Welcome, Myth & Legend Lovers!

This chapter aims to teach those of you interested in writing Mythic Fantasy. Please note that this is a short guide as we hope you will use your own writing style to tell the story!

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What is Mythic Fantasy?

Mythic Fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy that incorporates mythology, legends, and folktales around the world.

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What are some common mythologies people use in their stories?

The following mythologies are used, but are not limited to:

★ Greek/Roman Mythology

★ Norse Mythology

★ Egyptian Mythology

★ Asian Mythology (from Chinese and Indian to Vietnamese and Krgyz)

★ Polynesian Mythology

★ Native American Mythology

and many more!

You may find some use these mythologies to create their own mythopoeia!

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Steps for Writing Mythic Fantasy

STEP 1: PICK YOUR GENRE

What kind of story do you want to tell? Are you interested in writing an adventurous epic fantasy with a variety of mythical creatures the MC may encounter along the way, or a romantic fantasy with reincarnated deities? Like any other genre, Mythic Fantasy can mix with other genres and/or subgenres. The genre you select will affect how your story will play out and who your characters are. It will also determine what your setting will be.

STEP 2: PICK YOUR CHARACTER AND SETTING

Mythic Fantasy stories may speak from the perspective of a shapeshifting mythical creature, a deity, or even a demon from folkloric legends. Take a moment to think about who your character is, what their goals are, and where the story will take place. How you mold your character will impact their development as your story progresses. You don't have to create a full character chart if that's not your comfort zone, but just think about three things: (1) personality; (2) goals; and (3) obstacles keeping them from achieving their goals.

Your character should have some meaning to you. You want their journey in the story to represent a larger message to the reader. A question you should ask yourselves is whether you will have enough research to write a character and if you have reliable sensitivity readers or beta readers to assist you in preparing the narrative. It's also important to acknowledge that if you're writing about a character with a background different than yours, you may not be the right person to tell the story. However, if you demonstrate your willingness to learn and to take constructive criticism, anything is possible! It shows you respect that culture and you're taking all the steps necessary to ensure you are portraying the culture and its people in an accurate way.

Your setting may be influenced by a real place, or it could be a completely new fantasy world that you've poured your heart into. Setting is important because it can provide context to any events or conflicts that may be happening in the story, or that you plan to happen in the story. Is your story taking place in a fictional place like a fantasy realm you've created from scratch? Is it inspired by an existing place? When you are building a fantasy world from the ground up, consider all the elements needed to make that world real. World building sheets are not required, but recommended because they can get you thinking about how certain scenes should be written and add another layer of depth and complexity to your work. For example, say a character is journeying from one side of the realm to the other. How does the climate shift as they move from location to the next? How do they cope with climate changes? Do they have specific types of clothing or perhaps it's something in their DNA that helps them survive? Don't be afraid to explore all your options.

Another element of setting is when the story takes place. It can help provide context to your world's resources, cultural values, technology, and how knowledge is passed down through the generations. Although you don't need to incorporate all your world building details into the story, you should be layering it in as you write so the reader can learn with your main character. It's always good to have more information than less, so you don't disrupt your writing and have to go back and develop a concept more.

STEP 3: RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH!

When you write a story that is influenced by real cultures and people, it's important to do your research to ensure things are accurate and considerate to those cultures. When conducting research, use credible sources. Some ways to ensure you are using viable resources is to check multiple sites to see if they share the same thoughts. Also, check the endings of the domains. You can typically rely on sources with ".org" and ".gov" at the end of a URL. You'll also want to seek out sensitivity readers with knowledge in the particular backgrounds you are researching. Everyone's experience is different, so the more people you can find to provide feedback, the better.

When you are conducting your research, remember there are cultural differences. The world is a big place, so it's important to not assume all countries on a continent share the same values, beliefs, and traditions. Each are unique and an adventure to learn about in their own way.

STEP 4: PICK YOUR THEMES

What message do you want your story to send? Understanding this will help you identify potential themes in your story. If you would like to see a comprehensive list of themes in books and films, please check out .

What tropes would you like to include in your story? This can help shape character relationships, and even identify romantic relationships. If you would like to see a comprehensive list of character tropes in books and films, please check out the following links (available as in-inline comments on the side):

✿ Character, Setting, and Plot Tropes

✿ Fantasy-Specific Tropes

✿ Genre Tropes

✿ Narrative Tropes

✿ Topical Tropes

STEP 5: WHAT NOW?

Once you have everything ready, start writing! You may have questions come up as your write, but that's okay! Whether you are a plotter or a planner, you will succeed when you do your best!

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OTHER RESOURCES

Live Your Myths: Every month, we will introduce a new myth, legend, or folktale story to share with all of you. We want to encourage Wattpad writers to explore more myths outside of Greek mythology and help you understand and learn more about other cultures.

If you have any recommendations you would like to share with others, you can submit your suggestions to us for a chance to be featured in this anthology if it adheres to Wattpad Content Guidelines.

Guidelines

★ Your submission must not exceed 5000 words. If the story is longer, it will not be accepted.

★ Your submission must adhere to Wattpad's Content Guidelines.

★ Your submission must be in English.

★ Your submission must be written in your own words. You may write your submission with references, but please do not copy and paste from other sources.

★ Your submission must have good writing, grammar and sentence structure, and relevance to our profile's content. There should be enough information for the reader to understand the story.

★ When you turn in your submission, through the form, it should be a Google Docs link or a document in either .docx, .doc, or .rtf format for us to copy. If you would like to email your document to us, the subject line of your email must say: MYTH&LEGEND LIVE YOUR MYTH SUBMISSION: [TITLE OF MYTH/LEGEND/FOLKTALE]. Please also include your Wattpad username at the top of your document. Our email address is [email protected]

★ Alternatively, you can turn in your submission via this FORM
(see the in-line comment here >>>).

★ By submitting, you are giving mythandlegend permission to publish your work in Live Your Myth. You are also confirming the submission has been written by you alone.

Please keep in mind, submission doesn't guarantee you a feature.

Frequently Asked Questions

I have several suggestions, can I make multiple submissions or can I suggest several in one doc?

Yes, you may send us more than one submission, though features will be staggered (i.e., your subsequent submissions will be uploaded weeks to months after the first). However, you should only suggest one myth, legend, or folktale per document. We won't accept if there are several recommendations in one document. If someone else has already prepared a submission that is the same as what you've prepared, it won't be included to avoid duplicates.

I'd rather not/am unable to send in my submission via email, what do I do?

PM us your Google Docs link.

Why didn't Myth & Legend accept my submission?

We require a certain level of quality writing. We will also not accept your submission if it has been directly copied and pasted from other references or if it is irrelevant to our profile's theme. Your submission must be in your own words and must revolve around a myth, legend, or folktale.

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Please let us know if you found this guide helpful! If there's anything you'd like to see us post, please let us know.