How to Write a Modern Fairy Tale
A princess, an evil witch, some magic words: these words conjure up visions of traditional fairy tales. With slight variations you get, for example, classic stories like Snow White or Cinderella. But what about 21st century heroes and heroines? Let’s go over some ideas that may help you write a more attractive tale for present-day readers:
Instructions
- Step 1
Brainstorm with your team some problems or conflicts modern kids face. Categories such as “problems at school,” “problems with siblings,” “problems with technology” could be a good point to start.
- Step 2
Try to come up with a name for the main character and then choose a problem or conflict from the list you draw up in the brainstorming session. This conflict should then be stated clearly in one sentence. For example, “Joe couldn’t understand why his sister always got her way.”
- Step 3
Decide on the ending before you actually start the story. In other words, decide from the start of the story how the problem will be solved. Here’s where the magic enters in; because the assignment is to write a fairy tale, the story needs some element of fantasy. Therefore, the problem can be solved with a little touch of magic.
- Step 4
Using magic as a way to solve a problem only works in a story if there have been previous hints at fantasy. Otherwise, the ending will seem to have come out of nowhere. For example, if a story is going to end with a boy being saved from a bully by an invisible dog, we need to have heard some little barks or seen some paw prints early in the story.
- Step 5
Put little hints in the story so that the reader knows it is happening in modern times. Characters might mention their computers, their cell phones, the names of tv shows, and so on.
- Step 6
The problem must be made clear to the reader in the first few sentences of the story; the middle is approximately four times as long as the beginning; the ending is only a few sentences in length.
