Today on Fantasy Writing for Barbarians, we’re diving into the timeless question at the heart of all epic fantasy: how do you create your own mythology? Inspired by a Reddit post from Lexi, a creative writing student working on her thesis in mythopoeia, we’re unpacking why myths are the soul of a fantasy world...and how to build one that feels ancient, sacred, and real.

We break down the three big approaches to writing myth: inventing your own, remixing existing ones (like Greek or Norse), and using real-world mythology with minimal tweaks. From Tolkien’s Elvish creation songs to the spiritual remixing in The Poppy War, we explore what makes a myth resonate and what makes it fall flat. Plus, we talk about how to research respectfully, how to preserve a myth’s spiritual essence even when you break the rules, and why myth has to be more than just a bunch of backstory. Whether you’re building gods from scratch or honoring a living tradition, this is the episode to help you myth-make like a legend.

Email your own advice prompt to [email protected] or join our Discord and let us know what's on your mind. You can find the discussion prompt we referenced on the show right here.

Check out my new short story "Upon a Dream," which was published this past week in the Briar & Thorn issue of The Fairy Tale Magazine! Available to read online here.

Fantasy Writing for Barbarians‘ host is Jon Negroni, author of The Pixar Theory, Killerjoy, and more. Our producers are Natalia Emmons and Bridget Serdock. You can find all our episodes and various podcast app options here.

Intro music: "Adventures in Adventureland" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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