Hello there lovelies!
So, mermaids are by far one of the most popular and well-known creatures in folklore, ranging from dangerous, to romantic, to playful, depending on the writer's mood.
Because they have shown up in all media imaginable, and their presence has been described as both positive and negative, it can be somewhat daunting to decide how to incorporate this creature in your writing.
So, here is an overview of how you can handle writing a mermaid, or several mermaids, into your story.
General description:
The description of a mermaid is almost comically well-known; a half human, half fish creature with long, flowing hair, a beautiful face, and a singing voice that can lure people to their deaths. Yet, this familiarity opens up a number of doors when it comes to customising mermaids for your story.
Because this creature is so well-established in general pop culture, it lends itself easy to unique descriptions and interpretations.
For example: you can choose whether or not a mermaid's voice is deadly, if it's simply very beautiful, or even scrap their connection to music altogether if it doesn't serve your plot.
While the latter would take away a key ingredient of their folklore, it still wouldn't dissuade the audience from thinking they were still reading about a mermaid.
Other examples to do with their description is all the different physical appearances you can give them, as long as it still adheres to a half human half fish.
For one, you can play around a lot with the type of fish tail you give your mermaids. All the waters on earth are full of variety when it comes to fish, so there are many colours, shapes, and sizes to choose from. This can also influence the size of your mermaids. You can choose to keep them somewhat humanoid, or to change it to reflect the size of the fish whose tail you modelled your mermaid after.
Going further, different types of mermaids can live in different types of waters, just like each body of water has their own unique eco-system of fish.
Even if you choose to have similar tails for your mermaids, or to keep them humanoid in size, the colour of their tails, skin, hair and eyes are still very much open for variety. Something that can influence this, are the types of waters your mermaids reside in, and the amount of sunlight they are subjected to. For example: the more sun reflection, the darker the mermaids' skin will probably be, and the more colour present in the eco-system, such as plants or corals, the more colour their tails probably will have as well.
Interaction:
Where you place mermaids in your story is not only going to influence their interaction with humans and other creatures, but also how they are viewed by human society.
The closer they are to civilisation, the less mysterious they will appear to humans, and the more knowledge there will be about them. Whether this has negative or positive outcomes for either humans or mermaids will be up to what is needed for your plot.
It's possible that, because the interaction between the two is limited, they are only vaguely aware of each other's existence, or they see each other as a threat. It's also possible that, because interaction is frequent, they have a neutral to friendly relationship, or a very antagonistic rivalry.
If you choose to make them interact, you will also have to think about the nature and way of communication. Do mermaids have the same language as humans, or do they mainly talk to them through music or other sounds, for example?
Something else to consider is whether it matters what type of human they have contact with. If you choose to let them interact with all kinds of humans, and who they are doesn't matter, then this may not be something to focus on. However, it can greatly add to their lore in your world building to add a preference for certain people, whether these be friendly encounters, or as victims. For example, do they mainly show themselves to young, old, male, female, cruel, kind, etc.? What does this mean for how they are viewed by human civilisation? Are there certain implications formed by these preferences? Is there superstition surrounding it?
Use:
Another thing to consider is what role your mermaids are going to play in your story. Are they going to be allies, neutral, or antagonists?
This choice will greatly influence all the characteristics mentioned above, and what lore and world building surrounds them in your story.
Not only that, but you need to be aware of how their symbolism, both negative and positive, is going to be present in your story. Historically, mermaids are both used to represent the dangers of hubris and lust leading people astray, but also as symbols of beauty, excellence, and musical prowess. Whether you want to use either of these interpretations is up to you, but they can be quite useful in deciding what part they play in your story, as well as your world.
Hopefully, this helps in deciding what to do regarding using mermaids in your story.
Goodbye, lovelies!
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