Spark Creativity with Mythulu

Welcome to Magic & Ink, a newsletter about magic, fantasy writing, and the creative life.

In my last newsletter, I shared a glimpse into my Imaginaria, a journal I have used on occasion to create a sort of ad hoc fantasy encyclopedia. It’s a collection of invented places, creatures, magical items and other fantastical ideas that aren’t related to any of my current works-in-project or even to each other. It’s not organized enough to think of as worldbuilding, but it’s a creative practice that keeps my idea-generating muscles in good shape. It’s a writerly version of an artist’s sketchbook, really. Practice, practice, practice!

Most of the time, I don’t have a problem coming up with ideas — I’m lucky that I have a pretty robust imagination. But sometimes I’m just tired, and when you’re doing something every day, even the deepest well sometimes runs dry. That’s when having a tool to turn to can help spark the next creative inspiration.

I first came upon Mythulu a few years ago, when I was doing a different kind of writing exercise, a daily 15-minute story based on a prompt. When I’d exhausted the list of prompts I was using, I went looking for another source and came across Mythulu in the IOS App Store. It was just what I needed, and a few years later, when they launched a Kickstarter for a physical card set, I happily chipped in.

What I like best about the Mythulu system is its ambiguity. The most common writing prompts present a very specific situation that you’re supposed to respond to: “Write a story about a wizard who finds a potion that brings his best friend back to life.” “Write a story about a man-eating dragon who falls in love with a human and goes on a quest to become human too.“What if unicorns existed and lived on an isolated island but were now considering an attempt at world domination?”[This is now my favorite prompt ever. Thank you, Story Writing Academy.]). Those can be fun, but they are also limiting — the direction is up to you, but the starting point is the same for everyone.

Mythulu operates in a much more abstract realm. Instead of ideas, they give you the building blocks of ideas, from which you can start to assemble a world, character or story that is authentically yours.

Cards are divided into six categories: Character, Relationship, Trait, Habitat, Element and Texture.[The app version adds the categories Love, Travel and Dialogue, which require in-app purchases to use.] Each card contains a lovely illustration, a title and a brief description. The images are not confined to any genre or style — modern settings cohabitate with steampunk, fantasy and scifi. The names of the cards are conceptual, almost archetypal, but think beyond your standard Jungian archetypes. In the Character category, you’ll find Orphan and Shaman alongside Catfish and Coffinmaker. In Habitat are Jungle, Artic and Mountain alongside Mancave, Landfill and Floating. You’re not meant to take them literally, but to be inspired by the qualities those concepts suggest and combine them with other cards in new, intriguing ways.

Mythulu cards are organized into six categories or suits: Character, Trait, Relationship, Habits, Element and Texture.

You can draw as many cards as you need, in any combination that seems fitting. For example, in my video I chose two cards each to define two separate states, and two additional cards that provided the crux of a conflict between them. With more time, I could have used additional cards to flesh out things like the leadership of each state, their religion, or even their aesthetic presentation. It’s really only limited by how much you want to ask the cards for.

The company behind Mythulu offers many example spreads you can use for things like Character Arcs, Burial Traditions, Alternatives to a Tavern (useful for roleplaying games!) and even an entire Plot Trajectory.[Some of these spreads are available on the app, and may require in-app purchases to use.]

So far, I haven’t yet tried using Mythulu to come up with an entire world or story, but I have enjoyed using it to invent creatures, add complexity to characters, and embellish imaginary landscapes with unexpected details.

5 Tips for Using Mythulu to Spark Creativity

1. Don’t Discard. If you draw a card that doesn’t immediately generate any ideas for you—it might strike you as too silly or too dark to work in combination with the other cards you’ve drawn, for example — don’t give in to the temptation to set it aside (like I did with “Decorated” in the video). But maybe don’t. Let your muse sit with the card meaning and imagery. Let it stew a while. It’s those unusual and unexpected combinations that are going to lead you to the most interesting ideas.

2. OK, You Can Discard. If you’ve given a card a fair shot but still can’t figure out how to use it, go ahead and swap it for a new one. There’s no point in holding up your creative practice because you can’t figure out how to use one card.

3. Choose a Card. Instead of drawing cards blindly, try shuffling through the deck face up. Which images or words catch your attention? Set these cards aside as you go. When you’re done, lay out all your selected cards out and start arranging them until they make sense to you.

4. Make Stew. Shuffle all the cards together, regardless of category. Draw the top three to five cards (depending on how big an idea you’re looking for) and arrange them until they make sense to you. Add additional cards for more context if necessary.

5. Let Someone Else Choose. Depending on who your partner is, this could conceivably be intentionally challenging and/or hilarious. You’re up for a challenge, right? Imagine being able to prove to your writing buddy or 10-year-old child story that you really can tell a story about an origami lobbyist who lives in a fungus library, am I right?

In the video, I introduce the cards and walk through the creation of an entry in my Imaginaria using them.

Want to try something similar? Here’s the same spread I used in the video, for two states in a conflict. I’ve drawn a challenging set of cards just for you. What story ideas do these cards spark for you? Let me know in the comments!

First State Habitat — Icon; Character — Healer. Second State Habitat — Shortcut; Character — Peacekeeper. Source of conflict: Texture — Velvet; Element — Clay.

Check out the Mythulu products. I have not received any compensation for this post, but if you want to help support this newsletter, please buy me a chai.