Write Me: Pimp that Fairytale!

I thought it might be fun to occasionally put up a writing exercise that might challenge and inspire you. It's amazing how trying your hand at something a little different can improve your writing, help you to pick up on weaknesses, tone your strengths and open your eyes to the various aspects of the craft.

I've been thinking a lot recently about fairy tales, about the magic quality they have that seems to appeal though all the generations. People have been telling fairy and folk tales for thousands of years, and we've never grown tired of them. So how can we as writers capture that illusive magic for ourselves. Why not start with the fairy tale?

The first myth we have to dispel is that fairy tales are for children. This simply isn't true. While we may consider fairy tales children's stories this is a merely modern thinking - Walt Disney has had a big role in perpetuating this myth. You only have to open a book of Grimm's fairy tales to see how dark and brutal the old tales were.

When you pimp a car you strip it down to the essentials, the frame work. You then re-model, re-vamp and re-build the car into something super awesome. We can do the same thing with a fairytale. Strip it down to the basic plot arch ... or take it further still, down to the basic essential elements of a fairytale. Then rebuild. This requires some serious "thinking outside the square."

Lets be honest this isn't a new concept. People have been reworking fairy tales in novels and on the big screen for a few years now, and that's good. It means we have a sources to study. So let's explore a few examples.

The first one that springs to mind is Little Red Riding Hood. Hoodwinked came out a number of years ago and is a great example of a pimped fairytale. The wolf is a jaded reporter trying to catch a break on a story, the Grandma is supergran-meets-superwoman in disguise, and the evil villain is a cute bunny. More recently Red Riding Hood is dark fantasy where a werewolf prowls the night - definitely not for children.

Shrek is another great example. Though the story leans more heavily towards a retelling of Sleeping Beauty it also has undertones of Beauty and the Beast. Fiona is a beast herself, as well as being a not-so-helpless beauty awaiting her Prince Charming. Shrek is a not-so Charming hero, he's a beast, but he's a better man than Charming. The moral of the story? Sometimes true love doesn't wear the face we expect, but when we find it, it's worth every sacrifice to keep it.

Tangled is the latest contribution to a growing fairytale collection. A retelling of Rapunzel where the Hero is no prince, but is in fact a theif. The wicked witch's motivations for taking the child have been changed and are, personally, much more interesting. And Rapunzel is ... delightful.

Okay, so we've looked at a few examples to get our imagination limbered up. (If you can think of any others do mention them in the comments). Now lets consider some of the aspects of the tale we can fiddle with.

Characters
Change their gender, ethnicity, age, or "kind" - maybe to some form of mythological or paranormal creature perhaps. Change the number of characters. Maybe there are ten little pigs instead of three; maybe Cinderella only has one step sister and she's sweet and kind instead of a horrid bully; maybe Beauty is a guy and the Beast is a ghost girl.

Motivations
Change the character's reasons for the things they do and how they do them. Maybe Rapunzel is a vampire and that's why she voluntarily locks herself away in a remote tower. Maybe the Beast is a werewolf or a shape shifter, or maybe he wasn't cursed, but has a horribly disfiguring disease and that's why his family hides him away from the world.

Setting
Generally fairy tales have an old time feel, a gothic or medieval setting, but what if you put Snow White in a future time and gave it a Science Fiction setting? What if the Frog Prince was set in Victorian London or in a Steampunk world?

Quest
Change the quest or the reasons for it. Maybe Sleeping Beauty's prince is a conman and a thief, maybe he only broke into the castle for all the gold and jewels he could steal. Perhaps he steals a quick kiss from a comatose broad and is really annoyed when he finds himself caught red-handed with all the loot he's carrying away.

Conclusion
Change the conclusion, theme or the lesson learned. Maybe Hansel and Gretel never go home maybe the witch is kind and good and makes a good home for them. Or maybe not, perhaps the witch lives in a grand castle and after she's dead they take over the kingdom and rule in her place. Maybe Snow White never wakes and the prince grows old and bitter or dies of grief.

The possibilities for change are endless and it can be a lot of fun to throw different ideas around. Feel free to mash different tales together and re-work them. I encourage you to have a go at pimping a fairytale. What crazy ideas can you come up with?

Observation and Translation

Today's observation:

Sometimes getting the images out of my head and on to the paper is REALLY hard.

I can see the characters and the scenes so clearly in my imagination but translating them into words is no easy task.

I'm writing a kind of fantasy I never imagined I'd pen, a genre I never thought to dabble in, and it ain't easy.

Can't say more now. I have to keep my cards close to my chest. This is for a competition after all. But, boy oh boy, the sweat and tears I'm shedding over every single word!

Fantasy: Thinking outside the Square.

As secretary for the Dunedin writer's workshop, it was my turn to take the short lesson at last week's meeting. Our next competition in October will be judged by the fabulous Tania Roxborogh and the theme is Speculative Fiction. Many of our members have never written fantasy or Science fiction and were feeling a little out of their depth with the subject. So our lesson for Wednesday was: "Speculative Fiction - what is it?"

I wrote up a basic definition;

"Speculative fiction is the umbrella term for all of the fiction genres that embrace the “other”, by this I mean stories and novels that are a bit outside the square in terms of the “real world”."

And listed a few genres that come under this wonderful umbrella term including elements or themes that are often an important part of each genre. I have restricted myself to Science fiction, Fantasy, Gothic fiction, Paranormal and Fairy tales.

Note, my lists are very simplistic. If we wanted to be really technical each other these genres can be split up into scores of sub-genres - but we won't go there. The whole point behind this was to introduce Speculative fiction novices to the genres of the fantastical genres, to help them understand what makes each one different to it's fellows and to make them feel that writing something so outside their comfort zone is possible and can be FUN!

Science Fiction

• other worlds; other civilisations; other universes.

• often futuristic; often involves space or space travel.

• may involve magic, but usually uses futuristic technologies

Fantasy

• often “other” lands, sometimes other worlds

• often (but not always) in a historical setting

• sometimes a futuristic or alternative twist on a historical culture (ie: steampunk)

• usually has quests and heroes who save the world, the land, the princess, etc

• magic is an important element, but the form of the magic varies

• sometimes magic and technology are mixed

• often magical items are involved (ie: the ring in Lord of the Rings)

• sometimes old fashioned technologies with a futuristic twist (ie: steampunk)

• often characters are connected to royalty … or from among the lower classes

• often mythical creatures are used; giants, ogres, dragons, flying horses, unicorns, genies and talking creatures, etc.

Paranormal

• usual set in the real world, cities and towns as we know them

• may involve the faerie, werewolves, vampires, ghosts, angels, demons, zombies, shape shifters or other creatures of myth who are semi-human.

• often involves a journey of self-discovery; a love story which must overcome extreme “paranormal” obstacles; a mystery to be solved.

Gothic

• elements of horror / terror

• elements of romance

• elements of mystery and suspense

• historical setting

• prominent features are: supernatural, ghosts, haunted houses, gothic architecture, darkness, death, madness and transgressions, persecuted females, secrets and hereditary curses.

• may also involve vampires, werewolves, monster, demons, fallen angels, skeletons and ghosts, maniacs, bandits and villains.

Fairy tales and Folktales

• often (but not always) in a historical setting

• often teaches the reader something about human character, mostly folktales do this

• may involve magic or magical items, sometimes quests or tasks must be undertaken

• evil vs good is a common theme (ie: Rapunzel and Snow White)

• often mythical creatures are used; giants, ogres, dragons, flying horses, genies, talking creatures, etc. (ie: George and Dragon)

• sometimes uses bewitched creatures/people (ie: Rose Red and Rose White)

Of course not every story in these genres will have every one of these things is them, but most stories will have one or more of these elements. So for those of you who are new to the fantasy genres I hope this helps you gain an insight into the crazy worlds we write. Perhaps it may even inspire you to try your hand at writing something "other." I hope so.

Enjoy dabbing. Mix things up. Play around with different ideas. Most importantly have FUN with it.

If you're in Dunedin and you're interested in dropping by the Dunedin Writer's Workshop we meet every Second Wednesday of the month at 7.30pm. If you'd like to learn more feel free to email me (you can find my details on the "Who am I?" page at this blog).

In other news: I'm proud to say I've finally finished editing my latest fairytale, Bittersweet. It's nice to have it done and dusted, and looking pretty on my flash drive.
I guess that means it's time to get writing something else.

Tales with a Twist

The Dunedin Writer's Workshop has another competition coming up, the theme: Speculative Fiction. A broad theme to encompass Sci Fi, Fantasy, fairytales and folktales.

With this is mind, I'm working on a series of fairy tales. Some are takes on old tales that I've twisted and reworked in order to make them more original.

Others are original stories written in the style of traditional folk and fairytales. One is about a banished faerie and another about a dragon tattoo.

This is really exciting for me. I've always loved fairytales. As a child I spent hours reading (over and over) Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Rose White and Rose Red, the Nutcracker, the Princess and the Frog, Hansel and Gretel and Rapunzel, among others.

As an adult I've collected books of old tales, Scottish, Scandinavian, Irish, Greek and Roman, and take as much pleasure in them as I did as a child.

Reading them with adult eyes is a very different experience, you see the underlying lesson with much more clarity, a lesson which is often overlooked by youthful readers. For them the magic is in the tale of love, in the vanquishing of the monsters, in the "other world" experience of the tale itself.

For myself that magic still has power over my imagination and shows in the shape of the tales I write. Many fairytales, especially the traditional ones, have unhappy endings. Grimm's fairytales are classic for this. These stories always made me feel sad and being a child of vivid imagination those feelings often lingered with me for a long time. As a result my stories always seem to have a happy ending, even if it's somewhat tempered by difficult circumstances.

In other exciting news: I have an audio book - what I'm referring to as eAudio - coming out in a few months. The story is an original fairytale about a courageous maid and three fierce dragons. I'll tell you more about it closer to the release date.

Over Active Muse!

I said a few days ago that Muse was busy playing with the plots of Mercy Me and Tremorgan's story.

Well, this morning he got a little over excited and dropped another story in my lap. One that is screaming to be written.

Maybe he's been at the coffee again. Sigh. It looks like the drought is well and truly over for the moment!

So what's the new story you ask?

Well this blog isn't called TheDragon'sPen for nothing. I love dragons, there is something about the mystical magnificence, the power, grace and wisdom married to the beast-nature that makes it such a fabulous creature of myth.

The story is fantasy (surprise, surprise) and has to do with dragons and magic and ... stuff.

I don't want to give away to much yet, but it's going to be awesome.
Most likely it'll be another YA novel.

I will be finishing Mercy Me first. Then, and only then, I'll begin this dragon novel and work on restructuring Tremorgan's Gift.

The Inspiration of Two

First off, I would like to say a big thanks to those readers who have emailed me recently saying how much you liked the blog (though it has been quiet here lately). It has been really encouraging and, as you can see, has succeeded in getting me back in the bloggers seat. So THANKS!

My health has been up and down over the last few months which has markedly slowed the progress of Mercy Me. I am making progress though. I have now mapped the last half of the novel giving me a definite direction or plotted path to follow which should help things move ahead fairly quickly once I get back into it.

I'm so loving writing Mercy Me and I can't wait to get back into it, but assignments and health issues are seriously cramping my style. It's hugely frustrating.

So far feed back on the Steampunk novel is really encouraging. While I haven't actually been writing the novel my Muse has been busy at work, shaping the plot and build scenes in my head. I've mapped out the final half of the novel and I'm excited to announce that I just have to write the thing now. But of course, that's the hard part!

My Muse has also been dabbling with issues in my YA fantasy novel. I'm seriously contemplating breaking down the planned plots of the first two books and putting them together in one brilliant stand alone novel. It looks wonderful in my head, hopefully it'll be just as great on paper.

I'm making notes of my ideas and the strongest short scenes I have so I can free up some creative room in my head. After my initial attack on the Tremorgan's story (the YA fantasy I wrote last year), I'm determined not to touch until I've finished Mercy's (steampunk novel), but at the way things are going resisting the temptation to dabble may take more self control than I possess!

So that is where I'm at. My head is buzzing with ideas and story lines. Now I just need to find the time to write!! Anyone have a gadget to slow time???

Considering an E-venture

It's been ages since I have blogged here, or at least it feels like ages ago.

As I have slowly recovered from my surgery I've been picking up the pace with my writing related activities. I won't just say writing, because I don't know if I have done all that much actual writing.

My friend Sue (aka JT Webster) and I lead our first meeting as the new President and Secretary of the Dunedin Writer's Workshop this month. We've both been attending there for close to three years and it was interesting to sit on the other side of the bench. The feedback we had was positive at any rate.

It took me this long, but I think I've finally cottoned on to the fact that when people tell you to write what you love it's a big, fat LIE!

I mean, sure go ahead and write what you like if what you love and write are exactly what publishers are looking for, otherwise you're more or less just writing for yourself and your friends (if they like it too). However, if what you REALLY want is to be published you'd better love and write the kind of novel a publisher wants to publish.

I spent almost 15 months working on my YA fantasy only to finally figure out that it is too much like the old school fantasy which is 'so last year'. I wrote it because I love this sort of story. The feed back I got on it was good, people loved it, but that isn't enough. In it's present form it's not what publishers are publishing right now.

So I figured I'd got two choices.

1) Stuff it in a drawer and wait until high fantasy is cool again
or
2) re-write it

My choice? I decided to re-write.

I started working on it two days ago. I've tweaked the first two chapters, re-written the fourth and totally scrapped about eight. More will join the heap I'm sure. The middle will be tweaked, but it will more or less remain as is (that's the plan at this stage), while the end will be expanded and added on to.

The result? A different sort of fantasy novel, one I'm hoping will be more 'the thing' and one publishers will want to publish.

I've also decided to focus on making the book a lot more self contained rather than it having to be a trilogy.

In addition to working on this, I'm still writing my Steampunk story. I'm enjoying writing it, even if it's progressing in fits and starts.

I'm also working on an anthology of short stories set in the 1930-50's and I've had good feed back on those compiled so far. (Isn't the photo above just charming? Hat tip to Michele Dyson)

I'm also seriously considering an E-venture - an adventure in e-publishing!

This is not something I ever thought I'd do, but recently the opportunity has come up. It's a children's story in the tone of a medieval fairytale. A wonderful graphic designer who worked at Weta will create the cover art and illustrations. I'm really excited about this publishing adventure and the possibility that it might lead to other similar - or bigger - publishing opportunities.

So there's lots going on in my little writing corner of the world. How are about you? What adventures of the literary kind are you embarking on?

Laws of Magic

I've recently discovered Micheal Pryor's marvelous Laws of Magic Series. The books are set in an alternative (Victorian?) England aka Albion, where magic is a science like any other. The main character is Aubrey Fitzwilliam, son of the former Prime Minister and a peer of the realm. These fantastic novels are full of political intrigue, mystery and adventure.

There are (or will be) six books in the Laws of Magic Series.

In book One, Blaze of Glory, Aubrey must discover who created the magical golem that attempts to assassinate Prince Albert and why, all the while trying to hold himself back from the brink of death.

In book Two, Heart of Gold, Aubrey is searching for a cure for his condition but finds himself with a spot of diplomatic espionage on his hands.

In book Three, Word of Honour, the top secret submersible Aubrey's riding in is attacked and he must get to the bottom of who is behind it.

In book Four, Time of Trial, Aubrey and his friends must confront his nemesis and prevent Dr Tremaine from tipping the world into chaos.

While these books are about a teenage boy who is skilled at magic, the similarity to Harry Potter stops here. These books are very different to JK Rowling's work. They feel more grown up. This possibly due to the political intrigue, but I think it also has to do with Pryor's voice; his work has a very different tone to Rowling's.

Pryor has a crisp, tight prose that draws you into the story and his skill at weaving an intriguing tale keeps you turning the pages. "How the author manages to weave all these strands together into a truly exciting page-turner is magic itself! Unreservedly recommended." -Abbey's Bookshop.

These books are bound to be loved by guys (and girls) everywhere.
I highly recommend The Laws of Magic Series.

A review by the January Magazine sums up my sentiments on this series very well: "The action is almost non-stop ... much as I loved the Harry Potter books, I'd rather go out and party with Aubrey than Harry."


**Micheal Pryor is a born and breed Australian and has written a number of fantasy novels such as the Chronicles of Krangor, the Doorways Trilogy and the Quentarius Chronicles, among others.

Calling Fantasy Writers

Do you write fantasy, especially YA fantasy?

Do you live in New Zealand or Australia?

Are you interested in connecting with other writers in your genre?

If you're a writer of fantasy (published or unpublished) living in Australasia, or have your roots here, and would like to connect with writers writing in the same genre I'd love to hear from you.

At present we seem to be few and far between, especially in NZ.

So, if your keen drop us a line in the comments or email me at penelope dot griffin dot books at gmail dot com. We would love to hear what you're up to, how you're going and what you're writing.

P.S.
If you're from another part of the world you're also welcome to drop us a line, I'd hate you to feel left out. It's nothing personal really. ;)

Luv
Pen

Creating the World

Writer Unboxed has an awesome post today about creating a fantastical world and the questions to ask yourself as you embark on this journey.

I am in absolute agreement.

The world in which your story is set must be as real and as vivid as the characters themselves. If the world isn't believable the rest of your story will fail to capture the epic feel that makes a compelling fantasy story.

Your reader wants to live and breathe your fantastical world. After all this is why we read fantasy: To escape into an alternative world, an alternative reality.

Creating Fantastic Fantasy

One of the fun things about writing fantasy is the fact that it is, well, fantasy! You get to make stuff up. Anything can happen because it is your world, your people, your creatures and your mythology. I love that!

The catch, of course, is that if you are going to make stuff up and fiddle with mythology, re-shaping and moulding it to a shape you want, it has to be convincing. It has to be believable. You have to persuade your reader to BELIEVE. That's the trick.

I've managed to add a 1000 words to the MS this morning. This evening I'm doing a bit of research - researching mythology - what fun. Dryads in particular. Yes, I have dryads in my book. Sexy, mysterious and environmentally friendly. What more could you ask for?

The fun bit is creating my own kind of dryad. There are many similar though slightly different takes on what dryads are like, depending on your ethnicity and the mythological religious relevance of the creatures. Celtic, Roman, Greek or Japanese, they all have a nature or wood faerie or deity, a dryad-like quality.

This leaves the fantasy writer (int this case moi) free to take and leave what I want, shaping and sculpting my own Meliai into the creatures my story needs them to be.

What will they look like? What will they be like? What will they wear? What powers will they possess? What beliefs will they have about the human world, will they be sympathetic or indifferent?

Wikipedia refers to Dryads as nymphs of the trees.

In Greek mythology there was a definite hierarchy amongst the many Gods. Below the highest gods were a class of entities known as the demigods and unlike the gods the demigods were mortal in the extent that they could die or be killed. The dryads fall into this class in particular. The dryads were the lovely wood nymphs or forest nymphs. These were beautiful and carefree maiden spirits who lived in the wooded areas and gamboled about while protecting the trees and creatures in their domain. Dryads are very peaceful and usually known to be very shy.
(Hat tip to dryads.net)

On another interesting note they were always women (an point which I plan to exploit) and in England often referred to as the "Green Lady".

So, all in all a productive day. Now I have to get back to writing.

And so do you!

New YA Fantasy

As I have mentioned before, the new novel I am working on now is a YA fantasy.
(For those of you who don't know, YA means Young Adults)

Now, I have decided, just for fun, to be very secretive about the name of my heroine. Why? Well, to be honest, I think the name is so cool I don't want anyone else to steal it. Her name will be the brand or signature of all the books in the series so I've decided to keep it under wraps for a while. So, when I talk about her here. I'll simply refer to her as "T".

I started seriously writing about four days ago. My word count now stands at approx. 8,800.
I'm pretty pleased with my progress thus far. That's about 1,800 words tonight. YAY!

By the way, is there a guideline as to roughly how many pages per chapter of a YA novel?
I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

One Finished. Another Begins.

At last I have finished the final editing for Princess of the Pigsty. It is done!

The relief ... I hardly know what to say. It seems strange to be putting it aside, though, of course, I hope it will not be the last I see of it. Hopefully a publisher will call me in great excitement to declare they want it, and then I will be back to scratching and scribbling all over the MS again (only figuratively, because I do everything on the computer now days).

But for now, I can sit back with a pleased smile and say, Yes! It is done. (- Though there is that one bit which I should probably go back and fix...)

Is it just me or are writers never really totally satisfied with their work?


One of the reasons I am so excited about having Princess finally finished and off to a publisher for consideration, is that now I get to begin my next project.

This time I'm writing YA fantasy (a trilogy of course).

I love fantasy. I grew up listening to C.S. Lewis' and for years David Eddings was one of my favourite authors. Today, I enjoy Terry Pratchett and Cornelia Funke while revering J.R.R Tolkien.

I'm also a sucker for history. Especially English and European Medieval history, which is a bonus when writing fantasy, after all, what fantasy would be complete without that ancient taste and feel which the middle ages always conjures up for us - well, for me anyway.

What excites me most about this project is the fact that I have the whole story in my head ready to go. I have been "meeting with the characters" for about a month and stewing over the ideas that have been banging around in my head, and getting really excited. Anyhow, two days ago I sat down and mapped out the whole of Book One in half an hour! It just fell off the pen on to the page. I couldn't believe it!

Everything is so clear: the landscape, the races, the characters and the conflict ... everything!
Is this what writer heaven feels like?

Now maybe this happens to you all the time, but it's the first time a story has, step by step and scene by scene, revealed itself to me. Normally, I have a vague plot. I know where I'm going and a few of the stops along the way, but the rest of it just 'happens' as I write.

And, not only do I have the first book plotted out, but I have a synopsis for the second book and a short blurb for the third. :D

I can't wait to start writing ... only now I'm scared I won't do the story justice (eek!).

Reading Bliss

Well, I haven't blogged for a few days - the reason?

I have been reading Stephenie Meyer's Eclipse , the third book in the Vampire love-story series. Yesterday, I sent most of the afternoon, encamped on the lawn, with my nose stuck between the pages - another great read!

Lots of people write these books off as silly teen vampire/fantasy romance; but I know plenty of adult women who are just as enchanted by them. And the teens who are reading them are not only girls - boys are enjoying them just as much, which probably has something to do with the werewolves. If girls have a thing about vampires, it's the werewolves that do it for the guys.

One thing I must say about Stephenie Meyer, which I truly appreciate, is the way her prose flows. It literally pulls you effortlessly through the story - before you know it you're on the last page and craving the next book - this is a talent. Nothing jars or grates as you read. You're never pulled up sharp, feeling slapped in the face, by an awkward sentence, hideous grammar or uncouth punctuation. Which happens often these days (sigh) - especially when one is a writer, I think we are more aware of flaws like this than other readers might be.

The other thing I admire in Stephenie's work is her mythology. These Twilight books (as everyone is calling them) are unlike other vampire books - take Anne Rice for example. Her (Stephenie's) vampires are not like anyone else's - nor are her werewolves, for that matter. She has taken the traditional vampire mythology and turned it on it's head. And while some purist's are jumping up and down and screaming: "You can't do that! They aren't real vampires!" I say: "You go girl!" It takes guts to buck the statusquo. It takes courage - especially as a new writer - to try to pull off something like this: It'll either be a great success or an epic fail! In Stephenie's case we have an Epic Success. One of the things that is so hard to do in fantasy writing is to pull off a convincing mythology, but I think she does it admirably.

Well, done Steph!