Once upon a time…
Okay, so it was really only last week. Asha and I stumbled across a fun little Twitter contest from the Fairy Tale Review, where participants were asked to tell a complete fairy tale in a single tweet. (You can read some of the results by searching for the hashtag #tellatalltale.) It was a great exercise in brevity, and there were some really spectacular entries. This contest got us thinking: fairy tales are all well and good, but how do things really turn out after happily ever after?
Ever after when?
We’ve asked you for fairy tales before. In fact, here’s a refresher on what we think a fairy tale is:
“Fairy tale” as a genre is notoriously difficult to define. I mean, we all think we know one when we see one, right? If I were asking you to write an original fairy tale, I’d have a much more detailed list of elements, but since we only need you to recognize a fairy tale, I’ll keep it simple:
For the purposes of this microprose challenge, we are defining “fairy tale” as a short story without a single identifiable author (although it may have been collected by a single historian, e.g., Grimm or Perrault), which involves completing a quest or solving a problem with the help of magical elements and/or beings, e.g. fairies (duh), gods, witches, dragons, elves, flying carpets, magic potions, enchanted items, etc. Other elements that feature heavily in fairy tales: magic numbers (3, 7, 9); interplay between poverty and richness (the poor shepherd and the princess, etc); simple character archetypes (the prince, the witch, the ogre, the djinn).
Note that a fairytale is basically a folk tale with magical characters; it is not intended to explain how the world works – that is, creation myths are not generally considered fairy tales, nor are fables. If the purpose of the original story is to tell you why the shadows on the moon look like a rabbit, it’s a myth, not a fairytale. If your hero has to bring each of the moon’s five daughters a quest item to learn one of the directions to the place their true love is hidden in a tree? Fairytale.”
This month, we want to know in exactly 40 words what happens after the fairy tale ends. Does Cinderella catch Prince Charming with the scullery maid? Does Ivan find himself missing his adventures on the road with the grey wolf? Pick a fairy tale – any one you like – and write us what happens next.
Some tips:
- Don’t retell the original fairy tale before even starting your story; you just don’t have room.
- Focus on including one or two symbols (the glass slipper, a red cloak) or characters (the grey wolf, the seventh dwarf) so that readers can try to guess what story it is. Give enough information that a reader who knows the fairy tale can identify it.
- However, don’t assume your readers know what fairy tale you’re referencing. Link to it somewhere in the text (like I did with Ivan).
- Don’t forget to tell a full story:
- give enough information about your characters
- give enough information about your setting
- include a plot: not the original plot, your own plot about what happens next.
- You don’t have to use the main character from the original story as your main character. More interested in what happens to the Grand Vizier than to Aladdin and the Princess? Go for it.
- Looking for fairy tales? We made a list of sources last time we used a fairy tale prompt.
Have fun, and happy writing!
This is the badge you need:
Below is the YeahWrite badge you need for this month’s microprose challenge. Under the badge is a few lines of code. See that? Copy it and then paste it into the “text” or HTML view of your post editor. If you don’t copy it exactly, the image will not appear correctly in your post, and you will receive an error message when you submit the post to Inlinkz. If you have any questions regarding adding this code to your post or website, please contact us at editors@yeahwrite.me.
Need a hand?
Microprose sounds easy. After all, how hard can it really be to write a story with fewer than 100 words incorporating a prompt or two? But it turns out it’s our hardest challenge to really get right. Whether you’re a seasoned micropro or a brand new microwriter, it’s worth taking a minute to glance through the tips and tricks our editors have put together, like this quick refresher on what makes a micro great, or this one on how to incorporate mandatory prompts into adjudicated challenges. Make sure you make it to the vote this week: check your wordcount (we count those footnotes!) and prompts!The microprose challenge ends in:
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How to submit and fully participate in the Microprose Challenge
Basic YeahWrite guidelines: must be in response to the prompt found in this month’s microprose post; your entry can be dated no earlier than Wednesday, March 6; a complete story told in exactly 40 words. You may enter only one microstory per weekly challenge.
How to submit and fully participate in the challenge:
- Please grab the code beneath the microprose badge in the body of this week’s post and paste it into the HTML view of your entry;
- Follow the Inlinkz instructions after clicking “add your link” to upload your entry to this week’s challenge grid;
- Your entry should appear immediately on the grid if you don’t receive an error message;
- Please make the rounds to read all the entries in this week’s challenge; and
- Consider turning off moderated comments and CAPTCHA on your own blog.
Submissions for this week’s challenges will close on Wednesday at 10pm ET. Voting will then open immediately thereafter and close on Thursday at 10pm ET. The winners, as always, will be celebrated on Friday.
Thank you for sharing with us your hard work! Good luck in the challenge…
Loading InLinkz ...About the author:
Christine Hanolsy is a (primarily) science fiction and fantasy writer who simply cannot resist a love story. She joined the YeahWrite team in 2014 as the microstory editor and stepped into the role of Editor-In-Chief in 2020. Christine was a 2015 BlogHer Voices of the Year award recipient and Community Keynote speaker for her YeahWrite essay, “Rights and Privileges.” Her short fiction has been published in a number of anthologies and periodicals and her creative nonfiction at Dead Housekeeping and in the Timberline Review. Outside of YeahWrite, Christine’s past roles have included Russian language scholar, composer, interpreter, and general cat herder. Find her online at christinehanolsy.com.
