Sometimes, no matter how many attempts you make at refining a story, it still just doesn’t feel right. And that can be pretty off-putting, not to mention demotivating. Especially when you just cannot point out what went wrong. Let’s see if ending these seven deadly sins helps resurrect your lost confidence in your story idea. 

If you’re reading this to know what to avoid getting wrong before beginning, I have a writing prompt at the end for you to practice your newly gained skills. Let’s jump right in!

The Seven Deadly Sins of Speculative Fiction

Sin 1: Over-explaining

A reader isn’t looking for every detail of that dress or how that coffee smells. Trust me: they aren’t looking to read your character’s daily routine either or the exact science behind how your characters teleported. Readers want just enough to invoke powerful imagery in their minds; their brains will take care of the rest. One of the most definite signs you’re over-explaining an element in your story is repetition.

If you think you need to write four sentences to describe joy, you’re not following the rule called “show not tell.” Instead, you’re over-explaining. You also don’t need a dialogue tag after every bit of dialogue if you’ve established clearly who is speaking and worst of all is when you add an adverb after that dialogue tag! Also, skip the long, flowy descriptions for every additional element added to the scene.

Sin 2: Inconsistencies

As a writer, one of the biggest tasks you’re entrusted with is to make sure the flow of logic established in your plot, and story in general, runs smoothly until the end. Readers might forgive you for not giving your character a certain quirk, but they will shed a lot of tears if they’re halfway through the story and start noticing inconsistencies. Imagine the frustration!

And like I wrote last time, Pantsers can’t just wing it with speculative fiction. In speculative fiction, the entire idea is to make sure your speculative elements fall within the line of logic as readers practice willing suspension of disbelief. 

To avoid inconsistencies, try keeping brief notes of your plot and characters. Read the story yourself and check for plot holes. And once you’re confident enough, get someone trustworthy to read your story.

Sin 3: Only Plot Focused

A story needs a great plot, but it also needs terrific characters. In fact, the formula to a heart-warming novel is:

Great Plot + Terrific Characters = Great Novel

A plot, especially in speculative fiction, can be thrilling, toe-curling, attention-grabbing, but don’t forget to develop your characters along the way. More often than not, we are so engrossed by all the speculative elements we forget the latter. However, we relate to people, not situations. 

Characters develop through what is happening during the plot. But the characters first need a personality, to begin with. If you think you can kickstart the story with a cool plot, a never-before-seen world, and later focus on the characters, please think again.

Readers want to see the entire journey of the characters. From page one.

Sin 4: Incomprehensible Characters

That brings me to characters that are too hard to understand. I don’t mean they can’t have a complex backstory, complex thought processes, or even toxic traits. That is all realistic. In fact, human beings are rarely simple. 

What I mean is a character that isn’t unique or three-dimensional. Our motivations and actions work in a cause-effect relationship. If you have characters that are understandable (that is, even their complexities are logical), they will grab the readers’ attention and the story will tell itself.

Avoid characters that have clichéd personalities or no personalities at all, unrealistic dialogue, characters that are stuck in passive roles (meaning the plot is driving them, not the other way around), or characters that have no weaknesses. 

An incomprehensible character is difficult to understand not because of their complexities but because they aren’t lifelike.

Sin 5: Clichés

No matter whether the clichés are scenes, a trope, a quirk, avoid them! Something so overused that it lacks originality and makes your readers whine will not benefit you. 

That is not to say that you should stop incorporating something like an alien race or a wizarding world, or even love triangles. But try to make it original. After all, there is so much literature available to us, each word on the page will not be unique. But at least try to make it original.

Just because something is sensational or trending doesn’t mean we gallop after it blindfolded. 

Similarly, don’t go borrowing tales. Now that might seem counterintuitive since I have talked about the art of retelling once on this platform. But if you read that, you would understand how retelling can be aced by spicing it up with originality, stakes, and other details.

Sin 6: Conlangs

Simply put, an artificially created language. Do not use or create one unless you understand linguistics. Just because you are creating a language does not mean you can throw in a bunch of alphabets and call it a day. Not to mention, syntax and morphology play a huge part and will complicate things!

J.R.R Tolkien did it because he was a philologist. Either get help from the professionals if your story really requires a conlang or stick to the languages you know. All our languages are beautiful, and you don’t need a conlang to prove you’re writing speculative fiction.

Sin 7: Info-dumping

Remember the golden rule: avoid world-building until readers care about the world. 

In fact, let’s amp it up a little: avoid giving too much information about any speculative element until readers care. 

No one cares about the far-off galaxy, a tiny planet where it rains gold, and cities occupied by the love children of aliens and AI. And no one wants to read 5 pages worth of details either. 

Info-dumping is horrendous overkill. Imagine digging into your favorite dish and the first bite has all the salt gathered there. That’s what info-dumping is like. Sprinkle your details around. Show them at the relevant moments. 

Information about the world or characters should further the plot, not put the readers to sleep.

There you have it: The seven deadly sins that destroy the beauty of speculative fiction and seven virtues that can save it. 

Now, let’s test if you’ve gained the skills, shall we?

In case you don’t have a story ready to test it on, here is a prompt to get you started:

It is known the world will end when the white smoke rises. Now, as the haze grows thicker, there’s panic and chaos. But your character believes it is only climate change and we can reverse it.

I can’t wait to read your stories. And the next time we meet, I have a few of my favorite books I would like to share with you for understanding character development in the world of speculative fiction. Until then!

Tell us in the comments: Which of these 7 deadly sins do you struggle with the most?

Disha Walia is a lifelong storyteller and an enthusiastic writer and editor in love with the idea of exploring the creative world of words. While making her space in the world of non-fiction and fiction alike, Disha loves to spend even her free time daydreaming about what next to write. Connect with her on www.quillinary.com. You can also follow her on Instagram (@quillinary) and Twitter (@quillinary).

The post The Seven Deadly Sins of Speculative Fiction (and How to Fix Them) appeared first on DIY MFA.

If you have been eyeing the literary “super genre” but something someone once said has been holding you back, let’s dive right in and debunk some common myths about speculative fiction. (On a side note, are you looking for psychological proven exercises to improve creativity? I have something for you in the end.)

Myth 1: Speculative Fiction revolves around Sci-Fi.

When we call it a “super genre,” we really mean it. Speculative fiction is sometimes confused for sci-fi or fantasy. Or sometimes a genre hanging between the two. My guess is this has something to do with the fact that Robert Heinlein was the first person to coin the term in 1947 and it has since been largely associated with sci-fi in the 20th century. After all, sci-fi is a popularly read genre and has speculative elements.

But speculative fiction goes beyond that. It includes sci-fi, sci-fi inspired by mythology, folklore, fairy tales, fantasy, supernatural fiction, utopia fiction, dystopia fiction, urban fantasy, superhero fiction, apocalyptic fiction, post-apocalyptic fiction, magical realism, and alternate history fiction.

What I mean to say is, if it has any elements of speculation, or the story is supposed to be set in a world that is unlike ours, you’re aiming for speculative fiction. Do not let the scary myth that speculative fiction is only supposed to be sci-fi hold you back.

Myth 2: To write a good sci-fi (speculative fiction), a science degree is a must.

Stemming from the first of these myths about speculative fiction, this has to take the second spot. Although it is a myth more commonly heard for sci-fi, it is fluid in the sense that people sometimes assume in order to explain the new world and its functioning, a strong scientific backup is a necessity. And who but an individual with a science degree can provide better answers?

However, I think there is more to look at. Sure, a science degree can help through the technicalities, but the first step towards good world building is consistency. So long as there is consistency in your explanation about the workings of your world, the audience will enjoy your work. That also includes stretching the truth enough to make it seem plausible. After all, the audience knows to truly enjoy the genre of speculative fiction they must maintain a willing suspension of disbelief.

Myth 3: Pantsers can just wing it.

I will not lie, writing speculative fiction can be a little challenging, especially if you’re trying your hand at it for the first time. But mostly it is rewarding. The challenge generally lies in keeping the speculative elements consistent. There are so many details to take care of. This is why, if you’re a Pantser, it might not be the best idea to just go with the flow. You might overlook tiny details that might snowball into a plot hole later. In my opinion, keeping tabs on those details is going to make your life easier.

That does not mean you must automatically turn into a Plotter. Not to mention such a switch is extremely hard, if not downright impossible. If you’re wondering whether you’re a Pantser or Plotter, ask yourself one simple question: Do you enjoy outlining your story idea and do just that, or do you enjoy working without a set plan or outline? There is a middle ground too. It’s called Plantser and that just might be the solution you are looking for if this myth about speculative fiction plagues you.

Myth 4: World building is greater than storytelling.

Let’s just say one simple word: No. No amount of world building can replace storytelling. Think of the greatest novel, movie, or TV show you have read or watched that comes under speculative fiction. Chances are, the storytelling was just as powerful as world building, if not more. Now imagine a cool world where a lot of things are happening at once, but there is a lack of storytelling. Doesn’t sound very gripping, does it?

Because no matter how great the world building is, we only care about that world because of the story. Now, I am not saying world building is not important. It is, but only because of the characters we are going on a journey with in that world.

I will take two examples here. One of my most favorite book series: The Harry Potter Series. Yes, the wizarding world is the coolest thing ever and I am still waiting for my Hogwarts letter, but I only care about all of that because every character in that story is compelling. It has always been the characters that have drawn me in and attached me to the world, not the other way around.

For my other example, let’s think about Disney’s Finding Nemo. Talking sea creatures? Cute. A father on a mission to find his kidnapped son (might I add his only child)? Compelling.

Now, if you want to write a story that leaves an impression on your readers and you want them to remember it even years after putting your novel down, you know where to focus. If that isn’t your goal, you can continue believing in this myth about speculative fiction.

An Exercise

If any of these myths about speculative fiction have been holding you back, I hope you are now ready to pull out your notes and memos that kept your exclusive world hidden until now. Remember, writing is for everyone, regardless of the genre. If you take one step forward, it would be a step closer to your wonderful world of speculative elements.

However, if it is a lack of creative boost holding you in its clutches. Let’s try to free you from that as well. I am going to employee my degree in psychology here and give you a little exercise that can help improve creative thinking:

The constrained creativity.

Often, people who find themselves constrained in some way come up with the most creative ideas. I know it might sound counterintuitive, but putting limitations pushes your brain to focus on creating novel ideas and solutions. Let’s try it together.

Tell me or write for yourself a short story about the weather outside your window right now. But your constraint is the story must have an unusual sentient being saying it all in under 100 words. I will be waiting to read your stories!

Next time we meet let’s take the 7 Deadly Sins of Speculative Fiction by the horn and be rid of those monsters for once and for all. Together we’ll see the beauty of Speculative Fiction in all its glory. Until then!

Disha Walia is a lifelong storyteller and an enthusiastic writer and editor in love with the idea of exploring the creative world of words. While making her space in the world of non-fiction and fiction alike, Disha loves to spend even her free time daydreaming about what next to write. Connect with her on www.quillinary.com. You can also follow her on Instagram (@quillinary) and Twitter (@quillinary).

The post Welcome to Worldly Wise: Debunking Myths about Speculative Fiction appeared first on DIY MFA.

Two Myths about Writing

Everyone who took English in school at any level (and that’s all of us) thinks they can write. Or thinks they could if they wanted to. That’s myth number one. Myth number two is the first myth’s polar opposite — that writers are simply blessed with creative genius and therefore destined to write great works.

Consider these statistics. It took Boris Pasternak over ten years to write Doctor Zhivago, a sweeping historical saga that’s also a quintessential love story. Madame Bovary took Gustave Flaubert five years to finish and it’s considered one of the great works of literature and still defining how women feel marginalized by societal norms. Donna Tartt wrote her Pulitzer prize winner The Goldfinch over ten years and her previous novel, and the one that probably pre-cemented her place in the Pulitzer pantheon, The Secret History took her nine years to complete. All of these novels were huge successes, translated into many languages and perennial sellers.

Churning Out Books

Nora Roberts (a pen name), who also writes under the pen names J. D. Robb, Jill March, and Sarah Hardesty, churns out four books a year and has published over two hundred twenty-five romance novels in a variety of sub-genres. She is not alone, production wise. The famed British romance writer, Barbara Cartland often dictated her books (at times from a supine position on her couch) while one or more secretaries took simultaneous notes, but she also was a disciplined writer who produced some seven hundred books during her life.

So there you have it, some examples of the way of the writer. Which leads inevitably to an examination of what kinds of fiction writers today produce and how they get those novels into the world for readers to consume. There are many more avenues today than there used to be for both creators and consumers of fiction.

Two Kinds Of Writers

At this point in our fiction writing culture, there are two basic kinds of writers, whether self-published, Indie-hybrid published or traditionally published.

The first is the group of writers – Roberts, Cartland – who consider writing a profession like any other. Nuts and bolts, write because you have to make a living, satisfy a market niche, promote the hell out of your work, and deposit your checks somewhere safe because the work is too hard to risk the rewards on a hot stock. Some of these writers get rich beyond what they set out to do. Some make a reliable, if not extravagant, living. And while the literary world won’t be rewarding these writers with prestigious accolades like Pulitzers or National Book Awards, their readers are so devoted their books sell in the billions (of copies and dollars) thus undergirding a publishing industry that has suffered from neck-snapping economic whiplash over the past twenty or so years.

The second is the group – Tartt, Pasternak, Flaubert – who have something very personal to say, about themselves and the culture that influences and informs them. You won’t find them writing about vampires or shape-shifters. You won’t find sex scenes every ten pages in their books. You won’t be inundated by cutesy witches who fall in love with handsome hunks or lady detectives who wear provocative skirts and kick back with the boys in the squad room. These writers also have devoted fans, albeit for very different reasons one assumes.

Sometimes the two groups overlap – Jack London comes to mind, a perennial favorite whose works even my nine-year-old video-game-playing grandson relishes. There are others who cross from the purely personal to the powerhouse popular. I don’t know if this group actually sets out to write for a mass audience but sometimes they do garner mass appeal. The Handmaid’s Tale made Margaret Atwood a household name some thirty years after it first appeared and then only after she’d published numerous other novels, works of poetry, essays, short stories, and non-fiction.

Writing For The Long Haul

It seems the culture sometimes catches up to a work of fiction. On the other hand, when Herman Melville died in 1891, a paltry 3,215 copies of Moby Dick had sold. Today, with the book out of copyright, there are well over twenty different printings on Amazon alone. If Melville were alive today, he’d be enjoying a comfortable retirement along with high praise for his literary classic. 

Which brings us to genre in novels. Is Moby Dick an adventure tale, a fishing story, historical fiction, a treatise on whaling, or a purely literary work? Because in today’s book writing/selling/buying environment, a novel is supposed to fit into a defined niche. And those niches are getting ever more narrow on one hand and diverse on the other.

Take the single biggest selling category in fiction today: the romance novel. With so many sub-genres of romance – historical, contemporary, suspense, erotic, religious, spiritual, paranormal, fantasy, sci fi, young adult, speculative, new adult, regency, suspense, romcom, time travel, Gothic – it’s hard to keep up as more seem to pop up every year. And that’s just one genre. 

Fiction has been sliced and diced in so many ways, it’s dizzying to wander a bookstore’s stacks. But that’s the one thing agents and fiction editors tell new writers. Walk into a bookstore and find where your novel fits on a shelf. And pitch it as that genre. You can forget nuance. The more specific you can be about just what physical space your book occupies, the better. You may not be able to tell a book by its cover but by where it sits on a store shelf or what sub-genre you can search for on Amazon.

What Is Your Genre Anyway?

I used to think I wrote mainstream women’s fiction. Then I realized my work doesn’t stick to one genre. And that’s true of many writers–Margaret Atwood being just one example. 

Once, when a friend asked me why I write, I realized I like to solve puzzles. Writing a novel is like a complex puzzle with lots of moving parts that can be assembled any number of ways. I like the figuring out process. I like the complexity, creating characters and giving them reasons for the things they do and think and feel. And I like developing the plot. That removes the “literary” genre because to so-called literary writers, plot is a no-no, although I still think of my work as having literary qualities.

These days, agents seem to demand that writers fit into predetermined molds or write what editors they have relationships with might buy. One agent told me recently: “I really like your manuscript and the first chapter is gripping. I just don’t know an editor I could sell it to.” It’s like the bookshelves. Where do you fit into an already constrained world?

Writing (er… Publishing) Options

When I began writing, the only way to get published was to get an agent to represent you or to try to reach a book editor who had the clout to buy your work. All that has changed and some of it remains the same. Open any book with a title like “How To get Published” or “Guide To The Literary Market” and you’ll find lists of agents, what kinds of fiction they take on, what they’re looking for and how to write a really dynamite query letter. On the other hand open Amazon or the Barnes and Noble site and you can publish your own work. And now, with the newer category of hybrid publishers, you can do a bit of both. That is, query one of these publishers and go into a more flexible economic relationship where you have more control but also will have distribution to bookstores and a team of professionals behind your work.

It’s lucky for writers that there are so many legitimate avenues open to them these days. You can pick your lane and if circumstances change, you can change lanes. Alternatives to a closed market are always better than a market that is controlled at the top by a select few. Writing requires emotional and psychological resilience. While writers are developing their skill sets, they must keep this in mind and not allow the world to tell them who or what they are and how to value themselves or their work. 

In this era of disruption and digitization, the possibilities are open-ended and the choices these days are infinite. If there’s no bookshelf that fits a particular work, the writer can always build one to suit.

Five Rules For New (and Experienced!) Writers

1. Expect a long learning curve
2. Find excellent mentors either in workshops or writing classes
3. Figure out where your writing is strong and expand on that strength
4. Keep punching. Accept that rejection and indifference are part of the writing life.
5. Read books by writers on writing (Annie Dillard’s The Writing Life, Ann Lamott’s Bird By Bird, Stephen King’s On Writing, to name just three and one on craft that I found especially helpful – J. Madison Davis’s Novelist’s Essential Guide to Creating Plot).

LB Gschwandtner has attended numerous fiction-writing workshops―the Iowa Writers Workshop and others―studied with Fred Leebron, Bob Bausch, Richard Bausch, Lary Bloom, Joyce Maynard, Sue Levine, and Wally Lamb, and published five adult novels, one middle-grade novel, and one collection of quirky short stories. She began her professional career as an artist, became a magazine editor in 1980, and began writing fiction in 1986. She’s won awards in literary contests and independent publishing contests, and been published in literary digests and magazines. A Place Called Zamora (September 2020) is her eighth book.

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The Kalevala is the national epic poem of Finland, compiled and edited by scholar Elias Lönnrot in its final form in 1849. Professionally, Lönnrot was a district health officer, but used his traveling time well, collecting the stories of the people in the towns and villages he visited.

The principle characters of the Kalevala are men. There is Väinämöinen, son of a goddess and founder of the land of Kalevala, who is unlucky in love, but a skilled sorcerer. Väinämöinen’s best friend is Ilmarinen, the eternal smith, who forges the Sampo. The third main character is Lemminkäinen, who thinks he’s all that and a bag of chips, but has no clue about women. No. Clue. Fortunately, he’s also a good warrior and sorcerer, and that comes in handy.

Why am I telling you about the men of the Kalevala, when I’m supposed to be talking about the women? Well, like many mythic texts, many of the women are only in the Kalevala because of the men. As a result, the ladies get short shrift. Sad, but true. I have to present the men for context.

The three tales I’m about to share can give you some inspiration for how to build your own mythic tales.

Inspiration #1: Aino

Aino is the unfortunate sister of Joukahainen who, believing that he’s a better singer than Väinämöinen, challenges the demi-god to a duel. Long story short, Joukahainen loses. Badly. Väinämöinen’s songs are his spells and he literally sings Joukahainen into the ground. Before he’s buried alive, Joukahainen bargains for his life, but Väinämöinen isn’t interested in anything he offers. Until Joukahainen offers his beautiful sister, Aino, to marry.

Väinämöinen lets Joukahainen go so he can prepare his family for the impending wedding. Aino overhears her brother and mother commiserating and is inconsolable. Later, she meets with Väinämöinen and rejects him, even though the rest of her family wants the marriage to proceed. Aino dresses in fine clothes and jewels and wanders, trying to reconcile herself to her fate, but she can’t.

Eventually, she sees three washerwomen on a rocky outcrop in the bay, divests herself of her finery and swims out to them, still wishing there was some way she could avoid marrying Väinämöinen. When she reaches the rocky outcrop, however, it collapses beneath her and she disappears under the water.

Aino’s family is devastated and Väinämöinen heads out onto the water in search of solace. He fishes and catches a beautiful fish. He takes out his knife to clean it when it speaks to him. The fish is Aino transformed, and she will be neither his wife nor his dinner! She slips out of his hands and leaps back into the water. Though Väinämöinen fishes for days, dredging the bay with nets, he does not find Aino.

She is free.

Inspiration #2: Louhi

Louhi is the Mistress of the Northland and the most powerful woman in the Kalevala. Partly, her power derives from her beautiful daughters, whom she bargains away for powerful artifacts. Because what she asks for is generally impossible to obtain, it could be argued that she doesn’t want to marry her daughters off at all, but she lets them go willingly enough.

Väinämöinen arrives in the Northland greatly wounded by Joukahainen, who sought revenge, and devastated over the loss of Aino. Louhi says she will help Väinämöinen return to Kalevala if he agrees to forge her the Sampo, a magic mill that produces not only grain, but salt and gold. Väinämöinen confesses that he cannot make it, but his friend, Ilmarinen, who forged the sky dome, can do it. Louhi promises her eldest daughter to Ilmarinen if he can produce the artifact.

Ilmarinen comes through and Louhi stashes the Sampo inside a mountain behind a door with nine locks. Louhi isn’t content just to let the smith marry her daughter, though. First, she tries to foment a rivalry, telling her eldest daughter to marry Väinämöinen instead, because he is a great sorcerer. Her daughter refuses Väinämöinen’s proposal, though. Then, Louhi sets Ilmarinen a series of tasks, which he completes with the daughter’s help. Finally, Ilmarinen is married to Louhi’s eldest daughter.

After Louhi refuses to share the Sampo’s wealth with Kalevala (Finland), Väinämöinen, Ilmarinen, and Lemminkäinen team up to steal the Sampo from Louhi and Kalevala becomes prosperous. Louhi calls to Loviatar, one of the daughters of Tuoni, lord of the underworld, petitioning the goddess to loose pestilence on Kalevala. Loviatar births and tends her children, sending eight diseases, culminating in plague, to Kalevala. Väinämöinen saves his people, firing up the healing saunas and petitioning Ukko, the sky god, for healing balms.

Louhi next sends the bear Otso to kill the herds of Kalevala, so they will starve. Väinämöinen asks Ilmarinen to forge him a mighty spear and sets out to hunt Otso. Upon his successful return, Väinämöinen sings of Otso and for the prosperity of his people.

Väinämöinen’s songs are so joyful, the sun and moon come to listen. Louhi abducts them and then steals fire from every hearth in Kalevala. Through a series of further adventures, Väinämöinen and Ilmarinen restore fire to Kalevala. Louhi displays her own sorcerous powers throughout, including her ability to transform into various animals. It’s only when Ilmarinen forges chains that will bind Louhi for eternity that she releases the sun and the moon.

Her fate is not mentioned, so one may assume that she remained Mistress of the Northland.

Inspiration #3: Lemminkäinen’s mother

Yes. Sigh. Lemminkäinen’s mother, like Louhi’s daughters, never gets a name, but she does something no other character in the Kalevala does. She brings her son back from the dead.

Lemminkäinen, after leaving his wife and getting another, hears of the beauty of Louhi’s daughters and demands one of the Mistress of the Northland. Louhi sets Lemminkäinen a series of near impossible tasks, but he is equal to them, even the last, which is to hunt Tuoni’s swan (you may not think a swan is bad news, but this swan belongs to the god of the underworld). Unfortunately, a man he previously wronged kills Lemminkäinen while he’s distracted by the hunt, chops him up, and dumps the pieces in Tuoni’s river.

Lemminkäinen’s mother, fearing that her son has died, goes in search of him, finds Louhi, and gets the truth out of her. The last Louhi knew, Lemminkäinen was alive and hunting the swan, though. Lemminkäinen’s mother asks the trees and the path and the moon, but it’s not until she asks the sun, who sees all, that she learns where her son’s body is.

She asks Ilmarinen to make her a rake of copper and steel with which she dredges Tuoni’s river until she recovers all the parts of her son’s body. Then she stitches him back together and asks a bee to bring her a drop of heaven’s honey, which revives Lemminkäinen.

Myths as Story Inspiration

Doesn’t Aino’s story not remind you of Daphne turning into a tree to escape Apollo? What great witch, fairy, or goddess does Louhi resemble? Does Lemminkäinen’s mother not recall Isis resurrecting Osiris? There are analogues for all these archetypal characters in many mythic traditions that can serve as inspiration.

In creating the myths that inform your story world, you don’t have to duplicate any of these tales precisely. Look at the common threads and see what inspiration you can weave from them. Change the details or subvert expectations and come up with something that is distinctly yours.

Until next time, keep speculating and see where it leads you!

Melanie Marttila creates worlds from whole cloth. She’s a dreamsinger, an ink alchemist, and an unabashed learning mutt. Her speculative short fiction has appeared in Bastion Science Fiction Magazine, On Spec Magazine, and Sudbury Ink. She lives and writes in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, where she spends her days working as a corporate trainer. She blogs at https://www.melaniemarttila.ca and you can find her on Facebook and Twitter.

The post Mythic Storytelling Inspiration: The Women of the Kalevala appeared first on DIY MFA.

Look for the character that everyone else glosses over, or someone obscure in the pantheon who never gets the credit they deserve. There are a lot of (even more) interesting stories out there if you take the time to dig deep.

Let’s take a look at a case study: I followed Tlachtga off the beaten path of Irish myth and legend. This is where she led me

Tlachtga

The name is, like many Irish names, a challenge to pronounce. Google it, and you’ll find a recording that will help. Though the T is technically still present at the beginning of the word, the pronunciation comes out sounding like kleek-ga. You might just have to pop a glottal stop to get the T in.

Tlachtga is both a place and a person of myth. The place is also known as the Hill of Ward in county Meath. It’s about twelve miles from the better-known Hill of Tara. There are also a number of sacred wells in the area. It’s at Tlachtga where the Samhain Fire Festival is held. Samhain is the original celebration of what we know as Halloween.

That’s how I latched on to Tlachtga. Though my ancestry is Finnish on my father’s side, it’s Irish on my mother’s. I was born on Halloween at dusk. I’m a veilish baby, and I’ve been fascinated with the fire festivals since I was a child. When I came across Tlachtga in my reading some years ago, I had to know more.

The mythic Tlachtga appears in multiple tales over a number of time periods. She’s mentioned in poems within the Banshenchas, or “Lore of Women” and the Dinsenchas, or the “Lore of Places.”

In the most common story, she was the daughter of the druid Mog Roith and likely a druid herself. They travelled throughout Europe, looking for artifacts of power and ancient lore. They also studied in Italy with the sorcerer Simon Magus, whose three sons each fathered one of three triplets on Tlachtga.

Here’s where it gets classically misogynistic. Some tales call the event a sexual assault—for which none of Magus’s sons are called to account. Some gloss over the crime. Some tales say Tlachtga died giving birth to those three babies. This kind of ugliness is all over the classic myths and legends. You have to be prepared when you go digging just what you’ll unearth.

We can’t necessarily erase these events from the story, either. Tlachtga’s three sons, Doirb, Cumma, and Muach became the chieftains of Leinster, Munster, and Connaught, three of Ireland’s provinces. It was said that as long as their names were remembered, Ireland would never fall to foreign rule.

Tlachtga translates to earth spear, which some scholars associate with lightning. Mog Roith means devotee of the wheel, which may be linked with the sun. The earliest mention of Tlachtga is associated with the Firbolg, which predate the Tuatha De Dannan and the Milesians. Mog Roith is said to have served Cormac mac Art and Fionn mac Cumhail (both third century AD), and another mention, from the Lebor Gabála Érenn, goes back to the time of Conmael, nearly two thousand years before. They’re all over the historical map.

Both Tlachtga and her father made magical artifacts, too. While in Italy, Simon Magus helped them construct the Roth Rámach, or rowing wheel, which was a flying machine. I’m thinking sky chariot. Tlachtga created a pillar stone called Cnamhcaill or bone damage from a fragment of Roth Rámach. Anyone who looked at it went blind, anyone who heard it went deaf, and anyone who touched it, died.

There is one more theory that might explain their long lives (if those varied mentions are all the same people) and miraculous works. They were pagan gods, suppressed or largely written out of the records by Christian scribes. Tlachtga could have been the goddess of lightning and Mog Roith the god of the sun.

Taking it to the Page

Though the mentions of Tlachtga are few and far between, and the myths and legends about them vary in some of their details, it’s those very gaps that can fire your imagination.

For example, you could take the hateful details and do a feminist revision. Maybe the triplets were the result of consensual polyamory, or serial monogamy. Maybe Tlachtga didn’t die in childbirth and lived to bring up her children in love and light. Maybe she didn’t have triplets, but three separate births a reasonable nine to twelve months apart. Or, perhaps there was some threat to her or her children that faking her death would have protected them from.

Also, some scholars theorize that Cnamhcaill was a lightning rod or a device that attracted and stored lighting. It would explain some of its effects. Maybe Tlachtga and Mog Roith were early scientists. That would be an awesome angle to explore.

We all know that the truth is not necessarily in the recorded story, but in the spaces between. But maybe that’s just my veilish side expressing itself again.

Jesting aside, as writers, we have a responsibility to treat any source material with respect, to maintain the integrity of the spirit and intent of the original story as much as possible. The thing is that what we understand as Irish myth and legend grew out of an oral culture that survived wave after wave of foreign influence and invasion. From what myth records as the Firbolg, the Tuatha De Danann, and the Milesians, through the Romans, Angles, Saxons, and Vikings, to the Normans, the original tales endured, though no doubt altered.

By the time they were written down, by educated and likely Christian men, some of the truth of the originals may have been lost. This is not to say that we have carte blanche in re-envisioning these myths and legends but that we have to understand our own role in this checkered history to ensure we do no further harm.

Look into any cultural history deep enough, and you’ll find gems like Tlachtga waiting to be uncovered. Pursue the angles that fascinate you and you’ll be following myth and legend off the beaten path and into the pages of your own marvelous tale.

Until next time, keep speculating and see where it leads you!

Resources

• https://www.druidry.org/library/tlachtga-and-ancient-roots-halloweensamhain
• https://aliisaacstoryteller.com/2015/10/26/tlachtga-goddess-of-earth-and-fire/
• https://www.knowth.com/hill-of-ward.htm

Melanie Marttila creates worlds from whole cloth. She’s a dreamsinger, an ink alchemist, and an unabashed learning mutt. Her speculative short fiction has appeared in Bastion Science Fiction Magazine, On Spec Magazine, and Sudbury Ink. She lives and writes in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, where she spends her days working as a corporate trainer. She blogs at https://www.melaniemarttila.ca and you can find her on Facebook and Twitter.

The post Why You Should Follow Myths and Legends Off the Beaten Path appeared first on DIY MFA.

Here are five lesser known myths to get you started:

1) Hermes and the Golden Cattle (Greek)

Hermes was born to Zeus and Maia, the daughter of a Titan, and raised in a cave on Mount Cyllene. A precocious child, Hermes made himself a lyre out of a tortoise shell, but he soon tired of it and decided to go on an adventure. He left the cave and came upon his brother Apollo’s herd of golden cattle, which he stole by fashioning “shoes” for each of the cattle out of oak bark and driving them backwards to disguise their tracks. When Apollo returned to find his cattle gone, he searched high and low but could not find them. Not for nothing, however, was Apollo the god of prophecy. An omen led him to Hermes’ cave on Mount Cyllene, where he found baby Hermes asleep in his cradle. Undeceived, Apollo snatched Hermes up and took him to Mount Olympus, where he was made to confess before their father Zeus. Though Zeus found Hermes’ antics amusing, he ordered Hermes to return the cattle to Apollo. Hermes did so but then promptly bought them back, giving Apollo his lyre as payment. Charmed by Hermes’ music, Apollo also gave his little brother a golden herding staff in exchange for a set of reed pipes, thus beginning a long friendship between the two.

2) Brigid and Bres (Celtic)

For years, the Tuatha de Danann battled the Fomorians, a race described sometimes as demonic giants and sometimes sea serpents–and sometimes giants riding sea serpents. In an attempt to make peace, the goddess Brigid married the Fomorian king, Bres. For a time, it seemed to work, but Bres became greedy and reopened hostilities against the Tuatha de Danann. Armed with magical weapons and shields that mended themselves overnight, the Tuatha de Danann overthrew Bres and forced him back into the sea along with his sons by Brigid. Brigid remained on the shoreline, ready to help either her people or her sons. Bres, angry at his defeat, sent his son Ruadan to kill Gobniu, the Smith. In the struggle, Ruadan was killed himself. Brigid’s cries of grief were heard throughout the land; it is said that it was Brigid who began the practice of keening at funerals.

3) Isis and the Seven Scorpions (Egyptian)

Hunted by her husband’s murder, Seth, Isis hid for a time in the papyrus swamps with her infant son Horus. Whenever she left the swamps, she was accompanied and protected by seven scorpions: Petet, Matet, and Tjetet in front; Mesetet and Mesetetef at her sides; and Tefen and Befen behind. One night, Isis visited the Town of the Two Sisters and sought shelter at a wealthy noblewoman’s house, only to have the door slammed in her face. A humble peasant girl offered the goddess hospitality, but Isis’s scorpions were not appeased. Tefen loaded his stinger with poison from the other six scorpions and crept into the noblewoman’s house to sting her son. The woman carried her son throughout the town, weeping and begging for help. Despite the woman’s earlier rudeness, Isis saved the baby by naming each of the scorpions in turn, thereby dominating them and rendering their poison harmless. Humbled by the goddess’s kindness, the noblewoman offered Isis and the peasant girl all her worldly wealth.

4) The Kidnapping of Idun (Norse)

Odin, Loki, and Hoenir were travelling in the mountains far from Asgard. Food was scarce, so when the travellers came upon a herd of oxen, they immediately slaughtered one to eat. But when they tried to cook the meat, the flesh remained raw and bloody no matter how long they held it over the fire.  After a time, they became aware that an eagle was perched in the tree above them. The eagle told them it had laid a spell on the meat to prevent it from cooking. If they would give it some meat, it said, it would release the spell and let them cook the rest. They readily agreed, and the eagle took the choicest pieces for itself. Loki, believing the eagle had overstepped the terms of their bargain, attacked the eagle with a sturdy tree branch. The eagle, who was in truth the giant Thjazi, took the branch in his talons and flew high in the sky, pulling Loki after him, and made Loki swear to bring him the goddess Idun along with her fruits of youth and immortality. Only then did he return Loki to the earth. Loki delivered Idun as promised, but later rescued her by turning her into a nut and carrying her away in the form of a falcon. Thjazi pursued him in eagle form and nearly caught him, but he was foiled by the other gods, who threw up a wall of flame around Asgard just as Loki passed the barrier.

5) Echo and Narcissus (Greek)

Echo was an Oread, a nymph of the mountains. She incurred Hera’s wrath by distracting her with long conversations while Zeus cavorted with her fellow nymphs. When Hera realized what Echo was up to, she cursed Echo. The once loquacious nymph could now only repeat the last few words spoken to her. One day, Echo encountered the most beautiful young man she had ever seen and longed to tell him how she loved him. But she could not, for he had not spoken to her. After a time, the young man, Narcissus, became separated from his hunting companions and called out, “Is anyone there?” Echo repeated his words back to him, and the young man called out again, thinking that Echo was moving away from him, “This way, we must come together.” Overjoyed, believing that his words were meant to reciprocate her love, she ran to embrace him. But Narcissus rebuffed her cruelly and, catching sight of his own reflection in a pool, was enthralled by the image. Despite his rejection, her love for him only grew, and she mourned bitterly as Narcissus wasted away beside the pool. Echo, too, faded away, until all that was left of her was her voice.

These represent a tiny, tiny sampling of all the wonderful myths and legends out there. So, go—run amok through the wilds of the Internet and find something that speaks to you…then come back and tell us about it! What did you find? What are your favorites?

Tamara Linden’s storytelling career began at the age of three with “Squirm the Worm,” which was warmly received by an audience of assorted beetles in rural New Jersey (yes, “rural New Jersey” is actually a thing). She went on to study music composition at the Sunderman Conservatory of Gettysburg College. Now, as an exam prep tutor and budding college planning consultant, she has time to devote to her first love, writing. Her work has appeared in Seven Deadly Sins: A YA Anthology (Envy) and Timeless Tales Magazine. She currently resides in Pennsylvania with a very sweet and loving man and an only intermittently sweet and mostly grumpy cat. Connect with Tamara on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or via email at info@tamaralinden.com.

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