How To Write Fairytale Retellings: what if?


May 5, 2018


   'Tis time for the first post of the new How To Write Fairytale Retellings series, y'all! I'm super excited to share all of this with you, I think it's going to be a blast. Who's ready to dig into the first element of any retelling?

   Let's do this ^_^.

How To Write Fairytale Retelllings, Part 1: the "what if?" question

The best place to start a story is at the beginning.

And all fairytale retellings start with a twist! Whether it be the tale told from a minor character's prospective, or the main character having a totally different motive than the original fairytale hero/heroine, every retelling has a twist.. And lots of retellings come about because of a what if kind of question - and there are a ton of different kinds of what-if questions! Lets explore some of them, shall we?


the POV what if

This is the what if that asks, what if this story was told from a different character's prospective? It's one of my favorites to play around with, and it's super easy to come up with... 

- what if Snow White was told from the Mirror's point of view?
- what if Cinderella was told from the fairy godmother's point of view?
- what if Pinocchio was told from the Blue Fairy's point of view?    
- what if Rumpelstiltskin was told from Rumpelstiltskin's point of view?

This is honestly the easiest what if question to come up with. What we want is the story told by an entirely different narrator, which will give us an entirely different story - nab any minor character that we're somewhat familiar with and spin us a magical tale in their POV!




the twisty-tale what if

This is the what if that simply asks, what if this story was totally different? What if you took the original tale, and completely twisted it on its head?

- what if Cinderella was retold in modern-day Chicago?
- what if the wolf was trying to save red riding hood? 
- what if Sleeping Beauty meant to prick herself?
- what if the Beast wanted to stay a Beast?
- what if Alice In Wonderland was a werewolf story?  

And of course this is the one that has been the cause of most of our favorite retellings - from the edgy Lunar Chronicles (what if Cinderella was a cyborg?) to the sweet Ella Enchanted. Bring us epic retellings that completely surprise us with stellar twists and change the game entirely! Bonus points if you make it darker (or lighter, ha) than the original.





the backstory what if

And here's a fun one - the what if question that asks, what if we went exploring the backstory of some of our favorite fairytale characters?

- how did Peter Pan find Neverland and the Lost Boys?
- who was the Hatter before he went mad?
- who is the Mirror (in Snow White), really?
- what if a story was written about Cinderella's stepmother when she was younger?    

This what if has also been the culprit of multiple retellings, from Wicked (which I haven't read) to Heartless (which I've read and adore!), so its a heap of fun to mess around with. Show us secrets about characters - whether the ones we love to hate, or simply love to love - that we didn't know before!




the continuation what if?

This one is similar to the backstory what if, except we're going forward in time instead of back to ask what if there was more to the story? What if "the end" wasn't really the end?

- what if Wendy Darling hears of a threat against Neverland and sets out to warn Peter?
- what if Cinderella starts an orphanage, and finds a child with mysterious powers?
- what if Snow White finds another magic mirror - and realizes that the Mirrors are trapped people?
- what if Dorothy's daughter found her way into Oz, except it is completely changed?

I find this one the hardest, honestly - but then, I'm used to thinking of "the end" as the end! But if you in all of your epic creativeness can think of more to add to the story, GO FOR IT. This is exactly why retellings are fun - you can do whatever you want!




   And I've barely brushed the tip of the iceberg here! Seriously, I could go on for miles with 'what if' questions (can you tell that they're my favorite?), but I think we'll stop here before I spend all day gathering plot bunnies ;P.

   ANYways, I hope you guys enjoyed the first post of this series! The what if question is always fun. I'll be back in a week or so with the second installment of How To Write Fairytale Retellings ;).

   Keep on being epic, y'all! <3

~ Savannah Grace


what's your favorite category of "what if" to play with?
come up with your own "what if"s down in the comments!
 

27 comments :

  1. Ohh, this got me to thinking so much! My favorite is the twisty-tale what if. They give a fresh perspective on old story's. =D

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    1. I'm glad you enjoyed it, Mikayla! The twisty-tale is definitely my favorite, too - so many possibilities!

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  2. I LOVE THIS! You're doing a whole series??? *is very excited*

    Asking those what if questions is my favorite part of brainstorming a retelling. I'm trying not to think too hard about your examples here because--PLOT BUNNIES. XD

    For The Brightest Thread, I think my first what if question was, "What if the princess was conscious during her enchanted sleep? What if she wasn't a passive character just waiting for a prince?" Oh, and I have this half-formed Rapunzel idea that plays with "What if Rapunzel was trapped in the tower in order to keep the kingdom safe?"

    Can't wait for the next instalment!!!

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    1. AND I CAN'T WAIT TO POST THE NEXT PART! I'm having so much fun with this ;D. Glad you're enjoying it!

      Yeah, I have oodles of plot bunnies gathering around me as we speak xD. And MY GRACIOUS THE RAPUNZEL QUESTION. Write it, write it! I'm already inwardly flailing about ALL the epic twists that tale could bring! When you finish with TBT (<3) you should absolutely explore that idea more ;).

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  3. Asddfghhjkklasdfhj SUCH AN EPIC POST. I LOVE THIS!!!! *incoherent shriek* I need to start writing fairy tale retellings! I have never tried it and it would be so so so good to attempt!! I had this crazy idea for Snow White ...

    WHAT IF ... the evil stepmom wsn't quite so evil but a "chosen one" instead and was trying to kill Snow White because of a prophecy (!!) which said Snow White would bring the apocalypse!!

    Anyway!! THIS WILL BE SUCH A GREAT SERIES!!

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    1. THANK YOU SO MUCH - and YES, you should! But once you start, you can't stop ;D.

      THAT IDEA. YOU'RE SLAYING ME, LISA. You need to write it! It needs to be a thing! I'm already dying for want of it! Seriously, that twist would be EPIC, you should totally give it a shot.

      THANK YOU SO MUCH, MY FREN <3

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  4. *shrieks for a thousand years* I. LOVE. THIS. SO. MUCH!!!! And I agree 100% with everything! These are ALL things I think about with fairytale retellings. (My obsession with retellings has no bounds. I basically want to do a retelling of EVERY fairytale ever. o.o) The different POV one is something I consider quite often. Mainly because I always want side characters to get a turn in the spotlight, and it's just so fun exploring them!

    Making COMPLETELY different twists on things is amazing as well. Like The Lunar Chronicles! Such brilliance.

    AND THE BACKSTORY ONE. YESSSSSH!!!! I'm such a sucker for backstories. I just want to know ALL THE THINGS. And the original fairytales, erm, aren't big on details. XD I honestly think THIS is the biggest reason I'm always inspired to do retellings, because I want to explore the WHY and HOW of each story. So much story fodder there!

    And continuations offer endless plot bunnies! (Also I'm in love with this idea of the mirrors in Snow White being trapped people. O____O)

    Wow, Savannah, thanks for the BILLIONS of new plot ideas! :P But no, seriously, I LOVED THIS POST WITH EVERY FIBER OF MY BEING. And this is a whole blog series? YESSSSSH!!!!!!!

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    1. OH MY GRACIOUS <3 <3 <3. Your comments never fail to make me smile! And SAME, my word - I've even started retelling the REALLY obscure fairytales, my obsession has become so great ;D.

      The Lunar Chronicles are STELLAR - I especially love what Marissa Meyer did with her retelling of Rapunzel. That one was great (but my favorite will probably always be Winter xD).

      I actually wrote the trapped people Snow White one (when I was experimenting with what to do for the Rooglewood writing contest) - and never finished! But GRACIOUS it was an interesting tale to tell. Maybe I'll go back to it someday? We'll see! ;)

      *shoves all the plot bunnies your way* TAKE THEM, TAKE THEM, I DON'T NEED THEM xD. I'm so glad you enjoyed the post, Lauri! <3 The next one is coming soon!

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  5. All the stories I write are retellings BECAUSE THEY'RE SO MUCH FUN!! I just adore them! I love asking what if and twisting the story and the characters. It's addictive.
    Amazing post :)

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    1. Over half of my recent stories are retellings, too! WHO CAN HELP IT xD. And thank you muchly, Amy! Glad you enjoyed the post ;).

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  6. Fun idea for a blogging series! I love trying to figure out how different fairy tales would work without magic in them. What if the reason Sleeping Beauty is sleeping is because she got an infection from a spinning wheel's spindle? What if the talking wolf is a predatory man? What if the twelve sisters are dancing night after night to earn money and support their family? And so on!

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    1. Thanks, Rachel! Ad OH, MY GRACIOUS - I absolutely LOVE all of those ideas! Especially the Twelve Dancing Princesses one, it would be so cool to read a story with that twist. You should totally write them someday <3.

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    2. Well, the Sleeping Beauty one turned into my story for Five Magic Spindles, "The Man on the Buckskin Horse." I released the Little Red Riding Hood story last year -- it's called Cloaked. And I'm working on the Twelve Dancing Princesses retelling right now, should be out mid-summer. I call it Dancing and Doughnuts :-)

      I've also got stories in the planning stages that retell Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, The Steadfast Tin Soldier, and Rapunzel. So far.

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  7. ahhhh I love writing fairytale retellings! Or rather, I love coming up with plots to fairytale retellings and then never writing them lollll. I will conquer them someday! :P
    Great post!
    ~ Abby

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    1. Aren't they the best?? And YOU CONQUER THOSE STORIES, ABIGAIL. You can do it! :D

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  8. THE PLOT BUNNIES!!! I love this. So much awesomeness!!!!! I suck at retelling fairy tales, but I enjoy using them as inspiration...so this is definitely a post that I enjoyed ^_^

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    1. I KNOW - I'm drowning in them over here ;D. I'm glad you enjoyed it, Faith! And YOU SHOULD TOTALLY write a retelling someday, I think you'd be epic at it. Thanks for commenting! <3

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  9. LOVE THIS. "What if Sleeping Beauty meant to prick herself." *imagine goes up in flames*

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    1. You have no idea how many plot bunnies appeared in the writing of this post ;D. Glad you enjoyed it, my friend!

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  10. I love the twisty tale and the POV what ifs. <333 *fangirling* I love having random quirks and twists of the stories. So much fun. :P

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    1. They're just the best (and I have learned not to think about them unless I want many plot bunnies xD)! Twisty fairtale retellings are epic, I love 'em <3.

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  11. Love this post! I have so many plot bunnies running around my head right now. Fairy tale retellings are so much fun!

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    1. Thank ya muchly, Skye! And from reading your blog, your ideas are EPIC. I can't wait to read them someday! <3

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  12. NOOOOO!! MORE PLOT BUNNIESSSS!!!

    Seriously though, this is a great post. So many cool ideas! I love fairy-tales!

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    1. YOU WILL NEED TO GET LOTS OF REPELLENT, THESE ONE ARE FIERCE ;D. Super glad you enjoyed the post, Emily! <3

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  13. ACK NOW I HAVE ALL THE PLOT BUNNIES. XD This is such an awesome post!! I love the twisty fairytales best, personally. :)

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  14. These are amazing! I love seeing cool twists of commonly told stories: they are so interesting to me.

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