How to Combine Myth with History to Create Historical Fantasy

Three years ago, I never would have guessed I’d be writing a blog post on this topic.

Back then, I was focused on pure fantasy stories. My first novel was an epic fantasy, while my second and third were paranormal fantasy.

I thought I had “found my voice” in paranormal fantasy, but then a friend of mine asked me a question:

“Would you like to write a book about the King Midas myth?”

That question, and my answer to it—“Sure, I could give it a try”—opened up a whole new world for me in terms of fantasy writing.

Why?

Because when I started researching the King Midas myth, I discovered something very interesting: King Midas was a real person.

It’s Fun to Find History in Myth

King Midas, according to the latest research by the University of Pennsylvania, ruled the kingdom of Phrygia back in the later 600s and early 700s BC.

As far as the records show, this is the same Midas the Greeks were talking about when they created the King Midas myth—you know, the one about him asking the god Dionysus for the touch of gold. When I found this in my research, I was super excited. Not only did I have the myth to play with in my story, now I had the real life of King Midas, too. Combining them both in a new narrative opened up creative avenues I would have never explored before.

Writing the story was a lot of fun, and though I didn’t plan it that way, “The Curse of King Midas” has now spawned a series called The Midas Legacy. I’m knee-deep in book two at the time of this writing.

What I’d like to share with other writers is the fun that can be had when you try this type of setup for your story. If you’d like to explore something new or get out of a rut, I urge you to give it a try!

It’s Up to You How Much You Use of Either One

The main question I had getting into the story—and the one I still find myself asking as I look ahead to books two and three—is how much to pull from the real history and how much to use of the myth.

With this story, it made the most sense to rely heavily on the myth. This is what most people are familiar with when it comes to Midas. I’ve read other authors like Gregory Maguire (Wicked) and Madeline Miller (Circe) and I could recognize the main story (The Wizard of Oz and The Odyssey, respectively) within their novels. It was important to me to have the same recognition in my book about Midas, as readers attracted to the title will be looking for that.

I did change some things, though. The main one was Midas’ motivation. In the myth, he’s motivated strictly by greed. I couldn’t relate to that. Nor could I imagine a father as devoted to his daughter as Midas was risking it all for gold coins. So I shifted his motivation to something I felt was more relatable and greatly increased the stakes of the story: revenge.

I also played with some of the main characters, and here is where the real history helped me a lot. I needed a rival for Midas, and history gave it to me. According to the records that survived that time, King Sargon II—who ruled Assyria—found King Midas to be a pain in his behind. He often had to face him in battles and didn’t like that he was trying to squelch his expansion plans.

My research on King Sargon II helped me form his character in the story, and he turned out to be the perfect antagonist. He added a lot more drama and action to the story, which was just what the myth needed.

History Can Supply the Time and Setting

The other thing that I pulled from the history of King Midas was the time and setting. Whereas the myth is set in a general time in the past, the real King Midas’ life spanned a limited number of years in a very specific time. This helped create guardrails for my novel in terms of how people lived then and what sort of tools they had.

I was also delighted to discover that archaeologists were in the process of excavating the city of Gordion as I was writing! This is the capital city from where King Midas ruled. It was an amazing coincidence, and I’ve stayed as true as I could to the location of the city at that time.

The geography and the climate were already decided for me—I didn’t have to make them up. It also made creating the map that sits at the front of the book a lot easier!

A Basis for a Series

The last thing history gave me was a way to carry on with the story past the original myth. I didn’t expect that Midas would spawn a series, initially. Book one has a satisfying ending, but it does leave some questions unanswered, particularly concerning a couple of key characters. When my beta readers started asking me if there was going to be a sequel, I knew I had more in this world to explore.

I’ve returned to what really happened during that time as the basis for the second book. It’s presented some challenges for me, in terms of how it has to end. But I like a challenge and have enjoyed tackling a type of story I might not have tried otherwise. And I think it will naturally lead into the third and final book, though what will happen then I don’t know yet!

Might You Like to Combine Myth with History?

If you’re considering this type of approach to a story, here are some advantages I’ve found:

• The myth and the history together will present a ready-made plot, or at least the foundation of it. That can give you a jumpstart on plotting, making it a little easier.
• The history can give you time and place—making the setting simpler to create. (The research is fun too.)
• The myth can provide fun fantasy elements to include. (I used the gods and their magic to plant the story firmly in fantasy territory.)

Overall, this was a fun story to write. As a writing exercise, you may want to try combining one of your favorite myths or fairy tales with a certain time in history, just to see what you might come up with.

Note: To get a glimpse of Colleen’s new book, The Curse of King Midas, click here!

The post How to Combine Myth with History to Create Historical Fantasy appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

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