Two months ago, I knew (almost) nothing about hieroglyphs. I've always been fascinated by hieroglyphs, but it never occurred to me until recently that I could learn to read them!

The most unusual result of taking this class has been the way it changed and increased my creativity. Here are 3 reasons why that really stuck out to me:

Lesson #1: Words can be impactful even generations after they are written.

Offering formulae are particularly good examples of this. Based on the Egyptian belief system, reading and speaking an offering formula would give prosperity to the person it was written for, no matter how long ago they died.

That's such a fascinating way to remember that our words will carry weight in the future!

Advice #2: Contradicting myths doesn't make any of them false.

In the Egyptian pantheon, there are multiple creation myths. Despite the contradictions between them, they believed they were all true because the gods have a different sense of time.

The same could be said for any pantheon you create!

Advice #3: Words can have layer upon layer of meaning.

Hieroglyphs allow for much more depth of meaning than we can accomplish with the English language. The ancient Egyptians had symbols for many objects and used that in their art.

The most fascinating pieces were the ones where the artwork was made of the same hieroglyphs that were written alongside it, creating multiple ways of sharing the same story.

Sprinkling foreshadowing and symbolism into your story can add layers for readers to enjoy as they get to know your world!

I would never have guessed that learning hieroglyphs would have taught me so much about culture and creativity.

I'm curious: have you ever learned something that changed how you write from an unexpected source?