Weekly Wattpad Contests

Contest #61

Modern Muses

In the spirit of getting NaNoWriMo off to a start, we're looking at inspiration. Ah, the classical muse, the font of our creative flow and a coping mechanism for a harsh reality. What is love, and pain, and fortune and fate? Where do we find those inspirational glyphs?

This week, we present a challenge. We've gone ahead and created some muses for you, loosely based on the Greek alphabet, and your task is to write about one of them.

You are free to choose any one you want, but if you want to do the challenge, pick the one where the first letter of your username is assigned to them.

For this challenge, somewhere between 1000 – 1500 words should be enough, but feel free to write more.

Consider one of these muses in modern life, and how they might react to the realities we face today, or how they might influence the life of their ward facing modern struggles.

The muses:

(a) Aro – adventure; spirit of discovery and invention; wanderlust. God of wind and winged things.

(b) Beir- beauty; spirit of art and creation; people. God of rivers and rain.

(g) Yun – compassion; spirit of care and healing; thoughtfulness. God of snakes and fish.

(d) Deiu – destruction; spirit of change and rebirth; fire. God of science.

(e) Eres – erudition; spirit of change and rebirth; water. God of learning.

(z) Zonne – life; spirit of music and sleep; light. God of the sun and the sky.

(h) Hero – piousness; spirit of morality and faith; earth. God of the ground and the trees.

(f) Fel – toil; spirit of labour and dedication; work. God of the harvest and carpenters.

(i) Iko – insight; spirit of madness and insanity; the moon. God of colours and insects.

(k) Kari – hope; spirit of flamboyance and passion; the sun. God of aggression

(l) Lamo – strength; spirit of war and fighting; pride. God of weapons and armour.

(m) Mne – money; spirit of wealth and worth; trading. God of horses.

(n) Num – arithmetic; spirit of qualification and enumeration; geometry. God of architecture and planning.

(x) Ester – darkness; spirit of the deep earth and nocturnal creatures; caves. God of cliffs, bears, and bats.

(o) Oprus – entropy; spirit of hubris and vanity; rust. God of lies and deceit.

(r) Rhos – dominion; spirit of leadership and bloodlust; blood. God of protection.

(s) Cappal – love; spirit of brotherhood and unity; bridges. God of family

(t) Thallia – severity ; spirit of justice and education ; blindness. God of law.

(u) Ux – emotion ; spirit of heartbreak and loss ; grief. God of glass and mirrors.

(p) Phos – suffering ; spirit of perseverance and agony ; hardship. God of mercy and forgiveness

(c) Xairo – desire ; spirit of ambition and cleverness ; betrayal. God of schemes

(y) Psylon – fear; spirit of loneliness and depression; anxiety. God of thunder and rain

(v) Aurion – accuracy; spirit of brilliance and mathematics; intuition. God of intelligence and aim.

(j) Lux - luxury; spirit of wealth and possession; greed. God of gemstones and metals.

(q) Macron - entrapment; spirit of trickery and toil; hunting. God of bows and guns.

(w) VexHellfire - chaos; spirit of anarchy and conquest; mischief. God of Leaders.

(bonus) Nadia - contests; spirit of enlightenment and growth; competition. God of literary artists.

The judgement criteria are:

- Clarity of content – can we clearly see which of the muses you've picked and how they influence the story.

- Binary and contrast – what is the conflict in your story and how does the muse resolve that?

- Character Arc – how does your character learn from their muse throughout the story? Is there a significant shift? What kind of relationship do they have, and how does it grow?

- Worldbuilding – how well can you incorporate your muse and the others into the lore of your world and how do other characters feel about their muses?

- Plot – an interesting plot for the hero's journey.