Keeping Fairy Tales Fresh
When
I do school visits, I talk to students about giving fairy tales a “twist” in
order to make the stories fun and interesting. During the process of writing my
UnFairy Tale Life series, I’ve been doing the same thing: taking fairy tale
ideas and putting my own spin on them. Even though my books aren’t technically
fairy tale retellings (since they’re not based on specific tales) they’re still
inspired by the stories I’ve loved ever since I was young.
During
my school presentations, I also talk about audience expectations. The fun of
fairy tale retellings is that we know how the stories are supposed to go, but
we read on to see how those expectations will be challenged. To build off of
this idea, I have students come up with a short fairy tale as a group. Then we
answer three questions:
1.
If this fairy tale were a movie, what type of movie would we expect it to be? (e.g.
drama, animated film, etc.)
2.
If this fairy tale were a movie, what type of movie would we not expect it to be? (e.g. action, documentary,
etc.)
3.
Based on what we know about the main character, who would be a good villain for
this story?
These
three questions are essentially the same ones that I ask myself when I’m
brainstorming fairy-tale-inspired stories. I love taking a familiar concept—a
mermaid—and giving it an unexpected twist—a mermaid who hates being in the
water because it makes her skin pruney. Not only does this kind of “twisting”
make me giggle, but it also helps me to make fairy tale ideas feel fresh.
Now
don’t get me wrong, I love getting lost in the “once up on a time” feeling of
traditional tales. But I also love seeing those stories completely turned on their
heads. The unexpected doesn’t have to be funny, but it should feel unique. That
way, the “fairy tale with a twist” will both remind readers of the original
story and make them feel like they’re getting to know a tale that’s completely
new.
Bio:
Born in Poland and raised in the United States, Anna
Staniszewski grew up loving stories in both Polish and English. She was named
the 2006-2007 Writer-in-Residence at the Boston Public Library and a winner of
the 2009 PEN New England Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award. Currently, Anna lives
outside of Boston with her husband and their adopted black Labrador, Emma.
When she’s not writing, Anna spends
her time teaching, reading, and challenging unicorns to games of hopscotch. Her
first novel, My Very UnFairy Tale Life, was released by Sourcebooks
Jabberwocky in November 2011. The sequel, My Epic Fairy Tale Fail,
is coming in March 2013, and the third book in the trilogy, My Sort Of
Fairy Tale Ending, will be out in November. You can visit her at
www.annastan.com.
Thanks so much, Anna! Check out the trailer for MY EPIC FAIRY TALE FAIL here.
Thank you so much for letting me stop by!
ReplyDeleteOh my! Anna is launching her second book!! I swear I've been hiding under a rock. Congratulations, Anna!!
ReplyDeleteLove the idea of the fairy tale with a twist. Looking forward to book two and catching up with Jenny!
ReplyDeleteSheri, you're not the only one who's surprised that the book is almost out. The release date has definitely snuck up on me!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Katie. It's been so much fun putting my own twist on the tales I've grown up with.
I loved Anna's advice. One of the most terrifying parts of becoming an author is a school visit. She makes it seem easy.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to the WriteOnCon and Taken too. I'm going to interviewing Erin Bowman and giving away an ARC closer to her release date.
Excellent tips. I'm writing a story that has the MC go into the wood, so it's a nod to all those woods fairy tales. Good things for me to keep in mind while writing.
ReplyDelete