Ritual

Monday we talked about mythos, and so the logical progression, at least for me, was to then talk about religion. Some of you will say that they’re the same thing, and I’m here to tell you that you’re wrong. Mythologies are stories, religions are things that we all have, things that root us in our lives. Your routine is your religion. And so now, we must ask,

Why do we need…

Religion?

Like I just said, it’s your routine. Religions are things that we all have. Some of us religiously watch football or baseball games. Others go to church and say our prayers. Most of us get up in the morning, brush our teeth, and get on with our day. Yeah, that’s a religion too.

From the point of view of a reader…

It’s interesting to me, to see what authors come up with in this category. Religions in the traditional sense, as in Christian, Buddhist, etc., while interesting, can get a little bit old after a while, if nothing ever happens to make it a real point of the story. But, religiously doing things, like a character in a war, one who religiously touches a pendant on their neck whenever someone dies, can be really intriguing. Why this pendant? What does it mean for them? What would happen if they lost it? There’s a lot of interesting things to cover in there, certainly.

From the point of view of a writer…

I really enjoy playing around with religion in story. That should be pretty obvious by now, if you’ve read any of the Druid Novels. But at this point, I’ve also played around with religious actions in some of my other, not yet released, novels. I find it a lot of fun to create religions in a story, to have something that really unites a certain people in their belief, and then to put one of those people next to someone who doesn’t have any sort of faith at all. It’s also interesting to put a character with a ton of religious tendencies next to a character who throws caution to the wind. Lots to be played with, and lots of reasons why it shouldn’t just be ignored. It’s a part of who people are, as a whole, and so it’s something that we can’t glaze over in our stories.

From the point of view of an editor…

I like to see that writers are exploring a lot of angles, including religion. I like to see both sides of it, characters who are religious and those who aren’t, but I also like to see religion as a hierarchy. There are a lot of interesting plots to be explored in the realm of religion, and if you can come up with something completely unique, something to make me awe, then you’re someone I certainly want to work with. But if you’re someone who’s figured out the ins and outs of their chosen religion, someone who’s willing to really get in there and get in-depth with what you’re doing in the story, then I want to see more from you. I want to work with you, right here, right now. That’s how big this theme can be, in the grand scheme of things.

So, let’s get religious.

[love]

{Rani D.}