Creation Stories in Fantasy Fiction

I often think about how my worlds are created as I write shorts for EvenFlow.  How, exactly, does this thing happen? As an even larger question, how do I go about telling it?  Sometimes, Creation parables are difficult to grasp, even for the characters in your story!  Here are some random thoughts about Creation stories relative to your own story.

1.  How do you tell a Creation Parable to your Reader?

Imagine a cold, lifeless Universe.  Suddenly, some Grand Event happens.  Who is around to tell this story?  I'd suppose the answer is "nobody," right?  Then how do you, the author, emphasize the Creation event?  Do you narrate in the Creator's viewpoint?  But then you have to create a personality for the Creator, even if it's the absence of a personality.  Is it written as a by-product, by some old seer (or fool) who may not know the whole story?

2.  Is the real story of Creation different?

From science to all the religions to no religion, the way our own Universe was created has many different angles and viewpoints.  How do you know which one is which?  Do the characters know the real story?  If the Reader knows, but the characters don't, how does that information prove useful to the story?  It may spoil some major plot lines in the story if the Reader knows there was no loving and merciful God who created the worlds, but instead a jealous boyfriend Diety.

3.  Why is it even important?

I've read many books that don't really delve into the creation of the worlds the characters inhabit.  That's ok though, since most of the time it's not really relevant.  Most people in the novels refer to some God or the Light or Holy or something to that effect, leave it at that, and live their life.  That might suffice for some.  What about a world where religion literally permeates every aspect of a person's daily life, from what they eat to when the shower and at what times of day they make love?  That would require a very exquisite and ornate Creation story, and one that almost every character would know.

So are Creation tales really important?  Do you have an opinion on them as a stand alone story?  Do they even matter in your own novel?  Let me know your thoughts too!