Any tips on starting a fairy tale? Where do I start?

Question

Where do I start?

Answer 1

With once upon a time......OMG we all think alike, don't we!

Answer 2

There are a lot of re-written fairy tales out there. You won't be able to write a new fairy tale, so take up this fun approach where you put your own spin on it. Gregory Maguire has made a fortune on re-told fairy tales.
Basically, his approach is to change the point of view. This is a simple but fun switch (I don't like Maguire, however...he's kinda wordy and annoying to me).
Other options include altering the setting, a character, an object, a theme, a lesson, a combination of these, etc.
My personal favorites are Roald Dahl's "Revolting Rhymes." The three bears eat Goldilocks; the seven dwarfs have a gambling addiction; I won't tell you who 'saves' the three little pigs from the wolf.
Take a fairy tale that you like and try altering it a bit. Take one you hate and make it into one you like. Some good references include "Swan Sister" and "A Wolf at the Door," which are collections of retold fairy tales.
Don't give up just because it's been done already. Everything's been done before. And like I said above, Gregory Maguire is doing pretty well for himself with this style alone.
Best wishes!

Answer 3

Great question.

Start with your hero/heroine. What's special about them?

Then the hero/heroine should try to DO something, accomplish some task. Why? Maybe because someone asked them to, or to save something, or to make something better.

But there's a problem. What's the problem? Maybe a villain, or a difficulty in completing the mission.

And the hero/ine triumphs, against all the odds, in some elegant way. And possibly has help in doing it.

There ya go! Just fill in the blanks!

looking at Joseph Campbell's take on "The Hero's Journey" will tell you how to develop fairy & folk tales.

Answer 4

Once upon a time is the way most fairy tales were started.
There once was... is another one
In a modern fairy tale, you can skip right to a character description or begin with the name of the hero/heroin.

Answer 5

Start with Once Upon a Time.

Answer 6

you quite could have the flexibility to locate an entire Brothers Grimm at your library-- could be the two section, individual or infants. My library has copies in the two. Jack Zipes did a great version, so it fairly is quite useful to seek for his version of the great Grimm concepts. East O' the photograph voltaic and West O' the Moon via using Peter Christen Asbjornsen the great Fairy concepts of Charles Perrault (Hardcover) via using Charles Perrault (author), Sally Holmes (Illustrator), Neil Philip (Translator), Nicoletta Simborowski there are various others-- it fairly relies upon on the placement your pursuits lie. there are finished collections finished via using u . s . or section. a great variety of the Grimm concepts are comparable to British persons concepts and a great variety of of those are ordinary. there is likewise a huge distinction in fairy concepts and persons concepts: for occasion, Andersen wrote fairy concepts. He did not take a frequently occurring tale and retell it-- he made them up. The Brothers Grimm accumulated classic concepts. seek for Joel Chandler Harris for Uncle Remus concepts; there are retellings in non-colloquial English finished via using Julius Lester and others.

Answer 7

Start with "Once Upon a Time."

Answer 8

Start with "Once upon a time" and finish with "And they lived happily ever after."

Answer 9

stroy: once upon a time in a magical land far far away...
true life: get a boyfriend/girlfriend or a great job

Answer 10

Once upon a time in a far away land there lived a..........

Answer 11

don't write a fairy tale. they've all been written, the genre is exhausted. please cut it some slack and lay off it and write some original fiction.