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creating monsters/beings

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spywolf:
okay I am currently creating a world to set a story(s) in but I don't really want to use monsters/beings that are very commen in fiction at the moment
its most likely going to be urban fantercy and the protaganist is human

my question

is it okay to make up new beings?
are there any ideas you lot think would be cool to base a new ones on ?
or any really weird/ unushawal beings/monsters that are not commen in books that could be used instead of compleatly made up ones if made up ones are not a good idea?

our thoughts please

(note this is just something in the early planning stages that I am mostly doing to keep my sain inbetween exam study and for the summer. so I don't know if I will ever manage to write any stories bassed on what is discussed any time soon
in my life so far I have written 51/2 short stories and I am a novice, that at the moment writes for enjoyment)

Snowleopard:
It's perfectly fine to create your own monsters/beings.
You just have to be sure to create a set of rules for them in your head or on paper,
so you can keep them consistent.
That is:  They can do this, they can't do that, this weakens them, this enrages them, etc.

Like JBs White Court vamps.  They have a great deal of strength but they can overuse it
and then they MUST feed.  Their inner demon will pretty much take them over.

Quantus:
Never hesitate to create your own creatures, sometimes that can be the most fun part of the whole thing.  Think of it like aliens:  they almost never have any prior art to draw on.

As far as tweeking the less common things, you can always put a new spin on something old to make it your own.  This has been done time and again with Vampires of every shape and size, for example.  Personally I have a soft spot for unusual were-creatures, myself.  One of my perpetual WiP's opens with the MC being attacked by a group of Were-ants, for example.  It's a Queen with the actual supernatural power, who thrall's and empowers random human bruisers, giving them super strength (in line with the Ant's proportional strength) and the group coordination of a Hive Mind. 

the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:

--- Quote from: Snowleopard on May 05, 2013, 09:21:11 PM ---It's perfectly fine to create your own monsters/beings.
You just have to be sure to create a set of rules for them in your head or on paper,
so you can keep them consistent.
That is:  They can do this, they can't do that, this weakens them, this enrages them, etc.

--- End quote ---

Bear in mind also; you need to know what the rules are. (Provided you're writing a story where rules apply; dream logic can also be made to work.)

Your reader may or may not need to know some of the rules.

Your characters also may or may not need to know some of the rules. Not necessarily the same ones as your readers.

the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:

--- Quote from: Quantus on May 06, 2013, 02:17:37 PM ---Never hesitate to create your own creatures, sometimes that can be the most fun part of the whole thing.  Think of it like aliens:  they almost never have any prior art to draw on.

--- End quote ---

With aliens, you have a bunch of real world physics and biology constraints to deal with.  They are a lot of fun if you can do them, but it's a complicated challenge.  Fantasy-type monsters give you a wider range of options.  (I am trying to remember which RPG firm has an internal monster-design flowchart of which the first question is "Did a mad wizard create it ?", with the "Yes" arrow leading to a box reading "NO THEY #@*!ING DIDN"T" and then rejoining the "No" arrow.)

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