What is the relationship of an original fairy tale to the retelling? Is it a hard and fast guide for the storyline? A general outline? Just the spark of an idea? Or any one of the three?
When writing a fairy tale retelling, the original is your jumping off point. It's your basic idea, and that idea can follow the fairy tale extremely closely, or just have vague elements of it.
It starts with a "what if?"
What if Cinderella had a gift that made her unable to disobey?
What if Cinderella's slipper fit the wrong girl?
What if Cinderella was a cyborg?
What if Sleeping Beauty was set in the old West?
What if the fairy cursed true love's kiss instead of the spinning wheel?
What if, when Sleeping Beauty fell asleep, she woke up in another world?
If you're thinking of writing a fairy tale retelling, the first thing to do is start brainstorming your "what if?" There are infinite possibilities. Use the fairy tale as a jumping off point, and explore your twist.
You might come up with an epic sci-fi like Cinder.
You might come up with a sweet romance like Disney's Cinderella (2015).
You might come up with something no one's ever thought of before. It'll be familiar, but new, because you took that old fairy tale and jumped off, and then ran with it.
What if Rumpelstiltskin involved time travel?
What if the Little Mermaid wants to be human to save all the missing mermen?
What if Cinderella was actually leading the prince into a trap?
What if Snow White's stepmother was really trying to save her from the dwarves?
What fairy tale twists can you come up with?
Just one week until the Three Sleeping Beauties are here!
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