Hints on how to write your own fairy story

1. Pick the fairy tale that will serve as the starting point for your story.

 

 

Use the information you have learned from the webquest to plan your new story.

 

 

2. Brainstorm about how you can change the things about the main characters from the traditional story to make it look like a Roald Dahl fairy tale. You must decide which key element(s) in the story to change. Look at your outline of the traditional story and change things. Here are some possibilities:

SETTING (time): A story could be set in the present or the future instead of "once upon a time”

SETTING (location): A story could be set in a different country or region. (Imagine a "Cinderella" story set in Africa, Texas or Amsterdam).

CHARACTERS (Gender): The gender of the protagonist (main character) can be changed to provide a fresh slant. For example "Jill and the Beanstalk" and "The Prince and the Pea"

CONCLUSION: Or, you can keep many elements of the story the same, but change the ending. Think about how Roald Dahl did this. The story outline should summarize what happens in the story. You should make your story as surprising as possible. (Nothing is less exciting than reading a story whose ending you can guess right away.)

 Tip: One way to go about changing a traditional fairy tale is for you to think about what element of the original story you don’t like. You are free to change it. Another way is to play "what if?" Name any familiar fairy tale and ask yourself to come up with different scenarios--just to get your creative juices flowing. For example:

• What if Cinderella refused to marry the prince?
• What if Cinderella's sisters were beautiful and the prince decided to marry one of them instead of Cinderella.
• What if the princess found the pea, ate it, and became sick?
• What if Sleeping Beauty suffered from a sleep disorder and the prince was a doctor who cured her?

4. Write an outline.

5. Show your idea/story outline to the teachers for comment.

6. Write your story

7. Illustrate your story and submit it at the end of the block. Hand it in as a book.