Here Be Dragons – 7 Tips For Writing Dragons In Fiction
Dragons have fascinated readers for centuries. Discover how to use dragons to add wonder, danger, and adventure to your fantasy fiction.
Here Be Dragons
Dragons are one of the most enduring creatures in fantasy fiction. They can be benevolent or terrifying, wise or wild, intelligent or animalistic. Some speak, while others communicate through sounds, gestures, or magical powers.
Your dragon might be a companion, an enemy, a guardian, or something your characters fear.
Where Do Dragons Come From?
Stories about dragons and dragon-like creatures exist in cultures around the world. Some may have been inspired by real animals, including crocodiles, snakes, and monitor lizards. The Komodo dragon, for example, is a real reptile, although it is very different from the dragons of fantasy.
Writers have borrowed features from reptiles to create their own dragons. Scales, claws, long tails, and sharp teeth are common examples.
Dragon traditions also differ across cultures. Damballah, for example, is a serpent-like spirit associated with Voudou, while the Lotan appears in ancient Near Eastern mythology and the Lindworm appears in European folklore.
When you create a dragon, you can draw on these traditions or invent something completely new.
Here be dragons – and here are seven tips for writing them.
7 Tips For Writing Dragons In Fiction
1. Decide What Kind Of Dragon You Have
Don’t treat ‘dragon’ as a single species. Just as snakes include boas, cobras, and rattlesnakes, your world can have different types of dragons. They vary in size, colour, intelligence, temperament, abilities, and habitat.
The Harry Potter series is a good example. Norwegian Ridgebacks, Hungarian Horntails, and Peruvian Vipertooths have different characteristics.
Think about your dragons’ history, too. Where did they come from? How long do they live? What do they eat? How are their young raised? Can they be domesticated? The history and husbandry of your dragons can become a writer’s playground.
2. Give Your Dragons A Home
Where does your dragon live? You could place it in a cave, a mountain, a forest, a ruined castle, or somewhere unexpected. Think about what the dragon needs to survive and how its environment affects its behaviour.
In The Hobbit, Smaug lives beneath the Lonely Mountain, where he has made a huge pile of treasure. His lair tells us something about him and becomes an important part of the story.
Some dragons live alone, while others live in groups. Some protect their nests, while others roam large territories.
Your dragon’s home can also become part of the plot. Your characters might have to enter its territory, find something hidden there, or rescue someone it is protecting. Don’t treat the dragon’s lair as just a setting. Make it part of the story.
3. Consider Dragon Riders And Companions
Dragons don’t always have to be enemies.
You can use them as trusted companions, pets, or creatures that form strong bonds with human characters. You can also make them mounts for dragon riders.
The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini uses dragon riders, while How To Train Your Dragon shows how dragons can become beloved companions.
If your dragon is a companion, think about the relationship. Is there trust? Affection? Fear? Competition? Can the relationship change as the story develops?
4. Dragons Can Be The Enemy
Dragons make formidable antagonists. They are powerful creatures that can put entire communities at risk.
The dragon in Beowulf, is a dangerous enemy who attacks after a treasure is stolen from its hoard. It becomes the final great challenge for Beowulf.
But your dragon doesn’t have to be evil. It could be protecting its territory, defending its young, or responding to a threat. Your characters might see the dragon as a monster while the dragon sees them as invaders.
This can complicate the usual hero-versus-monster conflict. Ask yourself: Is the dragon really the villain, or does your protagonist simply see it that way?
5. Decide If Your Dragon Breathes Fire
Fire-breathing is one of the best-known characteristics of the Western dragon, but your dragon doesn’t have to breathe fire.
If it does, decide how it works. How far can it breathe fire? How often can it use this power? Does it need to eat or rest afterwards? Can it control the heat?
Game Of Thrones uses dragons and their ability to produce devastating fire. Daenerys’s frightening dragons burn enemies and destroy buildings. Beowulf‘ also features a fire-breathing dragon.
You could give your dragon a different ability. Perhaps it breathes ice, releases poison, creates smoke, produces lightning, or uses magic instead.
Whatever you choose, establish your rules and follow them consistently.
6. Give Your Dragon Something To Protect
Dragons and treasure have been linked in stories for centuries.
A dragon might guard gold, jewels, magical objects, ancient knowledge, a sacred place, or something your protagonist desperately needs.
In Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, the Hungarian Horntail guards the golden egg during the first task of the Triwizard Tournament. Harry must find a way to get past the dragon to retrieve it.
This gives you an instant plot problem. Your characters need something that lies inside the dragon’s territory, and they have to find a way to get it.
The thing being protected doesn’t even have to be treasure. It could be a person, a secret, a magical artefact, or the entrance to another world.
7. Decide Whether Your Dragons Can Talk
Can your dragons speak? There’s some debate. (No, really.)
In some stories, dragons speak human languages. In others, they communicate through sounds, body language, telepathy, or magic.
Giving a dragon the power of speech can make it feel more like a character than a creature. It can have opinions, secrets, motivations, and knowledge that humans don’t possess.
A talking dragon could be wise and ancient, sarcastic and funny, frightening and manipulative, or even naïve. If your dragons can’t speak, think about how they communicate. How does your protagonist know what a dragon wants? How does the dragon show anger, affection, fear, or curiosity?
In How To Train Your Dragon, Toothless cannot speak human language, but he communicates through sounds, expressions, and body language. This helps Hiccup understand him and builds their relationship.
Your choice will shape how readers understand your dragons.
The Last Word
Dragons are a wonderful part of fantasy fiction. They can be scary, funny, clever, kind, or dangerous. Think about what makes your dragon different. Give it a personality, a purpose, and a place in your story. Here be dragons. Now make them your own.
By Alex J. Coyne. Alex is a writer, proofreader, and regular card player. His features about cards, bridge, and card playing have appeared in Great Bridge Links, Gifts for Card Players, Bridge Canada Magazine, and Caribbean Compass. Get in touch at alexcoyneofficial.com.
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