Writing the Fairy Story now......

Been thinking about sharing this, wrote it for members of a local writing group and as a kick start for my own writing needs.  I've avoided taking that ten league step into Fairy stories but have two under way at the moment. Will perhaps post a little of  them later in the month.  

Re-thinking the Fairy-story.  

I think we can say that a lot of girls and some boys still love reading fairy tales that feature a princess in a gown being rescued by a handsome prince who is incredibly brave. In these stories the lovers overcome some obstacles, then ride into the sunset and live happily ever after. But this is old fashioned and contemporary fairy tales can have more complex themes and storylines. Sometimes the characters live in a world like ours.  And they may never fall in love; not even with a toad.

To make your fairy-tale modern,  set it in the present day! Forget Castles. If your fairy-tale takes place in the  ‘NOW’ it allows your characters to use modern technology. Wear modern clothing and act very differently from stereotype Prince and Princesses.  

And what about Magic? A fairytale without magic sounds wrong but it’s a way to put a fresh twist on a story. Think about the film ‘A Cinderella Story’ no fairy godmother here to wave her wand and transform Sam, the “Cinderella” character.  Try writing a fairy-tale without magic, it can provide a more realistic story.  But if you want to keep the magic that’s OK!

Update your characters.   You don’t need the same cast: the damsel in distress eg., the princess, the prince, an evil king, queen or wicked witch or wizard.

A fairy tale still needs a main character for us to be interested in.  But this character doesn’t have to be a princess and her love interest doesn’t have to be a prince on a white horse! Use your imagination.

If you’re writing a modern story, you can have it take place in a school where the “evil” character is the art teacher, the “princess” is a girl who’s in the school choir and her supporters who help her during her journey are her best friends and perhaps the Maths teacher! The “Prince” can be the boy who sits next to her in Chemistry class; she fancies him — but he doesn’t have to be super duper! Think Harry Potter and those specs…

There should be a subtle love interest. Most fairytales centre on true love or learning to love oneself in order to be able to love someone else. So have some type of love theme in the story. It can be about family love , friendship love or romantic love—it doesn’t need to be sloppy – you can choose!  Your main character might love a Zebra or a tree that is going to be chopped down!!

What about the ending?  It doesn’t need to be happy. Most people think that all fairy tales end, “and they lived happily ever after.” But a modern fairy can be different.  It’s not compulsory to end your story all wrapped up just because it’s what readers are used to. As the author you’re in charge;  it’s your choice how your modern Fairy tale ends!  Think about that tree.  Suppose the girl started a protest and some nice person from the Council Offices helped her. Maybe together they saved the tree and…………………………………………well who knows. This story is still waiting to be written.

 SJN/2015.