I would like to take an old-fashioned fairytale and turn it into a modern story. Yes, this has been done before, but most results have been put in a modern world as well.
I would like to really explore Cinderella; Or Snow White. I once read an interesting article about Snow White’s stepmom which put an interesting perspective on her: she was not a witch; she was “just” radical. She didn’t want her stepdaughter to follow the pattern women were supposed to follow at the time.
There are so many stories where the king or prince riding by and sees a pretty girl and bring her home to marry her, without any real content – or protest – from her. So many parents losing their children to fairies as well as witches.
And as I read these stories I feel so much missing; So much I want to know more about.
Then we have the story about the glass apples, a fairy tale my mother wrote for her grandchildren. I would so much like to do something including that.
So where do I start?
When it comes to my mother’s story about the glass apples it is a story I could fairly easy enough take as it is (with her consent of course), but it would become a short script and a budget too high for a short. If it falls out of the frame to find a suitable farm (another story), it would certainly do so when you need to construct shining glass apples and a whole glass tree on top of that. Even if it is done in a computer it costs money. And costumes on top of that.
No, short scripts should be cheap to make. No horses, castles, magic and lots of people.
So what is it that rattles in me with those tales? Is it just the lack of a female voice, or any voice, or is it something in the story that hits me?
It would not be the first script about the bondage women have suffered from during history. Why would my story be so original?
If I write a fairy-tale, will magic be allowed, or will it pass it to the children’s section? Nothing wrong with children’s stories, but then I want to know that that is what I write.
What I should not think about is if it will sell due to lack of interest in the genre or costume dramas or something like that. Thinking about that is a big no-no. I must write what feels right for me, not the market. If I thought about market, neither The Recreators nor Sunlight would have been written and that would have been a shame.
Something I’m sure about is that my fairytale should have an odd perspective. Like telling the story of Rapunzel’s father or Snow White’s stepmom or from one of the princes picking up an unknown girl.
2 comments:
I am writing a fairytale that started out as a modern day love story. I wanted it to be a perfect balance between men and women but I failed at that and decided to write another story to find that balance.
That sounds like an interesting project.
Post a Comment