As an armchair
anthropologist, I have long been fascinated by different religions and the
roles they play within and across cultures. As an avid “spec fic” reader, some
of my favorite books have had religion as a central theme. Some of the most
notable include:
·
Mary Doria Russel’s spectacular
The Sparrow
·
Walter Miller’s classic Canticle for Leibowitz
·
Parke Godwin’s wonderful Waiting for the Galactic Bus
·
Jacqueline Carey’s beautiful Kushiel’s Dart
·
James Morrow's intriguing Only Begotten Daughter.
As an author, I’m
intrigued and overwhelmed by the idea of incorporating religion into my own
writing. How presumptuous! Dangerous and challenging (to do it “correctly” or
well). As I’ve mentioned, there’s an angels-and-demons story demanding my
attention…eventually…
But how richly
rewarding it could be. Whether you incorporate existing religion(s) or create
an entirely new one, it’s worth spending some time consciously thinking about
the role religion will play in your story. Because even if it’s not overt, I can
pretty much guarantee you *it’s still there*.
At their heart,
religion and faith are about trying to understand the world and universe around
us, including these central questions:
- Who am I?
- Where did I come from?
- Why are we here?
- Where will I go when I die?
- What is the nature of good and evil (and why do bad things happen)?
If you’re incorporating existing religions, you
have plenty of material to work with. If you’re creating your own, you may want
to start with these basics:
·
Define a focus, a central theme,
idea, or person.
·
Define a central belief system,
consisting of 2 or 3 main dogmas.
·
Design rituals.
·
Design aesthetics, in terms of
materials, symbols, etc.
You should also
consider the complicated role religion plays in history, politics, societal
rules, and more.
I would love to
hear your thoughts on incorporating religion as an aspect of your writing!
#
And so, with a loving heart, I offer you
Namaste
I’ve heard many translations. Here’s one I love:
The light of the universe that shines within me recognizes
the light of the universe that shines within you.
The light of the universe that shines within me recognizes
the light of the universe that shines within you.
|
Dogs
in House
|
Houdini
|
|
|
|
|
Time
writing
|
~45 minutes, including minimal research
|
|
|
|
|
September
word count
|
8,612
|
Writing report:
ReplyDeleteNovel editing, Ch 34
Time: 10 minutes
Interesting question, as the novel I'm currently working on is almost entirely about religion, although I doubt that's clear until fairly near the end. One fun thing about religion in fantasy is that you can set up multiple layers: not only what people believe, but how much this reflects the reality of the gods/spirits/whatever your religion is based upon.
ReplyDeleteI remember when I started my current WIP that I said "I really have to figure out how the gods work". Little did I know then that 'how the gods work' would actually become the main theme of my novel.
Lois McMaster Bujold has written some fantasy novels exploring concepts of religion -- their names escape me at the moment! -- but one of the things I really liked about them was that there were various versions of belief held by different groups, some of which matched with what small glimpse of the reality behind things we as readers were able to see, and others of which remained mysterious to us as it did to the characters.
After I'd exhausted all the mythology and MG friendly history/religion books in our tiny library system, I picked up my first speculative fiction/SF/F because it spoke to those same concepts.
ReplyDelete