Fairy Tales
Fairy Tales can come true
It can happen to you
If you're young at heart
—Frank Sinatra
Since we talked about Cozy Mysteries last week, which was well received, I thought I'd write about all genres throughout my following posts. Today's blog is about Fairy Tales and what makes a story fall into this genre.
1. First of all, the one thing that a fairy tale must have is a moral to the story. Many morals that are covered can be:
· respect for others
· honesty is the best policy
· be compassionate to others
· hard work will pay off in the end
· be kind
· be grateful for what you have
· sharing is caring
· cooperate
· be trustworthy
and so much more. Think of all the virtues you want to teach your child and build from there.
To give you an example of a moral—which will also be the theme—within a beloved fairy tale, think of any one of the classics like Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, Beauty and the Beast, as well as any Disney Princess movie. Think about what they’re trying to teach you; that’s the story's moral. In Beauty and the Beast, Belle judged the beast by his looks when she met him. She used her lovely personality and gentle heart to bring out the best in the beast, which was much more than anyone had ever seen! The actual moral of this story? Be kind and value internal characteristics over physical appearances.
2. Once you choose your moral or morals, you can develop your characters.
· Your hero or heroine must be kind (Belle), innocent (Rapunzel), humble (Cinderella), hard-working (Tiana from the Princess and the Frog), or any one of the virtues mentioned above. She must have it already, so the story can show the reader that it is a good virtue. Throughout the allegory, she uses this vital trait to save the day. This type of story does not show the main character’s growth but the growth of the people around her.
· Your villain must test your heroine or hero. And the more evil they are, the more fun you’ll have creating ways for the villain to cause the hero some pain. Think of Gaston in Beauty and the Beast. He constantly puts obstacles in front of Belle, trying to control her to keep her from being who she is. Think of any villains in these fairy tales and realize what kind of end you must create for them. If they don’t change their minds, they have a different ending. How many dead evil queens and witches have we seen at the end of these tales?
3. Setting and time period are other essential parts of any tale. With a fairy tale, your settings will most likely be:
· a cozy little cottage in the forest (Little Red Riding Hood), in a quaint French village (Beauty and the Beast), or near an idyllic view (Beauty and the Beast)
· a royal palace (Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, Snow White, Aladdin)
· gloomy castle (for more gothic scenes)
· enchanted forest
· restaurant in old New Orleans (Princess and the Frog)
The time period will create extra challenges for your main character to face. Most of the fairy tales take place during the 18th and 19th centuries or, basically, the olden times. The challenges of living in those times as a strong female would add plot points to the story and then create the perfect situation to drive home your morals. Such as, in the movie The Princess and the Frog, Tiana wants to open a restaurant because she has the best recipe for gumbo. Her father’s recipe. She is a woman of color in New Orleans during the 1920s. Her dreams sound overwhelming for that time and place, like the herculean obstacles she would face might take any strong person down. But not her; through hard work and dedication, she eventually made her dreams come true.
4. Magic! After all, this is a “fairy” tale, so we need some magic. Magic is what will guide the hero. But don’t make the mistake of creating a situation where the magic takes over and does it all. The heroine needs only to use magic or have it available to gain insight or knowledge. Maybe put her on her path (such as the fairy godmother in Cinderella). It can’t be the thing that makes something happen; it just needs to nudge her on her way. The main character’s virtue, or what she already has inside of her, is what makes things happen. To decide on your magical element, place yourself in your setting and look around. What is there that could be magical? What if your teapot was magical? (Beauty and the Beast?) What if that rock over there was a person? (Frozen) What if that frog talked you into kissing him? (The Frog Prince and Disney’s The Princess and the Frog). What if you came upon an old lamp and rubbed it? (Aladdin). Have fun creating magic!
5. The ending must be happy. The heroine gets her restaurant; the wicked stepmother gets her comeuppance; the princess finds out she is a princess and can now marry the prince and live happily ever after. The best part is that now we have the moral explained by the story's outcome. We now know why hard work pays off, why it’s essential to be kind and not judge people by their appearances, and why compassion wins even if your stepsisters are assholes to you. Because karma is a bitch, and evil people will always get what’s coming to them. In fairy tales, that is. And that’s why we love fairy tales.
After setting up all those touchpoints in your story, you are ready to begin. How will you do it? Will you choose: Once upon a time…, A long time ago…, At a time when there were princesses and fairy godmothers…, Far away and long ago…, In the olden times that time forgot…, In the beginning, when stones had legs and trees had toenails…, Once upon a time, a couple of days ago…, or any of the millions of ways you can start, know that all you have to do is simply begin. Put your pen to paper, and fill that empty page with your story. As long as you believe, the enchantment of your tale will write that story, and you will create magic. Please do it, because…
Fairy Tales can come true
It can happen to you
If you're young at heart
—Frank Sinatra
