Stephanie here. I’m so excited we have Shonna Slayton with us today! Shonna has written a book on fairy tale retellings, which I know many of you write! Not only does she have wisdom to share today, she is giving away two copies of her ebook Lessons Learned From Grimm. We’ll give away one here on the blog, and one on our Instagram.
Welcome, Shonna!
For new writers, fairy tale retellings are a great way to learn storytelling basics. Characters are familiar, plots are already structured, and there are gaps that need filling.
You can take a short story that’s in the public domain and expand the tale to give readers more details. For example, here is one of Grimms’ short stories:
Odds and Ends
There was once on a time a maiden who was pretty, but idle and negligent. When she had to spin she was so out of temper that if there was a little knot in the flax, she at once pulled out a whole heap of it, and strewed it about on the ground beside her. Now she had a servant who was industrious, and gathered together the bits of flax which were thrown away, cleaned them, span them fine, and had a beautiful gown made out of them for herself. A young man had wooed the lazy girl, and the wedding was to take place. On the eve of the wedding, the industrious one was dancing merrily about in her pretty dress, and the bride said,
“Ah, how that girl does jump about, dressed in my odds and ends.”
The bridegroom heard that, and asked the bride what she meant by it? Then she told him that the girl was wearing a dress made of the flax which she had thrown away. When the bridegroom heard that, and saw how idle she was, and how industrious the poor girl was, he gave her up and went to the other, and chose her as his wife.
Here you have three main characters:
- The lazy girl. We know she is pretty, but idle and negligent. She is wealthy enough to have a servant and is about to get married. She looks down on her servant and openly mocks her.
- The servant. We know the servant is industrious and thrifty. She is also creative and likes to dance. She appears not to notice, or she ignores the disdain her employer has for her.
- The bridegroom. The young man is ready to get married. He is also observant of female behavior. He is not concerned with wealth or social status.
What other questions come to mind when you consider these characters? What are their backstories? Their family situations? What are their goals? Which character’s point of view do you think the story should be told from?
We also have the basics of a plot outlined. Let’s look at the story from the POV of the servant:
A servant works for a lazy maiden who looks down on her. The maiden is always making a fuss, wrecking her own spinning and tossing bits on the ground. Fortunately, the maiden is getting married, which will take her out of the home, at last!
The servant is allowed to take scraps and make her own dress to wear to the dance. Thrilled that her tormentor will be leaving soon, the servant enjoys dancing with her friends. But who is that handsome fellow who keeps glancing her way? The young man introduces himself and asks her to dance. All night they dance and by the end of the evening, they are both smitten. The man asks if he can see her again. They court and eventually marry.
You could write a scene with the two young women working together. Another with the fiancé courting the lazy girl. The servant may or may not interact with him before the dance; that’s up to you. Another scene could be of the servant making her dress and dreaming about her hopes.
There are gaps that need to be filled. And this is where you, as the author, can let your voice shine. What is the servant’s backstory? Where did she come from? Why is she working for the lazy maiden? How does the lazy maiden respond when she sees her bridegroom dancing with the servant? When the servant finds out he is the fiancé, how does she react? Is she less interested in him, or more? What are her concerns and how does he overcome those concerns to win her heart?
Spend some time daydreaming about this story. Odds and Ends (also translated as The Hurds, meaning the coarse part of the flax) has meaning in the title. How can you bring out the themes of the story? The servant uses leftovers to create something beautiful. What if the servant was a “leftover” herself? She could be an orphan, a lone cousin to the lazy girl. Or, she could be an orphan brought in from the village to be a companion to the lazy girl when they were young children.There are so many directions you can go when starting from the barest of details left to us by the Grimms. Give it a try yourself and see what kind of fairy tale you can create.
SHONNA SLAYTON writes historical fairy tales and is the co-creator of the Fairy-tale Forum group on Facebook. She finds inspiration in reading vintage diaries written by teens, who despite using different slang, sound a lot like teenagers today. When not writing, Shonna enjoys amaretto lattes and spending time with her husband and children in Arizona.
What’s your favorite fairy tale? And/or what is your favorite fairy tale retelling?
Use the Rafflecopter to get entered to win a copy of Shonna’s ebook, and head over to our Instagram page for a chance to win there as well!
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Love this post!
I have a lot of favorite fairytales…a few of them are Rapunzel, The Little Mermaid, and Sleeping Beauty. But there are SO many fabulous retellings of Cinderella, like “Ella Enchanted” and “Cinder” (The Lunar Chronicles)! I’m also super pumped to read Kara Swanson’s retelling of Peter Pan, “Dust!”
Yes! These are all great. Ella Enchanted was one of the first fairy tale retellings I read. Made me a life-long fan.
I have adored fairytales since I was young. Beauty and the Beast has always been a fave, mostly because Belle was relatable as a bookworm!
That’s my favorite thing about Belle, too 🙂
I absolutely love fairy tale retellings and one of my goals is to be able to write them well! Thank you so much for doing this giveaway!
One of my ultimate favorite fairy tale retellings is The Golden Princess and the Moon, a retelling of Sleeping Beauty, it is absolutely magical! It is written by Anna Maria Mendell. Sadly, I don’t think many people know about it 🙁
That’s a wonderful goal, Thea. It’s also one of mine and a big reason for why I did a deep dive into Grimm last year. I haven’t heard of The Golden Princess and the Moon either, but I’ll take a look. Word of mouth is the best way to learn about good books. Sharing your favorite books also helps authors find new readers, too, which we love to do.
My favortie fairytale is probably Beauty and the Beast. I love fairytale retellings, The Lunar Chronicles being my favorite! The Sisters Grimm was pretty good to. This post was helpful, thank you!
Have you heard the Sisters Grimm Series audio book versions? So good.
I’ll have to check it out!
My favorite retelling is of Peter Pan. It is called Peter and the Starcatchers by Ridley Pearson. I really liked the way he brought characters to life and showed Wendy’s mother in the first few books and then showed Wendy.
I haven’t read this one. I’ll add it to the TBR list. Thanks 🙂
This was a cool post. I liked how you simplified the process of writing a retelling. It is actually pretty funny because I am working on editing my own fairy tail retelling of Beauty And The Beast. I know its been done hundreds of times but Beauty And The Beast is my favorite fairy tail.
I also liked The Lunar Chronicles, “Ella Enchanted” (the book not the movie), and K. M Shea’s Timeless Fairy Tails series are some of my favorite retellings.
Maybe one of the best things about fairy tales is that they can be retold so many ways! Your Beauty and the Beast story will have your own unique voice attached to it.
Thank you for this post!
My favorite fairytales are Beauty and the Beast and the Little Mermaid. I think that I love Beauty and the Beast because I relate to Belle a lot. The original Little Mermaid is the best version that I’ve heard. I enjoyed it because it is so different compared to Disney’s retelling, which I didn’t enjoy very much. What is your favorite fairy tale/fairy tale retelling, Shonna?
I’m writing a Little Mermaid book right now as part of my Fairy-tale Inheritance Series. The books are descendant stories set in different time periods. Lots of fun to write. As for a favorite, I have to admit it changes depending on the mood. Since I just went through the Grimm stories, several have stuck out in my mind as ripe for my own spin. Today I’m thinking about the Iron Stove and also Iron John. Perhaps it’ll turn into a mashup of the two! Thanks for asking 🙂
Ooh, this post makes me want to try to write retelling at some point!
My favorite fairy tales are Rumpelstiltskin and Rapunzel.
It’s been a long time since I’ve read a retelling… I may just have to read some of the favorites y’all have listed! My favorite retelling is The Princesses of Westfalin Trilogy by Jessica Day George.
Yes, do it! The more fairy tales, the better. If I’m remembering correctly, Jessica Day George’s Princess of the Midnight Ball was the first time I’d every heard of The Twelve Dancing Princesses story. I used to be woefully unaware of the breadth of fairy tales outside of Disney. Projects like reading through all of Grimms’ 210 tales was a great way for me to learn more stories.
It would be a genre stretch for sure, but I do think it would be fun! Princess of the Midnight Ball was my introduction to the tale, also! I can’t wait to read your books, by the way. I have two trilogies to start and finish first, but your coming up on my TBR list!
Thanks, Camille! I’m honored to be added to your TBR list 🙂
This is a cool post. I’m not writing any fairy tale retellings at the moment, but I have a few ideas in mind. I feel like when it comes to reimagining these classic stories, there are infinite possibilities.
It’s hard for me to pick a favorite fairy tale… There’s so many that I like. Growing up, I loved Little Mermaid, and I have a lot of memories of watching Snow White with my grandma. When I got a little older, I took to Beauty and the Beast. And last semester I took a literature course that gave me the chance to read a bunch of old fairy tales that most people have never heard of, which I really enjoyed.
In terms of retellings, I actually really liked Maleficent. It was an interesting take on the story, and the world that the writers and design people created was so pretty. I also liked the Twisted Tales series and the book “The Grimm Legacy” by Polly Shulman.
You make a good point that stories hit us in different places throughout our lives. And I agree that Maleficent’s production quality was top notch. My daughter and I recently watched the second one, and as it opened I commented how I’d like to write a story for Disney just because they do such a great job with the visuals.
I think one of my favorite fairy tales is The Twelve Dancing Princesses, and I actually have an idea for a retelling of it. I haven’t read any fairy tale retellings yet, but Cinder is on my shelf.
Off the top of my head, I can only think of a handful of The Twelve Dancing Princesses retellings, so that would be a good one to try. Make sure you write down notes for your idea before you forget anything…or am I the only one who does that?
My favorite fairy tale is The Three Billy Goats Gruff and my favorite retellings are the Dr. Who Time Lord Fairy Tales.
The Three Billy Goats Gruff scared me when I was a kid! LOL. I think it was the voices either in my head or the way my mom read it to me. I had to go and look up the Dr. Who fairy tales. These are great. I’ve got a friend who is a big Dr Who fan, but she probably already knows about these 😉
One of my favorite fairy tales was the Wild Swans. I also enjoy the Twelve Dancing Princesses and Aladdin. I have written my own rewrites, but I would love to read the book and find ways to improve and edit them. I love Melanie Dickerson’s fairy tale rewrites, also those by Lucy Tempest and Melanie Cellier. My bookshelf is filling up with their books!
Thanks so much for posting, Shonna! This book sounds amazing. I think I need a copy right now! My favorite fairy tale is Beauty and the Beast or The Goose Girl. I love both so much.
Thanks for having me on the blog, Jill!! Beauty and the Beast is winning for most popular fairy tale, I think.
Favorite fairy tale is a tough one! I really like The Wild Swans about the brave princess who saves all her brothers. The book sounds fabulous! I’ve read a lot of really good retellings and have tried my hand at writing a few myself. It’s so fun to read them in a different light.
Can you imagine not talking at all for seven years?!?! Not. One. Word. Even though I’m more of a listener than a talker, I might last a week. My brothers would be doomed.
What a great post! It really is inspiring me to try a retelling. Perhaps I’ll make a random spur-of-the-moment decision to write one for this July’s Camp NaNoWriMo.
I really don’t know what retelling is my favorite. I love the Lunar Chronicles (re reading them right now, actually), Ella Enchanted, and one series I believe is called something like the Chronicles of Bayern (the first book is a retelling of “The Goose Girl”). And trying to pick a favorite original fairy tale is even harder! Beauty and the Beast? The Twelve Dancing Princesses? I’m reading The Book of Pearl right now (amazing amazing amazing, I highly recommend and I’m not even done yet) which has fairies in it, so perhaps that counts?
Ooh yes. I LOVED the Books of Bayern! Had me and my friends shouting at the characters lol.
Three cheers for NaNoWriMo! My first published book was a product of NaNoWriMo 🙂 I’ve been eyeing The Book of Pearl. Sounds like I need to move it up on the TBR.
My favorite fairy tale retelling right now is Enchantment by Camille Peters, it is inspired by Beauty and the Beast. It was so good! But I also loved Princess of Mermaids by A G Marshall and Neverland Falling by Brittany Fichter
Another vote cast for Beauty and the Beast! Cinderella is losing some ground here. I haven’t read Enchantment yet either. Wow, you all are filling up my reading for the rest of the summer. This is great.
My favourite fairy tale retellings are by Melanie Dickerson. I don’t have a favourite fairy tale. I love them all!
It’s so hard to choose favorites. <3 Maid Maleen, Fitcher's Bird, and The Pirate Princess are always near the top faves for fairy and folk tales. For retellings, Til We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis (Cupid & Psyche), Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu (The Snow Queen), and The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale are all excellent retellings.
I agree. I can never pick just one favorite. Did you know that Shannon Hale also has a Maid Maleen story? Book of a Thousand Days. Have you read it?
Favorite retelling? Probably The Healer’s Apprentice by Melanie Dickerson. (Sleeping Beauty) But favorite fairytale is tied with Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast. 🙂
Hi Shonna! I wasn’t really sure how I was supposed to enter for your give away, but I figured I had to leave a comment stating my favourite fairy tale, so here it is:
I think my favourite fairy tale is The Princess and the frog specifically Disney’s retelling of it since the main character was dark in colour and I found it excellently inclusive and wonderful in terms of plot and story.
It was pretty cute, eh?
To enter, you need to fill out information in the Rafflecopter box at the end of the blog post 🙂 I’m a fan of the Princess and the Frog, too! The Grimms’ version cracks me up because the princess throws the frog against the wall and then he turns into a prince. Yes, the Disney version is cute! My daughter was just little when it came out, and it’s the first movie I remember taking her to. Later, we went to Disneyland and stood in a huge line to get photos with the princess 🙂
Hey! Thanks for the post! I love fairy tales! I especially love the retellings where there are animals in place of the characters. Two of my favorites are Goatilocks and Chickerella. They are pretty funny and enjoyable. I’d love to write my own fairy tales! I’m going to try to write one soon! Thanks again for this post!
Heh. Chickerella. LOL. I haven’t heard of these. They sound hilarious. Will your fairy tale be a funny one? …Okay, I had to look up Chickerella: features a mild-mannered chicken, a fashion-conscious Fairy Goosemother, and a prince at a Fowl Ball. Clever!
Thanks so much for this post!! I’ve always found fairy tale retellings to be SO cool. I actually just finished up a series called ‘The Ever Afters’ by Shelby Bach. It stars a lot of the classic fairy tales, as well as some of the lesser known Brothers Grimm stories, like ‘The Maiden with No Hands’ (I always found that one a little creepy).
I grew up reading so many of the fairy tales, that it’s hard for me to pick jut one. Obviously, I enjoy the classic Disney tales, but there’s a lot of under-rated stories that are really cool. I’ve always admired ‘The Twelve Dancing Princesses’, to name just one, and it’s one that I’ve toyed with the idea of retelling. I’ve only ever done one retelling before, (Spoiler alert: it’s not very good!), and I’m thinking about doing more in the future.
Thanks again for this post, and I hope to read some of your work in the future!!
The Maiden with no Hands is an interesting tale. I don’t like how it begins, but I love how it ends. The devil keeps trying to get at the maiden but she stands her ground. She is helped by angels and a good king who tells her: “You may be forsaken by the whole world, but I shall not forsake you.” And then he proves that statement despite the shenanigans that take place. As for your fairy tale, it’s probably better than you think it is! Sometimes we just need a little time away from a story before we look back at it and try to make it match on paper what we have in our heads. Give it another look!
I love fairy tale retellings — reading and writing them — and this post definitely gets right to the core of how to write a good one. I think my favorite fairy tale is either the Twelve Dancing Princesses or Rapunzel!
Thank you, Sarah. I see you know a thing or two about fairy tale retellings! Do you have a Twelve Dancing Princesses or Rapunzel in the works?
What a fun post! Like the others, it makes me want to dive into a retelling. (My deadlines disagree, LOL.)
I wove a Russian fairy tale (The Snake Princess) into my soon-to-be-released book, which was SO much fun. I loved how it allowed me capture a bit of the Russian mindset…and show it as a contrast to French and English perspectives.
Off to check out your books… =)
Deadlines, shmedlines! No, just kidding. I’m all about focusing and getting one project done before moving on to the next. Your new book sounds intriguing. I like learning about different perspectives.
Some of my favorite fairy tales are Rapunzel, Snow White, Hansel and Gretel, and a few less common ones. I really enjoyed this post about fairy tale structures! Thank you so much for sharing it!
You’re welcome! Fairy tales are a great source for finding story ideas and modeling structure. (And Rapunzel is a good fairy tale for 2020 sheltering in place 😉 )
I love fairy tales and writing retellings! My current WIP is actually off of Red Riding Hood. 🙂
My favorite fairy tale is either Cinderella or Beauty and the Beast. My favorite retellings would either be Beauty by Robin McKinley or Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George.
I don’t remember if I’ve read a Red Riding Hood retelling. Hoodwinked, the movie 🙂 That squirrel and his coffee! I’m curious what direction you’re taking it in. Until the movie, I always thought Red Riding Hood had a darker tone. (Yes, another tale that scared me as a child!)
My favorite fairy tale? So hard to choose. Probably Rapunzel, or maybe Cinderella.
Ah, yes. Both great choices. Never choose just one fairy tale when you can list more 😉
Woo, lots of comments!
My favorite fairytale is probably “Diamonds and Toads” in the blue fairy book by Andrew Lang. Here is a link to the Wikipedia article for it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamonds_and_Toads
Oh and speaking of retellings- I really like the land of stories series by Chris Colfer.
Diamonds and Toads is a great example of the kind of testing that happens in fairy tales. In this story, a fairy is testing Fanny and Rose’s inner characters and they are rewarded accordingly. Thanks for sharing the link!
I really enjoyed seeing your process of how you write a fairytale retelling! My favorite fairytale is probably Rapunzel, but I also enjoy Beauty and the Beast. I haven’t read a lot of fairytale retellings that I actually enjoy, but I would like to get into reading more of them.
Thanks, Kristianne! Pinpointing what you don’t like in books is one way to help you hone your own writer’s voice…because those are the things you won’t put in your own stories. Next time you read a retelling, make notes of what you like and what you don’t like. It’s an interesting exercise to try.