Writing Stack Exchange
Writing Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [mythology]

Use for writing or research questions involving existing myths or ones you create for your world.

31 questions
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4 answers

How to Write an Eldritch Abomination?

My trilogy features an otherworldly monstrosity called Fenrisúlfr as it's primary antagonist, whose characterisation takes cues from Nyarlathotep, Sauron, Showa!King Ghidorah, Sutekh, Makuta Teridax and the Gravemind. It is single-handedly…
user29299
21
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11 answers

Avoiding cliches when writing gods

When writing fictional polytheisms, it's tempting to draw inspiration from the existing ones. In ancient religions (I'm mainly thinking of the Greek/Latin, Egyptian and Norse pantheons) there are some common tropes and similarities. They all have a…
Liquid
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6 answers

How to write a convincing religious myth?

In my story the protagonist hears, in a temple ceremony, the reading of a religious/mythological text. Now in the actual story, I don't need the text itself (the role of the text in context, and the protagonist's reaction to it are the important…
celtschk
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4 answers

What are the components of a legend (in the sense of a tale, not a figure legend)?

I'm compiling in-world legends for my built world, and would like them to feel like established legends from our own human experience. What should I keep in mind while writing these legends? What elements, styles of prose, turns of phrases,…
SFWriter
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9
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4 answers

How to hide a character's identity from the audience?

My trilogy features two important characters whose identities I wish to keep hidden. The first is the series' deuteragonist, who is heavily implied to be Jeanne d'Arc (yes, THAT Jeanne d'Arc), who for reasons unknown decided to use her sister's…
user29299
9
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3 answers

Naming non-English folklore creatures

I'm working on a novel that involves folklore/mythological creatures from mainly the Norse and Scandinavian myths, but in the world of the novel, there exists beings from all cultures. I wish to write it in English, leading to some problems with…
sororicida
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What's the significance of ancient mythology in literature?

Whenever I see a movie critic praise Ridley Scott's Prometheus, they seem to be drooling over all the mythological references, although most don't necessarily complement gaps in the story or enrich itself. I see the same pattern repeated over and…
Sedat Kapanoglu
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Would Amazon allow sex between transformed humans (animal/object) with normal humans

I'm concerned about what Amazon will allow since their guidelines are so vague, or in the case of what I am writing, a gray area. In the stories I'm writing, human beings are transformed into sentient animals, half-animals, or objects. In several…
user23043
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6 answers

Adding depth to two-dimensional heroes from myths

For the recent writing exercise I wanted to tackle Beowulf's character. In the original saga, the hero Beowulf comes to the aid of king Hrothgar to defeat two monsters. Then, after a period of 50 years, he faces a third monster. I wanted to create…
NofP
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4
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Fiction copyright, mythologies and interpretations of ancient texts?

So, I understand that ancient mythologies and their characters such as Zeus etc are part of the public domain. However, what happens to individual interpretations of ancient texts? For example, a sacred tablet that has been translated from another…
Orchid
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4
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5 answers

What are the ramifications of a character sharing the same name as a famous and established character?

A character in my fantasy novel is called Beowulf. I named him such at a time I was unaware that this character existed in mythology, and was at least a little established. I didn't think much of it at first, but multiple people commented on it…
A. Kvåle
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When using mythology in your writing, can you change certain small aspects of some myths to fit into your story?

I'm writing a book that takes place in modern day but also involves the Greek gods and goddesses and Greek mythology. Is it frowned upon to change a small part of a certain myth to make it fit into your story? For example, I want to incorporate a…
Nsim
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How to avoid plotholes when writing stories with dense mythologies?

I've been brainstorming and working on worldbuilding, structure, characters and overall story development stuff for about 4 years now. Basically spending a lot of time brainstorming strong, well developed self contained ideas, only lightly…
Antuan Robinson
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Create and using a custom version of a part of an existing mythology

In my story, I've decided to create some legends, myths, and prophecies for one of the species I used. I don't think there is any problem with this even if I haven't created this species. But one of these legends is a rewrite of the legend of…
Shkeil
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Is it okay to use mythology names of creatures in a fantasy world?

In creating my world, I am trying to write down and create mythical wildlife and monsters. I had been thinking of using sirens as one of them. Not a creature based off of them, but the actual Greek fictional entity. Would it be okay to have specific…
Crafter
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