How to Write a Fairy Tale

Video Transcript

"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."