On Writing Fantasy:Adding a Mythic Quality to Your Writing
Acquiring knowledge of myths is easy but time consuming. There are many good sources; reading books on mythology, researching the Internet and reading Fantasy works that incorporate myth very well can provide writers with considerable knowledge. (A list of mythology and books can be found at the end of this article.) Along with knowledge of mythology, writers should use their life experience.
People's hopes, dreams, life changes, education and everything that makes them who they are is a part of life experience. Writers should use their life experience in their works because most Fantasy literature is rooted there: "What we do need is to remember that Fantasy (even more than other kinds of fiction) is a rites-of-passage literature--whether its themes are based on collective battles or on private, individual ones. The best Fantasy is rooted not only in myth but in life experience--while the worst draws experience secondhand from film, television and other books." (Windling, 24) It's hard to avoid the influences from other media. A writer must consciously avoid this trap, but let it blend with their own life experience and imagination to produce powerful works. This is an obligation to readers. Fail this obligation and readers are left with poor, lifeless stories. "As fantasist, we must look to the quests, ordeals, and trials that form (as Susan Cooper says) the shape of our own imagination and all its unconscious preoccupations. Through myth, symbol, and metaphor, the true fantasist transforms the personal into the universal--creating stories that not only entertain but provide the mythic tools we need to face the ordeals, the monsters, the wolves, of our modern age." (Windling, 24) This is not too much to ask of the Fantasy writer.
Without the presence of a mythic element in Fantasy, books and stories are sometimes little more than empty, flashy entertainment. Writers can create powerful works by understanding the relationship of myth to Fantasy; having a knowledge of mythology and epic cycles; and putting life experience into their works. Blending realistic characters, mythic themes and fantastic settings using the three things mentioned previously could give Fantasy readers timeless works to last through the ages.
Works Cited:
Attebery, Brian .Strategies of Fantasy., Bloomington and Idianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1992.
Windling, Terri. "Unriddling the World:Rites-of-Passage Myths and Fantasy Tales." Realms of Fantasy Volume 6 #2 (December 1999): 21-2
Books on Mythology:
The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell
The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell
The Golden Bough by James Frazer
Man and
Latest Articles