I LOVE mythopoeia.
I didn’t know that was what it was called until a few years ago. And I didn’t know there was a difference between that and urban fantasy until recently. And until even more recently, I didn’t really know what the difference was. I knew there was one. But putting the differences into words was definitely eluding me.
I think I have it figured out.
Urban fantasy can get a little more action-adventure-y than mythopoeia usually does. Not that mythopoeia doesn’t have any action or adventure, it often does, but it tends to be a little more about the growth and development of the characters than about any external driving force.
It also includes more traditional human myths in the stories, less troped-up vampires or werewolves. Those creatures can certainly show up in mythopoeia, but they tend to be more mysterious when they do. The world rules are present but more free-flowing, less explained. There are often deities or mythic figures that seem to abide by their own rules rather than any rules people understand.
Mythopoeia is often categorized as urban fantasy, and to an extent, that’s where it fits within current genre conventions. Which is maybe where I got the idea that I wanted to be an urban fantasy writer.
And I do like urban fantasy. And what I currently write is urban fantasy.
But my favorites, the books that haunt me and make my heart bleed, are mythopoeia.
Neil Gaiman. Terry Windling. Charles De Lint. Peter S. Beagle. Laini Taylor.
They write mythopoeia.
I want to write mythopoeia.
But I’m not sure I know how.
You would think that writing something that has fewer rules would be easier, but I thrive on guidelines. I love knowing the ins and outs, how and whys, places I can bend or break rules and places they really shouldn’t be touched. Mythopoeia has that, but to a lesser degree. Or maybe it has rules, but I’m not seeing them as clearly.
To write mythopoeia is to attempt to create a new myth, either by drawing on myth that already exists in human cultures, or by creating something totally new, whole cloth. That seems like a pretty tall order to me. Definitely not something I would have felt capable of tackling even a few years ago.
But I’m feeling more confident these days. I have more faith in my ability to tell a good story, and to understand what makes a scene or a character work. I feel more like I can push my way through tough scenes, or hard-to-know characters, follow where they lead me and take them where I want them to go when they stray from the story in un-useful or un-interesting directions.
Does that mean I’m ready to tackle creating a whole new myth of my very own? Make something up that sounds like you might have heard it before, but is definitely something of my own devising? Again, a tall order. But maybe. Just maybe.
A lot of my ideas are more fairy tale in nature, but I’m not sure that’s a bad thing. I think fairy tales fit into mythology very neatly. But at the same time, Cinderella or the Seven Swan Brothers is not exactly the same thing as the Dreaming, or Vallhalla, or the Red Road. Myths are more about how people live their lives, and the ways that they hold sacred. Fairy tales are more cautionary, or even just entertaining. They fit alongside, or even within myths, but they aren’t exactly the same thing.
Still, I think they fit together.
And I think I can do this. I think so.
I’m going to crack my knuckles and give it a try.
