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Printed from https://writing.com/main/newsletters/action/archives/id/10834
Mystery: July 14, 2021 Issue [#10834]




 This week: Etiology
  Edited by: NaNoNette Author IconMail Icon
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Table of Contents

1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions

About This Newsletter

Dear readers and writers of mystery,
Everything in the world has an origin. Explaining that origin is the etiology of that thing.
Before peer reviewed science, everything from male pattern baldness to why the apple falls from the tree had a story that explained the mystery


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Letter from the editor

Etiology


Not every mystery is a crime. There are many mysteries in the world that are still unsolved. Science, religion, anthropologists and even newspaper reporters have tried to give us answers. Let's reject those answers and give the world our version of the truth.

Etiology explains the origin or cause of something. In storytelling, this technique has been used by people all around the world to explain the world.

Every culture or society has a creation myth. Those will describe where the heaven, stars, and earth come from. How they were shaped and why everything is where it is. This gave us such wondrous stories as the one shared by Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands in which we all live on a giant turtle.

Not only the big things have creation myths. Some cultures went above and beyond and meticulously catalogued where everything they knew came from. Native American stories are filled with crows and coyotes that did mischief and ended up creating one or the other natural feature. The African folktale The Girl with the Large Beautiful Eyes explains how it came to be that ponds have water lilies on them. Whether explaining the color of bird feathers, the shape of a lake or mountain, folktales have better (more fun) answers to life's riddles.

As writers, we can take this type of creativity and apply it to just about anything at all that we don't understand. Everything that is a mystery can be solved in a scientific way. We have Sherlock and Watson for that. They can keep solving crimes.

As creative writers, we should really ask ourselves:

Is there a natural mystery that is more fun to explain with fiction than science?
Let me know in the comment box below.




Editor's Picks

 
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The Writer's Cramp Winner! 5/30/21 W/C 316
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#2251850 by Not Available.

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#2251652 by Not Available.

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The Confused Coffee Caper Open in new Window. (E)
Story for a contest about a coffee shortage. How does it get solved?
#2228509 by Princess Megan Snow Rose Author IconMail Icon

 
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Return to Cabot Cove Open in new Window. (18+)
Jessica decided to retire and return to Cabot Cove. What mystery awaits?
#2223532 by ruwth Author IconMail Icon

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Homeless Open in new Window. (18+)
Contest entry. A homeless kid steals a car. Things are not always as they seem.
#2222052 by D. Reed Whittaker Author IconMail Icon

 
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Ghost Story-The doll that didn't belong. Open in new Window. (E)
A True Story-An unknown doll that didn't belong in the house but how did it get there?
#2221366 by TheBusmanPoet Author IconMail Icon

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The PET NEWS CONTEST Entry
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#2218400 by Not Available.

 
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Ask & Answer

Reply to my last mystery newsletter "Cunning & Cozy" Open in new Window.

Quick-Quill Author Icon wrote: Crafting a mystery is as subtle as taking a corner at the Daytona. You know it's coming, but the road's conditions and its occupants will make or break the experience. Great job!

That was an awesome description. Taking a corner at Daytona. Visual, scary, exhilarating. Now I want to try it.

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