Tips On How to Write Characters with Wings (For both fanfic writers and original content writers)
So Iâve been reading a lot of fics lately where people are either
A) Putting wings onto canon characters
So I decided that, with the influx of people who are writing winged characters (and therefore the influx of errors that come with writing winged characters), Iâd make a little thing to help you slap a pair of wings onto anyone!
This is also a bit personal, too, because the MC in my upcoming novel has wings!
1. Know that there are a lot of types of wings to choose from
Part of being a writer is the desire to take something (whether it be a pre-existing work or an idea in your head) and make it into your own. So, instead of just going with the classic bird wings, why not spice it up a bit? If your character is an angel, you certainly donât have to stick to the classic depictions of angel wings. Why not give them butterfly wings or dragonfly wings?
Hereâs a small list of different types of wings to choose from:
Note that these wings are for animals who can fly. There are also animals who can âflyâ that actually glide, such as sugar gliders and flying squirrels.
Yeah, so the options are pretty limited, but feel free to make up your own kinds of wings that arenât necessarily based on a pre-existing creatureâs wings!
2. Be familiar with the anatomy of your characterâs wings and their limits
If your wings are completely unique, draw them out. A diagram or picture is key when it comes to things like description. Iâm not gonna tell you what everything does and give you Animal Wing Anatomy 101, thatâs for you to research. Know that there are different types of wings and that they have different uses, strengths, and weaknesses.
3. Never use the full extent of your research!Â
âBut wait, Maddy!â you cry, writing utensil in hand and poised to stab me. âI thought we were supposed to were supposed to show our research!â
Well, you are. Technically thatâs not wrong. But, readers donât want to know ALL of it. Over-described wings are sometimes worse than under-described wings; what sucks more than not knowing what a characterâs wings look like is having to look up wing anatomy in the middle of the chapter!
Only use the most basic of vocabulary when it comes to describing the parts of the wing. Most of the time, you just have to say âbat wingâ or âfeathery wingâ and the readers get the basic idea. (Like seriously, do you think the readers know what a dactylopatagium brevis is????? Itâs a part of skin on a batâs wing btw)
4. Donât bring your characterâs wings up only when theyâre needed!!!!
Unless your characterâs wings can fade away when theyâre not needed, wings are a 100% real, 24/7 thing! Itâs bothersome when writers mention the wings in one chapter and then only bring them up when thereâs a daring escape that needs to be performed! Most of the time, I forget that the characters even have wings at all!
There is also the fact that wings arenât all pros and no cons. If theyâre functional, theyâre probably big, and if theyâre muscular, theyâre probably bulky. If your character is clumsy, theyâll probably knock things over constantly, and if theyâre not clumsy, theyâll still knock things over constantly.
Your wings are two (or four, or five, or six quintillion) extra appendages; theyâre a part of your character! You donât have to spend every second reminding the readers that theyâre there, but donât go long stretches of time without even mentioning them.
5. Your characterâs wings can be a good way to indicate their mood or to provide for that little bit of description that you think you make be lacking
Why wouldnât you want to describe the wings? I mean, you donât want to describe every minute detail over and over again, but itâll boost your word count a lot more than you think. They can also be used to convey your characterâs feelings without explicitly telling the reader! Itâs like a new set of facial expressions!
See? You can tell heâs wary and ready to fight from the movement of his wings! Also heâs crouching next to a dead body but thatâs not relevant right now
Hereâs a list of wing language (?) that you can incorporate into your story that will not only increase your word count, but will also add to the sustenance of your story!
Kick someoneâs legs out from under them
Snap someones neck (only for muscular wings like bat and bird wings)
Problems that may come with having wings
Poke out from under blankets and let all of the cold air in
Get pins and needles from being folded for too long
Squashed on chairs/ in beds/ in crowded hallways
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