57: Magic, Myth, and Man – Wield Supernatural Power (6)

Back when my son was young, we read several of Rick Riordan

books together. Beginning with the Lightning Thief in the Percy

Jackson and the Olympians series, we had a great time. As

I ordered mix Greek mythology with modern day characters to

create a highly inventive high stakes middle grade series. His

characters were funny and likeable. Their adventures wrote

all over the US and my son got his introduction to the major

Greek gods. We also enjoyed several of Owen Cooper's Artemis

Fowl books, in which the author explained some of the powers of

the elves in quite logical ways. I love it. When books handle

mythology and magic well, don't you. This is the last

installment of our six part world building series entitled

magic myth and man willed supernatural power. And today I

will give you five tips to successfully incorporate myth

and magic into your world building a writing precedes

authors. Welcome back to the podcast. To those of you who are

new, I want to extend a special welcome. My name is Kathrese

McKee. And I'm glad you're here. If you are a writer seeking

encouragement, information and inspiration, this podcast is for

you. Let's get to it. The word myth comes from the Greek word

mythos, which means word of mouth. Mythology is a set of

stories which features supernatural beings and their

effects on the natural world, including humans. Every

civilization has word of mouth stories about Gods and

Goddesses, and supernatural creatures. Religion differs from

mythology although they are often intertwined. Myths are

stories people tell each other and pass on to the next

generation. And religion is a set of beliefs we follow.

Legends are stories about actual people, mostly, but the stories

themselves may or may not be based on fact, they are legends,

and thus, it's hard to parse fact from fiction. Mankind loves

its myth, and from there, it's not a long jump from

supernatural beings to Magic, magic systems, magical

creatures, and humans who somehow discover and wield

magic. Here are five tips for incorporating myth and magic

into your world building. Tip number one. If you are drawing

from myth from past or existing civilizations, make sure you

research them thoroughly and make certain you understand them

so you can incorporate the myths accurately and in a respectful

way. Believe me, if you get something wrong or portray a

myth poorly, you will have readers who know you got it

wrong. Don't be that author. This is especially relevant to

historical fiction authors. Make sure you get your facts right.

Use more than one source just like your teachers made you do

for research papers, and make sure you use reputable sources.

Don't stop at Wikipedia. As a side note, why not share your

sources with your readers. This leads to transparency. I know

it's not our research paper. But your interest in a certain kind

of mythology can be something you share with your readers. I

loved Greek and Roman mythology when I was a kid, but I don't

consider myself to be an expert. I have trouble keeping all the

names straight and remembering which God did what. But there

are plenty of people who study myths. No matter if the origins

are Greek, Roman Norse, Egyptian, Celtic, I hope I said

that right? Hindu, Chinese or that of indigenous peoples

around the world. So don't skimp on the research. Better, I think

to create your own mythology for your own universe than to get

existing myth wrong. Tip number two, consider how mythology will

affect your fictional society. Mythology serves as a source of

identity for people, it forms a common basis of understanding.

Remember myth come from word of mouth, so it will be

demonstrated through an oral tradition. Mythology is also

used to pass on morals and ethics to future generations to

teach children the pitfalls of poor behavior. Show this in your

stories if the myths are important to the plot, mythology

is an inspiration for art and culture, ballads, chants poetry,

traditional dances and music. As I mentioned before, mythology is

often tied to religious rituals and practices. That's ology even

affects politics and government decisions, with many examples

from history of how those Empower, harnessed mythology to

stay in power and wield authority. Keep these things in

mind as you plot your story. Writing pursuits is run by

Kathrese. McKee, who has been trusted by fiction authors since

2014. To take their writing to a new level of excellence.

Guthrie's is a three story methods certified editor who

specializes in story diagnostics, coaching and line

editing to help you prepare your story for the journey ahead. For

more information, go to writing pursuits.com. The link is in the

show notes. And now, back to the podcast.

Tip number three. If you're world building includes magic,

figure out the systems of magic that exists in your world, and

the rules that apply to each. Then make bills clear to your

readers without any info dumps. In part three society's rules we

discussed briefly, the laws of magic and Sanderson three laws

of magic, and I'll repeat, one and author's ability to solve

conflict with magic in a satisfying way is directly

proportional to how well the reader understands said magic.

To the costs and limitations and flaws in your story. are what

make your magic interesting. And number three before adding

something new to your system. First, expand on what you

already have. is magic in your world benevolent or malevolent?

Is Magic, legal or illegal? Who has magic and how does it work?

Okay, so if you're new to magic in fiction, I honestly don't

know what to say. No, that it is perfectly okay to come up with

your own system and rules. If you want to start in place, you

can look into these common types of magic failed in fiction,

elemental magic, like in Avatar The Last Airbender, with those

who could bend air, water, fire and earth, and in the darkest

case, there were a couple of instances of blood bending

necromancy, which includes contouring and controlling the

dead as in The Raven Boys by Maggie, stepfather, and the

Mummy See movie series. Divination, which includes

foreseeing the future or gaining insight by various means

enchantment, which appears in fairy tales beyond number where

people are manipulated through potions and spells,

transformative magic, which is featured in the Harry Potter

series, when certain characters can transform themselves into

the likeness of animals. illusion magic, as in the

Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, in which a human wizard detective

uses magic to create illusions and manipulate the census and

filing healing magic, which is common throughout literature,

dark magic, which is considered to be somehow taboo. Even among

those who wield magic. It is almost always used to harm or is

a dangerous shortcut. Commonly, it takes a form of hexes poisons

and curses. The unforgivable curses in Harry Potter by JK

Rowling are a good example is as is the magic of the White Witch

in The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

by CS Lewis. Tip number four decide on the sources of magic

in your world building. Ns Anderson, Sanderson indicated

the costs and limitations. Are characters born with their

magic? If not, how is it acquired? Or do they learn to

harness the powers of magical objects? What are the sources of

magic, but God's the elements blesses objects? What does magic

cost those who willed it? How do they seek strengthen it or

weaken it? Or their countermeasures to magic write

down your rules, so it's easy to stay consistent? And then think

about the following? How does society respond to magic? Is it

banned, traded, revered or feared, who seeks to control it,

destroy it or hoard it? This is how you create conflict and plot

points and themes in your stories. Tip number five.

Science fiction is not immune to magic and mythology. Science

fiction usually does not incorporate magic. But to those

who do not understand a certain technology, that technology may

seem magical. Also, people tend to worship their technology. I'm

looking at you Apple bros. Hmm. Sometimes technology can reach

mythological levels, particularly if the knowledge

that created is lost to those who rediscover it. Let me gently

point out that those who put forward the theories of aliens

building the pyramids, or passing on astrological

knowledge to ancient peoples, ancient humans are perfectly

capable of figuring out astrological stuff on their own,

and building enormous complex structures. giving credit to

aliens for human achievements, is a common means of denying

credit to black and brown people for possessing amazing

abilities. So just because we've lost the knowledge of how they

built the pyramids, or figured out the movement of the stars,

doesn't mean they weren't smart enough to do it themselves. I'm

just saying. Also just stop calling any human primitive

fight me in the streets because this is a hill I will gladly die

on. Of course, if the tech you have in your story is supposed

to be an alien technology. Go for it. Okay, in this last part

of our world building series, we've covered these tips. One,

if you're using existing myth, take care to get them right to

consider how mythology will affect your fictional society.

Three, if your world building includes magic, figure out the

systems of magic that exist and the rules that apply to each

four decide on the sources of magic in your world building and

its costs and limitations. Science fiction and is not

immune to magic in mythology. The question of the week is,

what are your favorite books series or movies that include

mythology or magic? Leave your answers at writing pursuits

dot.com forward slash podcast forward slash 57. That's all I

have for today. Until next time, keep writing my friends keep

writing. Thank you for listening to the podcast today. If you

enjoyed this episode, please leave a star rating and follow

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