Hi, this is Laura Turner, and today we're
going to talk about, how to write a fairy
tale. The first thing that you're going to
want to do is pick up, Grimm's Fairy Tales,
and you're going to want to read all of them.
Because you definitely do not want to write
a fairy tale of your own, that you're going
to call your own, that has already been written.
However, you're probably going to write a
fairy tale that's written in much of the same
mode as how they wrote theirs. Grimm's Fairy
Tales contains stories such as, Sleeping Beauty,
Cinderella, things that you've seen before,
but also they're grim, they are very, sort
of adult, things that you're not use to reading
before. So you can actually sort of broaden
your horizons by actually going back to the
real text of the fairy tales, and seeing that
in Cinderella the stepsisters have their toes
chopped off so they can fit their foot into
the shoe, the glass slipper. So, sort of broaden
your horizon as to what a fairy tale can be.
Because fairy tales are not just for children,
they are moral tales that are set in fantastical
world. So go ahead and read, and then decide
what moral you want to tell, what moral do
you want to come out of this fairy tale, and
then start from there. Secondly, figure out
your characters, what characters will help
to convey this moral in the best possible
way. For example, things like Beauty and the
Beast, you need the beast character in order
to convey the moral that you should love someone
not based on their looks, but on what's inside,
alright. So think about what characters would
best further your story. Think about, thirdly,
the magical personifications in your world,
think about the super natural elements, things
that your characters are going to find along
the way that's going to help them, you can
even implement your talking animal characters,
and also things like magical swords, super
natural aids that will help your characters
to achieve their goal in the end, or not.
Usually fairy tales end happily, so you should
try to work toward a moral, or a lesson that's
going to end all well for the main characters,
even though your character is going to go
through many obstacles. Finally, think about
how well your fairy tale can be illustrated.
I have here one of Neil Gaiman's Sandman graphic
novels, sort of a modern fairy tale about
a monk and his love. And this particular story
is basically enhanced by the fact that so
much is illustrated in it and can be shown,
and that you have a world that sort of exists
within the pages of your fairy tale. So think
about what the representation of your story
is going to be whenever you're finished with
it, and how you can illustrate it, because
that will help it to live on in the hearts
of the people, and the mind of the people
that you write it for. So good luck.
