Writing Poetry Vs. Writing About Poetry

Question: Reflect on how your experience of creating a myth differs from and/ or enhances the study of myth? What did you learn from this experience that you could use in your future teaching?

I think that creating a myth was a really interesting experience and one that would be an awesome experience for any student. The idea of writing fiction can be a little scary for someone who has never done it before. Myth offers a selection of archetypal characters and situations that make the writing process a bit easier. This is why I think it is a good exercise for students. One can be creative while still having something familiar to branch off from. Personally, I found writing a myth really fun. Much like with the poem exercise that we did, I wanted to follow the traditional conventions of writing a myth to see if I could execute it properly. I think that rules can be a good thing when it comes to writing because they give you a direction to go in. Yes free writes are nice, but eventually people have to practice writing with a certain audience and purpose in mind. Whether one is writing a business letter, or a story, there has to be some guidelines to go by so it does not become a big mess. 

I found that the traditional rules of myth still leave you a lot of room to play.

 

I have always been found of Celtic mythology, I even took a class in it even though it was not required for my degree. Thus, I went with the Celtic/Welsh mythological goddess figure known as Rhiannon. Rhiannon was of course made famous by the Stevie Nicks song, but my love for her goes beyond that. (Though I do dig the Stevie Nicks song). I like that she is a strong, clever character more than a typical nurturing earth mother type. Since my group is presenting on the trickster character, I put Rhiannon in a tricky situation since I have some background in those.

 

I have not had a chance to write creatively in awhile, so I was surprised when the story just kind of started flowing. I used to write creatively for pleasure all the time, but I am so busy these days I never get a chance. Overall, I really enjoyed this experience.