DEVELOPING CREATURES

I have found something very intriguing about my dinosaur book. Because the reverse engineered animals are creatures that have not existed in real life, I am constantly brainstorming on what they would look like and how they would behave. Just when I think I have reach a finalized version, I come up with new ideas to incorporate with the design. It is a process that does not seem to end and requires just as much time and effort to accomplish as writing the story itself. Many of these creatures have combined physical features from other animals. For example, the new theropod dinosaurs will look like a combination of multiple real life theropods. Another example would be herbivores that look like a combination between real life plant-eating dinosaurs such as sauropods, hadrosaurs, and ceratopsians. In addition to the animals, I am also brainstorming on what the plant life would look like. I would have to decide if the vegetation would look like something from the Garden of Eden or some grotesque mutant from an alien planet. Overall, I am going to give my illustrator quite a challenge when the time comes to hire them. Of course, that challenge will only come if I can reach a final decision on what the creatures and landscape would look like.

A TRANSHUMAN SOCIETY

I believe that humanity has grown too dependent on their technology, which would hinder their biological evolution. Due to this, mankind is reaching an evolutionary dead end and the only way we can progress further is to discard our biological bodies and become one with our technology. Since the sequel to my dinosaur book will take place thousands or millions of years in the future, I can envision humanity adopting a society that embraces transhumanism.

DINOSAUROID THEORY

For decades, there has been an intriguing theory about how some dinosaurs might have evolved if they did not become extinct. Dinosaurs ruled the Earth unopposed for over one hundred and fifty million years. In some documentaries I recently watched, I discovered that right before their extinction dinosaurs were at the zenith of their power. If it was not for the asteroid that crashed into the Earth, the dinosaurs would have ruled the Earth for another one hundred and fifty million years. In that time, dinosaurs would have continued to evolve in ways we can’t imagine.

One possible way dinosaurs could have evolved would be as their own version of sentient life forms. In particular, scientists believed that the most intelligent dinosaurs such as raptors or Troodons might have evolved into humanoid-like beings. Due to the fact that raptors and Troodons had the largest brains of any dinosaur, scientists theorized that their brains would have grown to a similar level to modern humans if they were allowed to evolve. Another aspect that created this theory is the fact that Troodons have a third finger that is partially opposable, but not to the degree of primates.

I am thinking of doing my own version of the dinosauroid theory in a sequel to my dinosaur book. Now that dinosaurs were reverse engineered through the main story’s experiment, they have a second chance to evolve. To make matters more extreme, the genetic evolution of these creatures have been completely altered, resulting in the development of countless unpredictable changes. The sequel will take place five million years in the future. It took humans five million years of evolution to turn from monkeys to the dominant species on the planet. Imagine how these reverse engineered dinosaurs would evolve in that time.

A MILLION WAYS TO DIE

The more I brainstorm for my dinosaur book, the more I realize that the dangers my characters will face will be very diverse. They will encounter carnivorous dinosaurs, giant insects, mutant plants, incurable diseases, unbreathable air, killer fish, predatory birds, territorial herbivores, crushing stampedes, rising tides, and marine reptiles. There are literally a million ways humans can die in this ecosystem. These dangers will provide an overdose of suspense and terror as the characters fight for their lives.

A CHILLING EPILOGUE

I have thought of a fitting epilogue for my dinosaur book. It will time skip one million years into the future. The fate of the manmade ecosystem and its inhabitants and how they will affect the rest of the world will be revealed. As I have learned in my prehistory documentaries, a lot can happen in a million years.

MODERN SEA MONSTERS

In one of my earlier posts, I mentioned the possibility of featuring reverse engineered animals that resemble the prehistoric marine creatures of the past. However, I originally considered featuring them in a sequel or spinoff for my dinosaur book. Now, I am thinking of including these creatures in my dinosaur book in a sea next to the main ecosystem. I have done extensive research on what modern animals could be used as templates for these reverse engineered monsters. These beasts will also serve as the final challenge the characters will face as they try to reach civilization.

DINOSAUR BOOK: CHAPTER 8

I have reached the eighth chapter of my dinosaur book. The hike from Hell has begun! With their equipment and provisions gathered, the characters begin a fifty mile journey through a primeval wilderness. I am very giddy about writing the chapters ahead because I get to portray the inner workings of an ecosystem of my own imagination. I get to depict how these artificial dinosaurs and megafauna interact both with each other and their surrounding environment. Among these interactions are the predator/prey relationship between the animals as well as how the herbivores graze. I also get to depict the characters’ reactions to it all. It has become an immersive writing experience that is hard to break from.

CLAUSTROPHOBIC DANGER

We all remember the shark cage scene from Jaws, where Hooper was trapped inside his shark cage with the shark attacking him. The whole thing was so claustrophobic and the shark made the sense of fear worse. I am thinking of doing something similar with my dinosaur book. Because the oxygen levels of the primeval ecosystem are too high for humans, the characters will have wear life support suits in order to traverse the wilderness. In addition, the characters will be attacked by hungry predators from every direction, which will intensify the sense of claustrophobia they will experience. Imagine being attacked by a beast the resembles a T. Rex while being trapped inside a metal can.

PREHISTORIC PLANTS

The pictures above are but a few examples of plants that existed during the time of the dinosaurs. As I mentioned in my previous post, the setting of my dinosaur book will have plants that share features from these real life plants, but they will be like nothing that has ever existed in real life. I am envisioning plant life that is not only colossal but also bent and twisted every which way. Some of these plants will even work like the death traps from the Saw movies. Overall, it is not just carnivorous dinosaurs or megafauna predators the characters have to worry about. They will also have to worry about killer mutant plants!

PRIMEVAL WORLDBUILDING

As a writer, I started getting the hang of world building when I wrote Numen the Slayer. While writing my new dinosaur book, I have been having the time of my life building the primeval world that my story takes place in. I have been envisioning a patch of land that is the result of an imperfect attempt to recreate a prehistoric ecosystem. When it comes to imperfect attempts, I am envisioning plants that share some traits with prehistoric plants, but are like nothing that existed in the real life prehistoric past or the modern present. In addition to the plants, I am envisioning animals that are the result of an attempt to recreate extinct life forms. Instead of bringing extinct species back, these creatures are completely new manmade species that never existed before. Because of its completely manmade nature, this ecosystem has many flaws and, under normal circumstances, such an ecosystem would not be able to function. However, something happens that allows this ecosystem to function against all odds, which further adds to the mysterious uniqueness of this artificial primeval world. Overall, instead of the normal prehistoric world we all know and can see in books and films, the setting in my dinosaur book will be a synthetic alien world that is unlike anything the world has ever seen in any time period.