A New Fairytale

NO MORE THAN 4 IN A GROUP

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Step 1

Decide what lesson your fairytale is going to teach before you write it. At their core fairy tales are morality tales-- from the horror of stepmothers to not talking to strangers.

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Step 2

Create a good character. A fairytale needs someone to root for. They don't have to be perfect. Just think Jack in "Jack and the Beanstalk" or Red in "Little Red Riding Hood" but your readers should like them and want them to succeed. Describe him or her in detail.

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Step 3

Devise an evil character. A fairytale must have an evil character that works as an antagonist to the good character. The evil character usually has special powers of some sort and they must use those powers in a way to cause the good character pain. Describe him or her in detail.

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Step 4

Design a magical character or object to write into the fairy tale. The magical character can be the evil character but many fairy tales have both good and evil magical characters that work to off-set the other's influence.

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Step 5

Identify what obstacles your good character is going to have to face. Whatever the obstacle it should seem insurmountable and genuinely require a bit of creativity by your good character and a little magical assistance.

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Step 6

How will this end? Is it a traditional happy ending or something different?

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The TV

http://writingyourfeelings.wordpress.com/2010/04/21/you-should-read-the-tv-by-ben-loory/

http://perpetualfolly.blogspot.com/2010/04/new-yorker-tv-by-ben-loory.html

http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2011/07/29/ben_loorys_short_stories_are_long_on_imagination/

Two Sentence Horror Stories

http://canyouactually.com/9-of-the-most-terrifying-two-sentence-horror-stories-ever-told/

The Lottery

 Articles on tradition:

This article discusses how different cultures address death:
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/aug/19/local/la-me-0819-lopez-dyingwell-20120819

This link discusses American Culture:
http://www.americanfamilytraditions.com/american_culture.htm

Here is a link to what The Bible has to say about culture:
http://www.openbible.info/topics/traditions

This is an interesting look at how different cultures have different traditions when it comes to childcare:
http://alphamom.com/parenting/interesting-parenting-traditions-from-different-cultures/






Criticism:
http://home.netwood.net/kosenko/jackson.html

http://www.literaryhistory.com/20thC/Jackson.htm
GROUPTHINK:
http://www.psysr.org/about/pubs_resources/groupthink%20overview.htm

http://www.abacon.com/commstudies/groups/groupthink.html

http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/theory/grpthink.html 

http://boingboing.net/2014/08/05/how-groupthink-gets-reality-ba.html?utm_content=buffer54149&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

The Sisterhood of the Night

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/16/the-sisterhood-of-night-n_n_1521576.html

If  you use this information, give credit to the link under this passage:

The richest of the stories in this vein is ''The Sisterhood of Night,'' in which Millhauser adopts one of his familiar narrative voices -- the affable small-town archivist explaining some local peculiarity to an inquisitive stranger.

It seems that adolescent girls are going out at night in bands, seeking ''dark and secret places.'' Witchcraft is suspected, and also various unspeakable sexual perversions. ''What shall we do with our daughters?'' is the refrain of the adults. ''Tell us! we cry, our voices shrill with love. Tell us everything! Then we will forgive you.'' When the secret is revealed, we at first suspect that a joke is being made about teen-age girls and their ways. On reflection, we discover more complex meanings, to do with privacy, sanctuary and the unknowability of other minds. It is a lovely, haunting story, whose apparent simplicity masks its true depth.

http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/05/10/reviews/980510.10mcgratt.html

Links about upcoming film:

http://www.thesisterhoodofnight-movie.com/

Interview with the author:

http://transatlantica.revues.org/562

Salem Witch Trials/Hunt:

http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/salem.htm

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/brief-salem.html

http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/home.html

Baby Shoes Assignment

http://community.lessonplanet.com/t/less-is-more-how-to-write-a-six-word-memoir-like-ernest-hemingway/972

Info on flash fiction:

http://flashfictiononline.com/main/

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/03/short-and-sweet-reading-and-writing-flash-fiction/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/flash-fiction/361614/

How to Use Dialogue Correctly

http://www.writerlylife.com/2010/09/how-to-use-dialogue-correctly/

http://homeworktips.about.com/od/writingrules/a/Writing-Story-Dialogue.htm

http://www.scribophile.com/academy/he-said-she-said-dialog-tags-and-using-them-effectively