“Description Begins In The Writer’s Imagination, But Should Finish In The Reader’s.”

Myths, Creatures, and Folklore

Want to create a religion for your fictional world? Here are some references and resources!

General:

General Folklore

Various Folktales

Heroes

Weather Folklore

Trees in Mythology

Animals in Mythology

Birds in Mythology

Flowers in Mythology

Fruit in Mythology

Plants in Mythology

Folktales from Around the World

Africa:

Egyptian Mythology

African Mythology

More African Mythology

Egyptian Gods and Goddesses

The Gods of Africa

Even More African Mythology

West African Mythology

All About African Mythology

African Mythical Creatures

Gods and Goddesses

The Americas:

Aztec Mythology

Haitian Mythology

Inca Mythology

Maya Mythology

Native American Mythology

More Inca Mythology

More Native American Mythology

South American Mythical Creatures

North American Mythical Creatures

Aztec Gods and Goddesses

Asia:

Chinese Mythology

Hindu Mythology

Japanese Mythology

Korean Mythology

More Japanese Mythology

Chinese and Japanese Mythical Creatures

Indian Mythical Creatures

Chinese Gods and Goddesses

Hindu Gods and Goddesses

Korean Gods and Goddesses

Europe:

Basque Mythology

Celtic Mythology

Etruscan Mythology

Greek Mythology

Latvian Mythology

Norse Mythology

Roman Mythology

Arthurian Legends

Bestiary

Celtic Gods and Goddesses

Gods and Goddesses of the Celtic Lands

Finnish Mythology

Celtic Mythical Creatures

Gods and Goddesses

Middle East:

Islamic Mythology

Judaic Mythology

Mesopotamian Mythology

Persian Mythology

Middle Eastern Mythical Creatures

Oceania:

Aboriginal Mythology

Polynesian Mythology

More Polynesian Mythology

Mythology of the Polynesian Islands

Melanesian Mythology

Massive Polynesian Mythology Post

Maori Mythical Creatures

Hawaiian Gods and Goddesses

Hawaiian Goddesses

Gods and Goddesses

Creating a Fantasy Religion:

Creating Part 1

Creating Part 2

Creating Part 3

Creating Part 4

Fantasy Religion Design Guide

Using Religion in Fantasy

Religion in Fantasy

Creating Fantasy Worlds

Beliefs in Fantasy

Some superstitions:

Keep reading

“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.”

— William Wordsworth

“It is madness to hate all roses because you got scratched with one thorn.”

— Antoine de Saint-Exupére 

“You’re always haunted by the idea you’re wasting your life.”

— Chuck Palahniuk 

“If someone tells you, “You can’t” they really mean, “I can’t.””

— Sean Stephenson

“I’m better than you think. I’m even better than I think I am.”

— Dave Eggers 

“On earth there is no heaven, but there are pieces of it.”

— Jules Renard 

A Brief Guide to Writing British Nobles

>>By @writerthreads on Instagram

*note that different eras have different rules. This post is quite general, so research more specific details if you’re focusing on a certain period of time!

The following titles are under a Peerage, where peers were people who would hold one or more title(s) of duke, marquess, earl, viscount and baron. They swore an oath as a servent of the monarch in exchange for land or money.

Sovereign

The Sovereign holds the most power in the country, although they do not have the power they used to in England as there is a now the Prime Minister. But if we’re talking about the olden ages, they would be the King or Queen. Typically, the Queen would be married into the royal family, and be beside the King, unless the King only had daughters, in which, (depending on the era for women were not allowed to rule for a time period a few hundred years ago) they would then be Queen.

Duke/Duchess

A duke outranks the other noble titles, namely the earl, marquess, viscount and baron. There are two types of dukedoms: royal and non-royal. Royal dukedoms can only be inherited if one is a member of the royal family and are hereditary.

Most princes become dukes when they’re married and their wife will be referred to as a duchess. (If you were not a member of the royal family but your parents were the duke and duchess you’d still inherit that title.) Non-royal dukedoms are titles given to a person by a king or queen. A duke is a ruler of a duchy, which is basically a large area of land, a territory. A duke is typically addressed as “Your Grace”.

Marquees/Marchioness

This title outranks the rest except for the duke and sovereign. This title is quite rare nowadays. The Marchioness is the wife of the Marquees. Marquees were the owners of a march which was on the border of the country, which meant that they were responsible for defending against anyone who tried to intrude or attack England. (FYI: a Count would typically be the owner of a county, which was more inland)

Marquees and Marchioness are addressed as “My Lord” or “My Lady” in speech, and “Lord/Dear Mannerisms” in social writing, where the atmosphere is less formal.

Earl/Countess

Earls are ranked below the Marquess and above the Viscounts. They were royal governors and had the authority to rule lands and judge courts in their provinces. Along with that they’d collect taxes, earning a third of the total. Over the years, their power decreased and increased depending on who was ruling England, and nowadays, they do not hold much power in their hands.

The Countess would be the Earl’s wife, and by the general population, be referred to as “My Lady” while the Earl would be addressed as “My Lord”. His eldest son would be called the Viscount.

Viscount/Viscountess

In Great Britain, people would use Viscount as a title for the heir of an Earl of Marquess as courtesy, but other than that, (depending on the time period) they were not hereditary in fear of a rebellion, and instead, titles were given by the Monarch. They would also collect taxes from people.

They’re also referred to as “My Lady” and “My Lord”.

Baron/Baroness

The baron was a land-holding nobleman and is one of the lowest ranks of nobility, and the lowest in a peerage. In the Middle Ages, they ruled over large areas of land (fiefs) and would report to the king. They’d also maintain the country’s army. “Baron” quite literally means “man”, so they were “men of the king”.

The rank of Baron is often hereditary although the first Barons were given the titles by the monarchy. In formal settings, they’d be addressed as “The Right Honourable The Lord/Lady”, but in social settings, “Lord/Lady”.

Knight/Dame

A knighthood is a title given to a man for his service to the country, and would be referred to as “Sir”. This would give them the status of the knight, in which they would be expected to learn how to fight and serve his liege lord in the Code of Chivalry. Being a knight came with great benefits: they were often given a piece of land to govern, and would collect taxes from the people. Only men were typically knights, though the title Dame is given to the wife or daughter of a lord, or a woman of knighthood.

Knighthood is not hereditary.

Sometimes when I write black women I feel like I have to be like SHES BLACK! SHES DARK SKINNED! SHE HAS BEAUTIFUL DARK EYES! SHES DARK SKINNED AND BEAUTIFUL SHES BLACK! because I know that a lot of ppl would imagine a white woman if it's not expressly stated that shes black and even if they do imagine her as black they'll default to a light skinned woman especially if she's described as beautiful or she's a romantic interest

for the draft thing: when i start writing novels i always have a lot of beginning, a fair amount of backstory, a solid ending, and maybe one or two key events in between, but nothing in the middle. i'm never sure how to approach this and it usually kills a lot of my projects :/ not sure if this is a question you can answer easily but if there's any tips i'd love to hear it!

Planning the middle...

I’ve gathered a couple of resources that I believe may help you with this. 

Coming Up With Scene Ideas

How To Engage The Reader

Pacing Appropriately

Balancing Detail & Development

Writing The Middle of Your Story

Powering Through The Zero-Draft Phase

Maintaining Writing Momentum

How To Prevent Getting Stuck

Writing Your Way Through The Plot Fog

Resources For Plot Development

Guide To Plot Development

How To Foreshadow

Novel Planning 101

Tackling Subplots

Things A Reader Needs From A Story

Planning A Scene In A Story

How To Fit Character Development Into Your Story

And some prompts in case you have trouble getting the creative juices flowing while you’re brainstorming...

Romantic Prompts

Angst Prompts

Dramatic Prompts

Suspenseful Prompts

Sad Prompts

20 Sentence Story Prompt

31 Days of Character Development : May 2018 Writing Challenge

31 Days of Plot Development : January 2019 Writing Challenge

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Masterlist | WIP Blog

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