Deja Vu Blogfest: Fairy Tale Rewrite Flashback (writercize #9)

Welcome to writercize, and my entry for the Deja Vu Blogfest hosted by bloggers Nicole Ducleroir, DL Hammons, Katie Mills and Lydia Kang! My blog combines fiction, nonfiction and word play exercises, so picking a deja vu entry was an entire challenge in its own. I consider myself first and foremost a nonfiction writer who loves to play with fiction for fun and inspiration.

I wanted to select something from the very first days of my blog, so this entry is from March of this year, the month I launched the site. I chose the fairy tale rewrite because it's whimsical and fun and gives the writer ample opportunity to work with something familiar from a brand new perspective.

Read on!

Witches, goblins, fair maidens, horses, magic spells, evil stepmothers, glorious kings ...

Fairy tales are a lovely way to pass stories and lessons from one generation to the next, bridging age gaps and cultural differences.   Through fairy tales we learn about romance and love, heroism, fear, honesty, danger, the innocence of youth, all within a framework allowing magic and imagination to permeate the story.  One high school English teacher used to call accepting that magic the "willing suspension of disbelief."

Hans Christian Andersen and the Grimm Brothers are probably the best known fairy tale authors, but much of what they wrote for children was simply writing down and publishing a version of the stories handed down around a kitchen fire for centuries before.

Most fairy tales focus on one character and build a supporting cast around the lead.  Today's writercize shifts the focus onto one of the supporting characters (i.e. Cinderella's stepmother, one of the Seven Dwarfs, Prince Charming, the Big Bad Wolf from The Three Little Pigs).

writing exercise:  Pick a well-known fairy tale and retell it from the perspective of a supporting character.  You may choose to write in either the first or third person and you have full creative control over how closely you follow the original storyline.

PS - If you're looking for a fun, interactive retelling of classic fairy tales per Grimm, check out Grimms' Fairy Tales on the National Geographic website.  Very fun!

(To see the writercizer sample response about the Queen's perspective from the story of The Princess and The Pea, click "read more.")

Willing Suspension of Disbelief - writercize #139

"Willing suspension of disbelief" is a phrase stolen directly from a high school English teacher who pulled it out anytime anyone scoffed at a passage in mythology or the bible that screamed outlandish.  Anyone who attended Central Catholic in Portland, Oregon will surely recall the phrase.  Unless I'm the only one who recalls what English teachers said with precision, which is equally possible.

I bring it to mind right now because I think that there is this part in the brain of every writer that believes, against all logic, that anything is possible, including imaginary characters.  

Now, before I go on, if you have little onlookers who believe in everything magical that Christmas has to offer, please do not scroll down while they are in eyesight.  I do not want to be the one to crush the beauty of belief.

I willed myself to believe in Santa until I was 12.  When I was in seventh grade, my science teacher chuckled aloud to the class about how his third grade son still believed in Santa, with a tone of belittlement.  Logically by that point, I knew there was no such thing as Santa, but I wanted so badly to maintain the magic of Christmas morning that I refused until that moment to acknowledge that my stockings were filled by my parents.  For years, I recognized Santa's handwritten replies to my notes as my dad's writing, and I doubted very much that elves built toys with brands that could be found at any local department store, but it was more fun to believe.

If I'm perfectly honest and truthful, I still wake up every Christmas morning looking for proof in the bottom of my stocking that a fast-flying jolly old guy snuck in a little something extra.  

To be even more honest and truthful, I find myself believing more in Santa than any other reason most people celebrate Christmas.  I guess I'd rather willingly suspend my disbelief for literary fairy tales than religious conviction.  That probably sounds odd to a great many people.

That said, the willing suspension of disbelief is part of what makes writing so beautiful.  If I can imagine it in my mind's eye, I can will it to exist.  It is part of what makes daydreaming such an enjoyable pastime!

writercize:  Write a short story or dialogue in which a "normal" person comes face to face with an imaginary character.  

Use any one (or more) of the following: Leprechaun, Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, mermaid.

Click "read more" for writercizer sample response about a leprechaun.

Fairy Tale Book Blurb - writercize #131

Earlier this month, Brianna Renshaw of Pocketful of Playdough hosted a guest writercize where she presented three different book blurbs and invited writers to create a first sentence for each book.  

Talk about a monumental challenge!  It took me a few days to garner up the courage to try the challenge (kudos to my regular writercizers - attempting a challenge and leaving a comment is hard work!), but I have to say I really enjoyed playing around with it.  

I did look to a few books on my own shelf for the challenge, but couldn't write about a book that I had read since it limited my ability to think outside the box, so I highly recommend using the book blurbs she shared (provided you haven't read them yet!) to try the challenge.  Now that I got the hang of it, it's a writercize I plan to use while browsing through bookstores whenever (make that if ever!) I have some time to kill.

Brianna's writercize got me thinking about book blurbs and how fun and theatrical they really are.  A book blurb is like the musical theater version of a story - it's the dramatic and intriguing and bold twin to the novel or short story's subtler, deeper tale.  It's the one place to go over the top with adjectives and mystery.

Since I want to give you a challenge that everyone can relate to, I want you to start with a familiar story and build the blurb.  

writercize:  Create a book blurb to complement the fairy tale of your choice.  

The blurb should be 3-5 sentences long and summarize the story without giving too much away.  Turn on both the marketing mind and the editor to make it work!

Please leave the result of all your hard writercize work as a comment, or leave a link to your page if you use it on your blog.  I love to see all the different ways people can imagine the same challenge!  (And by hard writercize work, I mean a few minutes to a half an hour.  Don't worry about perfection.  This site is about practicing your writing often, not perfecting it!)

Click "read more" for writercizer sample response about Cinderella.

From Pieces to Plot - writercize #98

I recently purchased a fantastic game for my kids, one full of wonder, intrigue, cute graphics and, every writer's favorite, unlimited story-telling opportunities.  And it's sturdy.

The game is by eeBoo, a great toy company with all sorts of creative games, and it's called Fairytale Spinner Game.  If you have girls who like to use their imaginations, buy it!  If you have boys, well, there are still ogres and foxes and kings and they just might like it too if they can get past the giant princess picture on the top of the box.

Kids and their grown up friends spin to collect a hero, a rival, a helper, a magical object, a mean of transportation, a treasure and an enchanted place.  Once they have collected all their objects, they create a story.  I love how simple pieces and objects combine to create an entire plot, so I thought I would share one combination of the pieces (minus the enchanted place - you can make that up) and see what you come up with!

writercize:  Using the six objects in the photo to the right, write a short story.  

If the photo is not clear, you will be working with: magic feather, princess, ogre, puss in boots (or other thigh-high boot-wearing cat with a feather in it's cap), hot air balloon, golden tree.  Be creative and have fun with it!

Click "read more" for writercizer sample response.