(A photo of the Orion Nebula)
ALIENS! A icon of my brainrot; I absolutely adore aliens. While I do believe aliens exist somewhere out in the cosmos, I don’t believe in any alien conspiracy theories (nor do I want to hear about them.) The aliens I’m interested in are the ones of fiction.
I love, love, love, creating my own species and reading the lore of what others have made. From everything I’ve seen, alien creation has practically no boundaries. Do you want to create an alien that doesn’t incorporate science, or even breaks science? You can do that! The universe is endless- who knows what kind of materials are out there, and what they can do? You want an alien that is built off of science? Also great! That’s absolutely amazing! You want an alien that’s humanoid? Despite what others say, that’s also totally possible! Convergent evolution is already a thing on earth itself! You want an alien that looks other worldly? GO FOR IT! You can make aliens that live in the sea, underground, in the sky, in deadly forests, in hot lava, space itself, and more. Your imagination can run rampant, and you should let it! There’s tons of theories and ideas you can use as well. Life has evolved to be small, so what if a sentient lifeform evolved to be small? What would microscopic societies look like? Alien lifeforms could be made out of some new substance that doesn’t appear alive to humans. What could arise from encountering a species like that? You also don’t need to stick to ‘bad’ aliens. Aliens can be anything! Good, bad, neutral, whatever! You can even add the societal complexity humanity has to them! I, personally, really love aliens that are just as excited to discover humanity as humanity is to discover them. Positive interactions! My favorite book of all time, Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, has my favorite depiction of aliens ever. Man, I love that book.
We’ve only scratched the surface of alien creation, though. When you build aliens, you can start with a completely blank canvas. Its up to you to decide what their planet looks like, what lives on that planet, the properties of that planet, how it effects the aliens, and vice versa. You can write history from the first evolution all the way to the space age. You get to create an entirely new culture, society, language, religion, and more. Think about how your aliens properties might change how they live! If they’re hyper-intelligent, what would their school systems look like? Would they hold knowledge over strength, strength over knowledge, or maybe something else? If nature is a part of a major religion, would your aliens be more hesitant to destroy it? What are the beauty standards? Are there even beauty standards? A fun exercise for this is to take human customs and reverse them. What if having eye contact is rude? What if houseguests are supposed to cook dinner instead of the host? What if you’re supposed to be loud instead of quiet?
…Okay, this is probably too many questions. I’ll ask one last question, and its very important. The question is: Why? Its fun making all of these concepts, but its always good to have a reason for why your aliens are the way they are. If you have a concept you really like but can’t find an answer to “Why,” don’t be afraid to use that concept for another alien species! I personally like to put all my species in the same universe. Here are some final parting tips for creating aliens, but you can do anything!
- Research different kinds of planets. Gas giants, tidally locked planets, etc.
- Research how the moon and sun effect planets, along with how their distances, sizes, and quantities might change things.
- Look at pictures of deep sea creatures and bugs. If aliens like that aren’t your vibe, go look at pictures of random animals that interest you!
- Research adaptations for different climates.
- Think about mundane things you do and think about how other creatures might do it. (Making beds, cooking, playing instruments, etc.)
(A photo of the Pillars of Creation)
This is so cool! I’ve personally never written about aliens, now that I think about it. But you’re right, alien lore is limitless! I should try it out sometime, and I’d love to read your alien stories 🙂
I could ramble about my aliens for hours! A concrete story with them is still a work in progress, but the lore… theres so much lore.
I also believe aliens exists out there somewhere. I enjoyed this post, it was very cheerful, and I could feel your excitement. I also think it’s very fun to research the lore of certain supernatural creatures in different shows, books, and movies. I enjoy doing that except with vampires.
Thank you! And you’re so right- researching creatures is so much fun!!
I’m not a sci-fi person myself, but seeing a ton of different alien races has always been really cool. They’re cosmic and unknown, but in fiction, they also play into this idea that this strange new thing doesn’t have to be intimidating, esp if the two parties live in harmony
There’s so many options!! I find it funny to think about how humans typically think of aliens as mysterious and frightening, but aliens might think the same thing about humans! To be honest though humans are very weird.
I love the tips you gave in here. I have always wanted to try making aliens and other extraterrestrial beings for my stories. This was so fun to read.