Struggling to create a religion for your world, whether it is fantasy or not? Worry no more! Columnist Diana Gunn is here to help!
So you've decided to write your NaNoWriMo novel in a fantasy world. This is a great idea! Fantasy is only limited by your imagination, and there's always a sensible way to work in ninjas when you get stuck.
But creating your own world isn't as easy as it seems, which is probably why you've come here seeking aid. After all, it's almost halfway to November and your planning... well, let's not talk about the state it's in, shall we?
I've spent an entire decade building worlds at record pace for NaNoWriMo, and I've got a few tricks up my sleeve. Today, I'll show you three of the most powerful tricks I've learned for quickly building a believable fantasy religion, since religion is a driving force in most fantasy worlds.
Follow these three steps to create a fantasy religion on the fly:
1. Choose between monotheistic and pantheistic.
Monotheistic religions feature only one god or goddess; there is usually also an opposing devil-type force, though not always. Pantheistic religions follow many deities, often both gods and goddesses.
Choosing a monotheistic religion is usually easier, and allows you to easily draw parallels with Judeo-Christian religions. Developing a pantheistic religion requires more work, but there are several ways to speed up the process, and you can draw parallels with many different mythologies.
2. Draw on familiar archetypes.
The easiest way to make a religion's gods and goddesses believable is to take familiar mythological archetypes and modify or expand on them. This allows you to give a clear image of your fantasy religion with a few well-placed images.
Using familiar archetypes can also save you a lot of time up front, since you already know what you like—and hate—about those archetypes. For example, I like the common association of fire and war, but I'm tired of hyper-masculine fire gods. So I created Taelanna, a fire goddess closely associated with the phoenix, for my book Keeper of the Dawn.
What religious archetypes do you love? What archetypes drive you crazy? Start with these and fine tune them to fit your world.
3. Write a creation myth.
At the root of every great religion there lies a creation myth: a story that attempts to explain not only human origins but also human nature.
The nature of these myths has a huge ripple effect on your religion, and the rest of the world you build. For example, if your religion believes a goddess created the world on her own, they'll likely respect women more than if they believe humanity was created by a male entity.
If your characters believe in a creation myth that casts women in a purely supporting and reproductive role, their world will most likely be plagued by systematic misogyny.
If you only write one myth before starting your novel, make it the creation myth. You can find plenty of inspiration for mythology—and its impact on your society—in Crash Course World Mythology: Social Orders and Creation Myths. Once you've got an idea, give yourself a solid half hour and free write the myth—you can refine the details after NaNoWriMo!
Bonus: Use an element of this creation myth as the basis of a common prayer or curse. A few of these little details sprinkled throughout your story can make it look like you've done more world-building than you actually have, bringing your setting to life.
These three steps will help you create a solid background religion, but if religion is going to be a major part of your story you'll want to develop it more.