I have a mother who writes science fiction and fantasy, and at a young age she would tell me about world building and would complain when people did not do things like follow the rules of physics or stuff like that.  So, when I started writing I had a good grasp that you can’t say ‘because magic’ and call it good.  Magic needs a system and rules.  And if those rules don’t agree with physics you need to create a new physics system that works with the magic.  You can’t break you’re own rules.  There are just some things in the universe that are the way they are because that works.

This has helped me a lot in my own world building skills, and a lot of my friends are awed at my worlds.  And I do believe that they are creative, but one of the reasons they are as good as they are is people can believe in them because they have these set rules.  The world’s set rules can also influence my characters and make them feel real because they interact not only with the people around them, but with the world in a believable way.  So in general, I’m glad Mom stressed these things to me.

But there are some times when it just gets in the way.  Sometimes, when I’m drawing fantasy creatures, I sit there and I go, ‘how in the world does this thing work?’  It happened first with griffins.  I was drawing it and I was like ‘realistically, how does this fly?’  And now, just today, I was looking at mermaids and was like ‘realistically, how does this be a really good swimmer?’

Both problems come in the body shape.  Since I had the thought about griffins I’ve been looking at birds that I pass and they all kind of have a roundish body with a tail that spreads out and wings.  Not a griffin body shape at all.  Now, I’m looking at underwater creatures and find a similar problem.  They’re either have a round bulky body that is longer then it wide (sharks, dolphins, whales, manatees, clownfish and several other fish) or they have a paper thin but still round shaped body, or long tub bodies.   Their all a single circle shape, while humans are composed of many and bits and pieces that stick out– even if it’s just the torso (shoulders, arms, necks, hips).

And here’s another problem I’ve been wondering about.  Should mermaids be mammals?  They have a human torso, but most people give them the ability to breath under water and a fishes tail.  But they usually make the tail go up and down– but fish tails go side to side.  It’s the underwater mammal (dolphins, whales, and manatees) tails that go up and down.  I never heard of mermaids who had to go up for air like whales before, it might be interesting.