New Religious Figures & Ideas for Plot

by b
(USA)

Question: If one were to write a fiction novel, do you think it would be acceptable to create new Gods (author-created ones) and merge them with the Gods that already exist? For example, I could make a "lost" brother of Zeus, who was originally intended to rule the sky- but was pushed off a cloud and Zeus (as we know him) became the king instead. The great-great-great-great-and-so-on grandson of that "dead" Zeus, who really isn't dead would team up and go beat up Zeus or something. Also, this novel tries to introduce coexistence in the modern world- which explains all the abnormalities of the mystic world. Through breeding with different religion's deities is how we got our vampires, werewolves, faeries, etc.


But I thought that maybe it would be better to flesh out Gods, and simply make them more complex to fit my needs without the need to change something that some people might consider sacred. But honestly it seemed more lame. But then again, my original plan sounds too complex. Help!

Answer: The great thing about mythology is that it is in public domain, which means you can do whatever you like with it.

Of course, since many of the readers who will be interested in your story will be lovers of mythology, you may not want to disappoint them by completely re-writing the myths.

On the other hand, a new twist (like giving Zeus a brother) is fine, as long as many of the other details are true to the original. It's about striking a balance.

Either way, you should write the story that excites you, because that has a greater likelihood of exciting your readers. Or, to put in another way, if you think one version is lame, other people will probably think it's lame too.

Besides, it's very difficult to write a novel you're not interested in.

As for offending something people think is sacred, I wouldn't worry about that at all. Getting people to think critically about their beliefs is part of a writer's job, and giving a different take on a myth does just that.

Best of luck.

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