Turning myth into fiction
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Am I honoring this… or just wearing it? ~R.G. Newhouse
The above quote comes from a blog post by author, R.G. Newhouse, where she discusses Working with Myth without taking what’s not yours.
As a fiction writer, story ideas come from anywhere, whether it’s within your own field of expertise, culture or not. Yesterday, I posted about an archaeological find of Neolithic period stone monuments and a bowl containing animal figurines inserted into stone circlets. As I read the article, my imagination was sparked by the animal figurines. Why? Who? How can this type of symbolism be worked into a story I might write? Should it be?
The mythology I research is most often derived from Scotland and Ireland. Can I extrapolate the Neolithic bowl of figurines into pre-Celtic and Celtic culture? Should I? Further, exploring the age of the finds, the movement of ancient peoples and the mythology I write about, it’s certainly possible.
To avoid cultural appropriation, it’s recommended that a sensitivity reader is contracted to go over your draft manuscript. This is especially crucial if you’re writing about a culture that’s been colonised and/or oppressed, and you’re from the dominating culture. A biased viewpoint may undermine the best of intentions. Even with greater awareness, biases can sneak in. Be respectful of the stories and characters that live outside your own worldview.
Authors in this genre present well-known tales with a wealth of imaginative backstory and weave contemporary themes and elements with archetypes. For example, the hero or heroine’s journey and transformation, climate change, technology, and dystopian settings. Readers enjoy compelling storylines uplifted with mythological motifs and themes and mixed with creativity and imagination.
So how do you go about turning a myth into fiction?
Start with finding the thread that connects to a story. I find these threads in the research, traditions handed down through familial lines. Old traditions, like old wives’ tales, often have their origin in myth and ancient culture. I combine them with components of a myth entrenched in a collection of traditions. My novel, Keeper of the Way, centres around a family of Scottish ancestry. The traditions used in the kitchen, for healing, magic, and in the story unveiling itself around them, are drawn from cultures that hark back before the time of the Celts, before even the Gaels.
Madeline Miller explores the life of the Greek Goddess, Circe in her novel of the same name. She turns myth into fiction and tells the story from Circe’s point of view and includes themes of feminism, selfhood and power. It’s a fabulous retelling.
Fiction is born from mythology. It is our living history that has carried us through the centuries and will continue to weave its magic on our psyches far into the future. Joining them provides a fuller version of ancient stories and people who make up our past. This enables us to keep our stories close and write new ones for those that come after us.
