based mostly off of how you view yourself. Like, good or bad. Both are also pretty forward and headstrong personalities.

that probably makes no sense, lol!

Yay, a fellow Zelda nut!! XD Yes, great minds do apparently think alike- and there're more dragons where that came from, Dreami!

I like how the dragon's powers morph into the person they choose- kinda like Eragon, eh? I think I'd probably have a Light dragon... XD

And actually, what you said makes perfect sense!

Hey guys,
I have to agree about the importance of trying new ideas with something as archetypal as dragons. I'm writing a trilogy/something bigger and dragons are sort of the be all and end all of how my system of magic works.

Personally I'm tired of people making dragons either vulgar, greedy monsters or ways of getting around (Paolini did this in his 'novel' even though he tried to tell us he didnt0. To me dragons should be so much more than people.

I'm trying out dragons not as a race, but as a culmination of practicing magic....magic users can basically evolve into them (though thats a summary of something a little more complex).

I also don't like (you may notice i'm opinionated) comparisons between dragons, lizards and snakes. Lizards are too slow and cumbersome, snakes too capricious and....evil. To me a dragon is like a swan, graceful and elegant. However I can't stand the idea of a dragon with feathers, sorry Sunshine.

Anyway I'm rambling on, but I like your ideas about dragons, especially the racial variants in different terrain and the link with zelda and the superatural elements(I'm a bit of a fan, though I found the game profoundly hard)

Cheerio,
Rubric

Rubic wrote:...but as a culmination of practicing magic...magic users can basically evolve into them (though that's a sumary of something a little more complex).

Interesting idea...

Rubic wrote:I also don't like...comarisons between dragons, lizards, and snakes. Lizards are too slow and cumbersome, snakes too capricious and...evil. To me a dragon is like a swan, graceful and elegant.

Too true. You probably brought this up because of me saying the Desert dragon was like a horned lizard, but i only meant that as in looks. The leg structure and dragon form is still the same, just smaller and they're covered in spines.
Oh, I also don't like the idea of dragons with feathers.

Rubic wrote:I like your ideas about dragons, especially the racial variants in different terrain and the link with zelda and the superatural elements(I'm a bit of a fan, though I found the game profoundly hard).

Rubic, I am definitely going to be sending you a PM sometime soon! Dragons+Zelda just seems a natural combination to me.

Also, not all the information about my Tureen dragon variants is up there- I prefer to keep the tastier morsels secret...just in case. >.>

Rubric wrote:
However I can't stand the idea of a dragon with feathers, sorry Sunshine.

i understand, i was just using that as an example. i like your idea though, Rubric. very original.

Oh, I like the idea of feathered dragons, or, at least, dragons with feathers. (I read somewhere that the dragon myth might've started with people finding dinosaur bones, so if dinosaurs had feathers, why not dinosaurs?) That, and frankly, dragons with feathers would be cool.

(Also, Rubric, why can't dragons be all of those things? Some dragons might be slow, some dragons might be evil, some dragons might be graceful. It shouldn't be one-size-fits-all; just like humans, why can't dragons be different from each other? They don't all have to be the same.)

Aaanyway. I've been reading a lot of Limyaael's fantasy rants, and one of them is on dragons.

Meep wrote:Some dragons might be slow, some dragons might be evil, some dragons might be graceful. It shouldn't be one-size-fits-all

So true. For example, in my dragons' realm there are good dragons, dark dragons, large dragons, small dragons, aquatic dragons, desert/land dragons. Writers should strive for a variety depending on the layout of their book's world.

Oh, and dragons being graceful- consider the hatchlings. XD They're as awkward as the Ugly Duckling at hatching! Also, you could have some *mentally-challenged or otherwise* dragons that are really clumsy.

Meep wrote:I read somewhere that the dragon myth might've started with people finding dinosaur bones, so if dinosaurs had feathers, why not dinosaurs?

Umm, as far as I know, Meep, the only dragon with feathers was Archaeopteryx. I agree there are possibilities there could be dragons with feathers, but at the time dinosaur bones were first discovered there was no Archaeopteryx. The tales would have to have sprung from the Pterodactyl--and besides, the dragon tales have been around since before dinosaur bones were being excavated. I suppose some cave-man-like person could have accidentally found a bone coughed up by some random earthquake, but...

Gladius wrote:Umm, as far as I know, Meep, the only dragon with feathers was Archaeopteryx. I agree there are possibilities there could be dragons with feathers, but at the time dinosaur bones were first discovered there was no Archaeopteryx. The tales would have to have sprung from the Pterodactyl--and besides, the dragon tales have been around since before dinosaur bones were being excavated. I suppose some cave-man-like person could have accidentally found a bone coughed up by some random earthquake, but...

Actually, there's increasing palaeontological evidence that many dinosaurs had feathers - velociraptors being just one example.

Getting back to the subject, I like the idea of dragons being just like any other animal - wild, not sentient, and, though I generally loathe Paolini and Inheritance, having dragons being ridden is not, in my opinion, a bad idea (and not an original from Paolini, either, though he could have made it his own if he'd had the desire or the skill). I agree with Meep - putting dragons in a box and labelling them as one type is stupid - they should be as varied as people.

Cpt. Smurf wrote:Actually, there's increasing palaeontological evidence that many dinosaurs had feathers- velociraptors being just one example.

Really? I didn't know that. How did they figure that out? >.>

Yes, dragons being wild, like any other animal, is also a good idea. I've just never tried that, because personally I love the different personality types we can give them. They're absolutely beautiful creatures, and seeing them interact (depending on the personalities we give them) is a rather wonderful experience/feeling.

On the other hand, the riding dragons thing could be rather humiliating to a particularly proud dragon. However, when (for example) the dragons have been 'bonded' or in some other way attached to their rider since hatching...that's not as much of an issue. But, with the two sentient beings (whether human or Elven with a dragon) linked together as strongly as they are, they pose a pretty deadly force to any enemy--especially with the enhanced communication (if your dragons 'speak' telepathically). So riding dragons yes, isn't a new idea (I believe McCaffery implemented it best/first, to my knowledge...?), but it has vast potential (for example, Temeraire's dragons are huge with a 6-10 man [numbers?] crew).

to start, a wyvern is a type of dragon...just wanna throw that out there. personally i have elemental dragons, each with its own anatomy specific to the enviroment in which it would live. ex. water dragon, webed feet, serpentine. earth dragon, shorter for tunneling, and harder scales

a dragon? Well, I just think of it as a flying beast with bat looking wings and really sharp teeth! lol. Oh, and it breaths out fire. Very original!