Top 10 Tentacled Beings

Squids! Octopi! Aliens! What do all of these things have in common? That’s right, tentacles. Okay, aliens maybe not always, but the rest are definitely tentacled. Whether or not you’re going to have a biological tentacle, or a mechanical one, these appendages are long, limber and part of many people’s fantasies. You know what I’m talking about. Anyway, here’s our Top 10 Tentacled Beings.

NaNoWriMo Chapter 2 – The What and How

And the winner, after a particularly hairy vote, is Desertpunk – Kaiju! Not going to lie, this is definitely the harder of the four genre options, but I wouldn’t have put it up there if I weren’t game for a challenge. Now on to the story…

Christopher Booker’s Seven Basic Plots supposes that all narratives ultimately fall into the same basic pattern or series of stages with seven broad themes that inform the story, either alone or in combination. Polti’s Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations help set the stage and give me a few ideas to build upon. I advise anyone who’s planning their first novel to have a look at both of these as a jumping-off point, mix and match, see what inspires you.

To make full use of the genre omits a lot of the options. The Rags to Riches basic plot doesn’t really work in a world where water is the only valuable commodity, and giant monsters will have very little personal impact on the journey made by the protagonist. The Adultery drama also seems a little petty when lives are on the line every day.

For my inspiration I’ll be drawing on the likes of Dune, Tremors, and the D&D world of Dark Sun as my strongest connections to the mix. Pile on top of that a little Mad Max, Fallout and Godzilla. In effect I’ve built a mood board of films, games, artwork and story to toy with.