When you develop a Character or a story you don’t just pull them out of thin air you create them from reality, even when the story is a science fiction or a fantasy the story follows guidelines of myth legend and science. The magic potion from a wizard is no different then penicillin from science. Trolls, Vampires and Giants are no different then people living with dwarfism, Porphyria and Hypertrichosis.

 I am a published author, my novel "Tails of a Gay Incubus" can be found on the net by Googleing Josehf Lloyd Murchison, or the title of my novel. I don’t know how other authors create a character or develop a story line, however I can tell you how I developed mine. Called character construction, when you create a character, create them from the ground up. Their name, personal history and family history the type of person they are, make them real, talk about them as if they are a real person and when you write they will write the story for you.

 I am well read, at times I have read three hundred books in a year. I read every thing from the classics to encyclopaedia sets, my favourites being science fiction which I read the most. My novel got started one night when my wife invited a couple over one evening for a social visit. As we chatted the conversation found its way to me mentioning a demon called a Succubus, (a sexy She Demon that sucks the life force out of their victims during erotic dreams.) My wife thinking I was going to tell one of my stories where I pull the listeners leg said, "I was pulling their leg."

 I told them I wasn’t pulling their leg and showed them the definition in the encyclopaedia. Me being a joker said "Wouldn’t that make a funny title, instead of Tales from the Crypt, Tales of a Gay Succubus." And my novel was born, I started with a title.

 The title set the subject, structure, character trait and the subtitle. The subject, gay stories. The structure, short stories. Character trait, gay Succubus. And the subtitle, The Memoirs of ?????????? Now I needed a name for my main character.

 It is important to pick the right name for your characters, and there is more than one way to pick a name for a character, in the past some European people got their last names from their trade. This is called Ethnic Origin Names, a blacksmith’s last name is Smith, a wheel maker’s last name is Wheelwright, and a miller’s last name was Miller. This can cause you to create a family history for your character that you may or may not use in your story, just to pick a name.

 Many places are named after people take my last name as an example. Murchison is a Scottish name it can be found all over the world, Murchison Falls Africa, Murchison Texas U.S.A., and Murchison Australia, as a few examples.

 Cryptographic names are used in many successful stories and movies, character names that are twists of character traits, in Star Wars, Darth Vader means lacking valour, Han Solo, solo meaning single or loner, in Aladdin, Abis Mal is abysmal, in 101 Dalmatians, Cruella De Vil is crewel devil. This is a short list of this tactic used to create names.

 In my youth for fun we would give each other humours Cryptographic nicknames, my brother called his best friend Gherkin, (small pickled cucumber.) Gherkin thought it was a reference to his male appendage. The truth is he was always stoned on pot, or drunk on booze, he was pickled. Gherkin never figured it out.

 My novel is a controversial adult story with cryptic humour as the title implied, I wanted to do the same with my characters name with a spoof, there is a lot of controversy over the origin of the Shroud of Turin, (the burial cloth of Christ.) And there are a number of adult entertainers that used the last name Divine. Christ and divine or divinity, Turin a place and Turin a last name and Divine Turin is born.

 Now I have a name, title and a direction to go. "Tales of a Gay Succubus, The Memoirs of Divine Turin." When I was ready to publish my novel, my publisher wanted me to change the title they had to many titles that started with tales. I didn’t want to change the title too much because it would wreck the joke so I changed tales (stories) to tails (a piece of ass.) After I developed my character as a male I changed Succubus to Incubus and I had, "Tails of a Gay Incubus, The Memoirs of Divine Turin."

 With a direction to go I began to research and developed my characters, character trait a gay Succubae, at the end of this tutorial is the research that brought me to the conclusion that Succubae, (class of demon that includes Incubus, Succubus, and Vampires) are a demon of convenience. Someone to blame, they exist to explain, excuse or prevent aberrant sexual behaviour of people of different times and cultures. To explain otherwise "unexplainable" pregnancies out of wedlock or to prevent or explain adultery. As an explanation for nocturnal arousal, orgasm or nocturnal emission or to excuse same sex, sex. (I had sex with him to kill him if he was a demon.) Or to explain children that were born deformed, or more susceptible to supernatural influences. With so many definitions of Succubus and Incubus I made the definition my own and my main character became a shape shifter from space. Stranded on Earth for so long that his people have become a part of our beliefs in demons, capable of being male or female human and Succubae.

 Next if you haven’t developed one yet, you to create a family history for your character that you may or may not use in your story and this can take more research. You create parents, grandparents, ants, uncles, siblings and cousins. You give your character a religion a place of origin. Research places, religions and ethic stereotypes, stereotypical behaviour from some of your characters, (Notably the bad guys.) is necessary if your character is to be believable. If a character is a Jew or a Vegan then they wont be eating bacon and eggs for breakfast, a Jewish person goes to temple not a church. People of different ethnicity have different ways of saying things, customs and foods.

 Last create a story line, not the story its self, a template to follow. If you need one create a storyboard with pitchers notes and captions to follow. A story is like a journey, it has a beginning (place of origin), the path to your destination (the journey), and the end (your destination). Compare a story to a trip from New York, N.Y. to Portland, OR. 2918 miles or approximately forty-eight and one half-hours drive time. As a truck driver that is a four and one-half day drive, as a person on vacation I might plan to stop for a day here and there to shop, visit monuments, take pictures or visit family and friends now the journey takes a week. Just like a cross-country journey in a story you plan the places and duration of your visits along your story to your destination. Now jour character has a place to go and something to do now your character writes the story for you. When I wrote this paragraph of this tutorial I took out my Rand Mc Nally map book, as a truck driver I knew it was at least a four-day drive. In my map book I looked up the mileage from New York, N.Y. to Portland, OR. in the Mileage Directory, 2918 miles 48.63 hours or 4.42 days by truck. Research doesn’t just aid in a story it aids in a tutorial or an article.

 Developing a character or a story is a science. Idea, Research, Make Notes, then Summarise (write your story line and character outline). Writing your story is an art, give two writers the same story line, research and character outline and they will write two different stories. Read my research and see if you come up with the same character trait for Succubae.

Research

 Succubae are a class of demon that includes Incubus, Succubus, and Vampires. The folklore and legend of these demons go back before the birth of Christ.

 Medieval legend claims that demons, both male and female, sexually prey on human beings. The male demon is known as an Incubus and the female is the Succubus. They generally prey upon their subject when they are sleeping, though it has been reported that females have been attacked while fully lucid.

 In folklore that stems from medieval legend, a Succubus (plural Succubi) is a demon who takes the form of a woman to seduce men in dreams to have sexual intercourse. In modern times, a Succubus is often depicted as highly attractive, while in the past Succubi were ugly. Succubi draw energy from men to sustain themselves, often until the victim becomes exhausted or dies.

 The male counterpart is the Incubus. An Incubus (plural Incubi) is a demon in male form supposed to lie upon sleepers, especially women, in order to have sexual intercourse with them, according to a number of mythological and legendary traditions. An Incubus may pursue sexual relations with a woman in order to father a child. Religious tradition holds that repeated intercourse with an Incubus may result in the deterioration of health, or even death.

 In Jewish folklore a Succubus was a sexy she demon with the legs of a goat and a vagina full of razor blades that wandered the desert in search of men. They would have sexual intercourse with the men and when he was writhing in pain from his penis being sliced to ribbons she would devour him.

 In coastal areas and island states it was believed a Succubus collects semen from the men she sleeps with, which incubi then use to impregnate women, thus explaining how demons could apparently sire children despite the traditional belief that they were incapable of reproduction. Children so begotten were supposed to be those that were born deformed, or more susceptible to supernatural influences.

 They are also believed to be vampires in some cultures. Earlier stories of them were said to drink blood from their sleeping victims or take blood from the willing. The legend of this account was first established in 300 BC maybe older.

 A number of secular explanations have been offered for the origin of the incubus legends. They involve the medieval preoccupation with sin, especially sexual sins of women. Victims may have been experiencing waking dreams or sleep paralysis. Also, nocturnal arousal, orgasm or nocturnal emission could be explained by the idea of creatures causing an otherwise guilt-producing and self-conscious behaviour. Alternately, the influence of incubi could also have been invoked to explain otherwise "unexplainable" pregnancies out of wedlock.

 Purported victims of incubi could have been the victims of sexual assault by a real person. Rapists may have attributed the rapes of sleeping women to demons in order to escape punishment. A friend or relative may have assaulted the victim in her sleep. The victims and, in some cases the clergy, may have found it easier to explain the attack as supernatural rather than confront the idea that the attack came from someone in a position of trust.

 Incubi and Succubi were said by some not to be different sexes, but the same demons able to change their sex. A Succubus would be able to sleep with a man and collect his sperm, and then transform into an incubus and use that seed on women. Their offspring were thought to be supernatural in many cases, even if the actual genetic material originally came from humans.

 Though many folklore claim that the Incubus is bisexual, others indicate that it is strictly heterosexual and finds attacking a male victim either unpleasant or detrimental. (Same sex, sex can kill them.)

 Incubi are sometimes said to be able to conceive children. The half-human offspring of such a union is sometimes referred to as a Cambion.

 There are a number of variations on the Incubus theme around the world. In German folklore Incubus primarily attacks men and generally behind closed doors.

 According to the traditional mythology of the Chiloe Province of Chile, is a hideous deformed dwarf who lulls nubile young women and seduces them.

 El Trauco is said to be responsible for unwanted pregnancies, especially in unmarried women.

 Perhaps another variation of this conception is "Tintín" in Ecuador. Tintin is a dwarf who is fond of abundant hared women and seduces them at night by playing the guitar outside their window. A myth that researchers believe was created during the Colonial period of time to explain pregnancies in women who never left their houses without a chaperone, very likely covering incest or sexual abuse by one of the family's friends.

 In Hungary, a Liderc can be a Satanic lover that flies at night and appears as a fiery light (an Ignis fatuus or will o’ the wisp) or, in its more benign form as a featherless chicken.

 In Brazil and the rain forests of the Amazon Basin, the Boto is a combination of siren and incubus, a very charming and beautiful man who seduces young women and takes them into the river. It is said to be responsible for disappearances and unwanted pregnancies, and it can never be seen by daylight, because it metamorphoses into a kind of river dolphin during those hours. According to legend the Boto always wears a hat to disguise the breathing hole at the top of its head.

 The Southern African incubus demon is the Tikoloshe. Chaste women place their beds upon bricks to deter the rather short fellows from attaining their sleeping forms. They also share the hole in the head detail and water dwelling habits of the Boto.

By

Josehf Lloyd Murchison