How To Write Fairytale Retellings: what if?

   '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 ^_^.

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!