11 November 2023

Posted by Claire Hillier

Young Writers - week 2 - 'fractured fairy tales'

Welcome,

We began today’s session with a group check in, describing our week so far as a Wild Animal - what would it be, and why?

Claire - a squirrel. Running about, busy
Poppy C - a deer. Crazy, shy
Louisa - a cat. Just a normal week
Finley - a sloth. Feeling lazy
Berry - a worm. Boring
Poppy M - a lion. Hectic

Then we discussed what we are reading/watching this week. Considering that stories are told everywhere around us in films, books, games, TV, theatre - and thinking of these things as ‘writing’ [fiction, script, narrative, characters, plot], what are we ‘consuming’?

FORTNITE [game. Action]
Trash [mystery novel by Andy Mulligan]
Holes [film. Mystery]
Jane Eyre [Novel by Charlotte Brontë]
The World’s Worst Monsters [Book by David Walliams]
Jolly Foul Play [Robin Stevens' fourth Murder Most Unladylike Mystery]

After our check ins, we played a game: Secret Language

This is where each player takes a turn in creating a ‘secret’ language, using gibberish, not words. They must convey an emotion. Through their voice & movements/body language. Player one ‘talks’ to player 2 in their ‘secret language’ - player two has to ‘talk back’ in the same language. They converse for a few moments. Then player 2 turns to player 3, and creates a whole new ‘secret language’ in gibberish, player 3 ‘talks back’ and then passes a new one on. Everybody takes a turn until we get back to the start.

Some pretty wild ‘secret languages’ came out of this one!

Next we considered the theme we are working with today ‘Twisted Fairy Stories’.

We quickly listed all the original fairy stories we could think of that are set in or near a forest:

Snow White
Hansel & Gretel
Sleeping Beauty
Beauty and the Beast
Rumpelstiltskin
Goldilocks & the 3 bears
Rapunzel
Little Red Riding Hood

We then listed all the famous Retellings, or interpretations we could think of;

Shrek [fairy tale characters]
Pantomime [theatre]
Once Upon A Time [TV show]
Maleficent [sleeping beauty]
Ursula [little mermaid]

Reflecting on our list we realised that these stories are still very popular, and are being revisited all the time. Then we read our Example for the week. Roald Dahl's REVOLTING RHYMES. Thinking about our themes ‘Stories from the Forest’ and ‘Fractured Fairy Tales’.

LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD AND THE WOLF [by Roald Dahl]

As soon as Wolf began to feel

That he would like a decent meal,

He went and knocked on Grandma's door.

When Grandma opened it, she saw

The sharp white teeth, the horrid grin,

And Wolfie said, 'May I come in?'

Poor Grandmamma was terrified,

'He's going to eat me up!' she cried.

And she was absolutely right.

He ate her up in one big bite.

But Grandmamma was small and tough,

And Wolfie wailed, 'That's not enough!

'I haven't yet begun to feel

'That I have had a decent meal!'

He ran around the kitchen yelping,

'I've got to have another helping!'

Then added with a frightful leer,

'I'm therefore going to wait right here

'Till Little Miss Red Riding Hood

'Comes home from walking in the wood.'

He quickly put on Grandma's clothes,

(Of course he hadn't eaten those.)

He dressed himself in coat and hat.

He put on shoes and after that

He even brushed and curled his hair,

Then sat himself in Grandma's chair.

In came the little girl in red.

She stopped. She stared. And then she said,

'What great big ears you have, Grandma.'

'All the better to hear you with,' the Wolf replied.

'What great big eyes you have, Grandma,' said Little Red Riding Hood.

'All the better to see you with,' the Wolf replied.

He sat there watching her and smiled.

He thought, I'm going to eat this child.

Compared with her old Grandmamma

She's going to taste like caviare.

Then Little Red Riding Hood said,

'But Grandma, what a lovely great big furry coat you have on.'

'That's wrong!' cried Wolf. 'Have you forgot

'To tell me what BIG TEETH I've got?

'Ah well, no matter what you say,

'I'm going to eat you anyway.

The small girl smiles. One eyelid flickers.

She whips a pistol from her knickers.

She aims it at the creature's head

And bang bang bang, she shoots him dead.

A few weeks later, in the wood,

I came across Miss Riding Hood.

But what a change! No cloak of red,

No silly hood upon her head.

She said, 'Hello, and do please note

'My lovely furry WOLFSKIN COAT.'

The end

This led to a debate about Fairy-tale clichés, such as the beginning and ending lines ‘Once upon a time’ or ‘Happily ever after’, predictable characters, and dull narrative plots. As writers it’s our job to keep our writing interesting, exciting, and compelling. How can we do this with Fairy Tales? What happens when you turn ‘the good guy’ into ‘the villain’. Or ,like the piece we just read, what happens if you change the genre of a story, into a crime/mystery or a comedy.

We revisited the list of fairy stories that took place in a forest.
Then we listed all the genres we could think of
[action, comedy, mystery, fantasy, historical fiction, musical, horror, romance, sci-fi]

This led on to today’s writing exercise: Fracture A Fairy Story

Each person picked a particular tale and re-wrote it choosing one of the three options:

Retell the story in a different genre
Change the ending/add a twist
Write it as a modern day ‘real events’ story

Paying particular attention to

Point of view. Narrator. who’s story is it? [A Tree in the forest? An unusual angle]
Playing with readers' expectations.
Beginnings & Endings - can we start a story where one left off?

The group spent some time writing their drafts.

Then we shared our work/story ideas.

Horror/Thriller: Tiana (The Princess and the Frog) - a princess who turns into a frog, then a pig, then goes to a butcher to buy pork, then gets eaten by an alligator.
Love/Crime/Horror: The Love Was Not Real! - opening scene… a prince pulls a gun on a princess, but she also draws a gun. They are in a standoff.
Horror/Action/Crime: The Sad Gingey. A gingerbread man’s wife cheats on him with his neighbour. He buys a poisoned apple and plans to trick her into eating it. He buckles at the last moment, and eats the deadly fruit himself, but not before setting explosives in both his and his neighbours houses.
Cruella: post-Dalmatian era. She just wants to settle down. Works at a dog rescue place.
The Eight Wolves and The Pig: 8 wolves live in a 3 bed flat. They are a poor, big, family. A noisy neighbour Pig lives above them and makes their lives miserable.

These are all brilliant ideas. The group really ran with the concept and engaged with the challenge. Hopefully everyone will carry on writing these Fractured Fairy Stories!

We wrapped up with another round of One Word Story game…

“I am mentally magical and I went to a party with my Grandma who is deaf. She couldn't smell anything in the world except a foot, but if she had bananas she would smell everything.”

Then we levelled up. Half the group told an improvised one word story whilst the other half did the sound effects to the story. This was super fun and dramatic.

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Young Writers - week 2 - 'fractured fairy tales'

Holes [film. Mystery]