Krontz,+Kaitlyn+J.

I am going to write a Fairy Tale for my Unfamiliar Genre Project. I am choosing this because I am not a very creative writer and I think it would be difficult for me. I always loved Fairy Tales when I was a kid, but I could not imagine writing one. I know that to write about Fairy Tales you have to have a vivid imagination and be very descriptive.

= **Users Guide to Writing a Fairy Tale** =

To write a fairy tale, one must have an open attitude and a creative mindset. A fairy tale usually has very important aspects that need to be included in the plot, so you would first need to have an outline. Since fairy tale writing is so creative, it would be easy to get lost in all of the description, characters, and plot line, so an outline would be greatly helpful. First off, you would need to decide what kind of lesson you want your fairy tale to teach the audience. Fairy tales are usually aimed towards children, so they usually teach a good lesson. An example would be in the fairy tale “Beauty and the Beast”, Belle loves the Beast for who he is, not for what he looks like. So the lesson would be that you need to look for inner beauty inside of people, instead of only focusing on the outside. By determining a lesson for the fairy tale to teach, you can build around that and create characters and a plot. The next step would be to focus on the main, good character in the story. Fairy tales usually have a hero or heroine who is the “good guy”. This character should be someone that the readers want to see succeed throughout the story. The character should not be perfect, but should carry out the said lesson in the story. This character should have traits that make them likable to the reader, and they should be someone which the audience will come to love. An example of this would be Belle from “Beauty and the Beast”. Even though she did not like the Beast at first, we see her become friends with him and the household items, and we begin to love her by her actions and her good morale. As always, a good story usually has a villain to keep things entertaining. With fairy tales though, you have to be careful about how you plan your evil characters traits. Since the audience is aimed towards children, you can’t make them too evil. A main theme with evil characters in fairy tales is that they are enticing and seducing at first, but towards the end of the story their true colors and plans start to show. The villain should be a trickster who tries to trick the innocent main character, but in the end is defeated. An example of this would be the Big Bad Wolf in “Little Red Riding Hood”. The Big Bad Wolf tries to snare Little Red Riding Hood into thinking he is the nice old grandma, but in the end tries to eat her. This is a perfect example of a “bad guy” trying to snare in the good character, to destroy them in some way. Magical props and characters are also a prime component to a good fairy tale. Remember, fairy tales are all about expanding the imagination, so adding a little magic would only enhance the reading experience. A. S Byatt, a fairy tale author, once wrote that fairy tales are, “a transition to a different reality from our own”. Her saying this is only a reinstatement of using magical props or characters. Using these would only let the reader indulge themselves even further into a different world. An example of magical props would be in the fairy tale, “Cinderella”. In this story, Cinderella is deeply disappointed when her step sisters and step mother diverge her from going to the ball. Suddenly her fairy godmother appears and turns ordinary things like a pumpkin and mice into a carriage and carriage men. This example shows how suddenly magic can turn a low point in a story into a highly entertaining and climactic one. As like any story, there must be a plot. Fairy tales usually have a good amount of character and daily life development, and then a problem arises. The problem is usually what the story is based off of. In “Cinderella” it is that she cannot attend the Ball and in “Beauty and the Beast” it is that the Beast is dying unless she can find a way to save him. Usually, the problem in fairy tales is highly dramatic, and seems like it cannot be solved. The solution usually comes about with a little help of magic. Cinderella was able to go to the ball because of her fairy godmother, and Belle was able to save the Beast because of her love for him and her magic kiss. With fairy tales, the problem always needs to seem like it cannot be overcome, but in the end there is always a way to solve it. The ending is one of the most important parts of a fairy tale. You guessed it, the famous “Happily Ever After”. In a fairy tale, your good character must always come out winning in the end. Whether it is she marries the prince or doesn’t get eaten, they must be triumphant, happy and alive. Also, the “bad guy” must be defeated in some way or another. They must have tried to conquer, lost, and are now out of the picture. The ending must be happy and very picturesque. For example in “Cinderella”, she gets married to the Prince, and never speaks to her step sisters or mother again. The ending must convey that the good character is insanely happily, and basically that everything worked out perfectly for them. And yes, most fairy tales do usually end with the character being “Happily Ever After”.

** Annotated Bibliography ** This article was not so beneficial to me, because it was about the history of fairy tales. It was very interesting to see the history, but it was not helpful in learning how to write a fairy tale. However, I did learn that many of our famous fairy tales such as Cinderella have been based on our history, and have been told through oral traditions from centuries back. I also learned that many fairy tales were seen as messages from ancestors and previous life, which I thought was an interesting interpretation. This was an excellent source for my Unfamiliar Genre Project about fairy tale writing. Mary Beth Culp assigns her student the task of writing a fairy tale, which they found to be rather difficult. This piece was helpful because she included the ingredients needed in writing a tale like problems and happily ever afters. Culp talked a lot about using metaphors, similes, and allusions, which are all present in most fairy tales. This article was very beneficial. This article was somewhat beneficial to me, but only because it showed me what NOT to do when writing a fairy tale. The article criticized the work of Immanual Velikovsky, who wrote fairy tales that in my opinion were not fairy tales. He directed his tales more towards adults, and mentioned things that young children might not know about, like cults. His fairy tales and this criticism essay just taught me how not to right a fairy tale. This was a criticism of A.S Byatt fairy tale work, that I thoroughly enjoyed. It gave me great tips on fairy tales, like that fairy tales only weakly represent reality, and there more so based on what people dream about. She says that fairy tales are “a transition to a different reality from our own”, which I strongly believe.
 * Apo, Satu. "The relationship between oral and literary tradition as a challenge in fairy-tale research: the case of Finnish folktales.(Essay)." //Marvels & Tales// 21.1 (2007): 19+. //General OneFile//. Web. 10 Oct. 2010.**
 * Culp, Mary Beth, and Suzanne Hoffman. "Twice-told tales." //Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy// 41.6 (1998): 472+. //General OneFile//. Web. 10 Oct. 2010.**
 * Harwood, William. "Exposing popular 'let's pretend' fantasies." //Skeptical Inquirer// 32.5 (2008): 59+. //General OneFile//. Web. 10 Oct. 2010.**
 * Tiffin, Jessica. "Ice, glass, snow: fairy tale as art and metafiction in the writing of A.S. Byatt." //Marvels & Tales// 20.1 (2006): 47+. //General OneFile//. Web. 10 Oct. 2010.**

**Monty the Great Black Bear** Once upon a time in a land far, far away, there lays a great black bear, named Monty, who was chewing lazily on a blade of grass. Now, this was not just any black bear, but the most ferocious and meanest black bear in all of Gandolona. All of the other creatures did not go near Monty, because they feared his fierce, loud road. “Move!” Monty yelled, as he stomped past the bunnies and chipmunks that brought him food regularly at the foot of his cabin. They scattered out of the way while Monty shoved inside. The truth was, Monty always acted like he didn’t want the food, but when it got dark put he always swept the food secretly inside, and devoured it alone. Monty was not always such a mean bear, but he had a very unfortunate experience happen to him when he was little. Three men traveled through the forests of Gandolona one fine spring afternoon while Monty and his family were washing themselves at the creek near their home. All of a sudden, big bangs were heard throughout the forest. “Run Monty! Go Home,” Monty’s father yelled to him. Monty ran fast through the forest until he came face to face with a big man with the iciest blue eyes he had ever seen. Monty stared at the long weapon in the man’s hand that he knew had made the big bang. The man looked over Monty’s head and ran, leaving Monty alone. Monty did not look back and ran home until he got safe inside the family cabin. He waited and waited, but his parents never returned home. Every day for the rest of the year Monty searched the forest, but he never saw his parents again. The floor boards groan as Monty rolls lazily onto his side, as the morning sun streams in the window. He is alone in the cabin as he paces back and forth, contemplating what to do for the day. Monty paws outside the cabin and breaths in the familiar scent of wildlife around him. He heads through the trees towards the creek, where he bathes himself every morning. Monty plunges himself into the sparkling blue water, letting himself sink to the bottom. He shakes himself dry when he is done, water flying on all of the wildflowers surrounding him. After his bath Monty heads to Louis’ house across the prairie. Monty nudges his head against the big oak door, which easily opens. As usual he lets himself in and immediately spreads his wide body across the wooden floor. The owl bustles past him in hurry, knocking things over with his wings in rush to not forget his latest idea. “Hello Hello Hello” Louis rambles as he flutters over Monty’s body. Louis is the oldest and wisest animal in Gandolona, he is also known as the ‘Medicine Man’. Many animals have come to Louis with injury or sickness, and he has cured them. Monty watches Louis make his different medicine concoctions every day until the early evening, when he knows it is time to head home. On Monty’s way home from Louis’ cabin, he begins to feel as if he is being watched. His walk turns into a low stealthy step, and he starts to growl deep down in his throat. He starts searching behind tall oaks and sticking his big black head in bushes, but finds nothing. He begins to get very nervous and it makes his thick black hair stand on end. He begins to quicken his pace, eager to get home, reminiscing on those big blue icy eyes of the men in the forest many years ago. As he nears the creek he begins to feel a little less anxious and stops to eat the big red berries on his favorite bush. BAM. The ground rumbles, as Monty chokes on his berries and quickly turns around. He looks up to see a beautiful light brown bear with big green eyes staring him down. Monty lets out a big growl and knows he is ready for a fight. He lurches at the brown bear but she quickly turns to her right, letting Monty pass her. Angrily, Monty jerks around her and lunges at her feet, ready to sink some teeth into the unknown creature, but yet again she was very light on her feet, and danced right around him. “One last time,” Monty told himself. He raised high on his feet, put his head in the air, and let out the biggest roar, louder than any bear he knew. While Monty was letting out his humungous roar, he heard the most disturbing sound. “He he he”. Monty pounded his feet back down on the earth and looked at the brown bear, with her paw over her mouth. Again, he heard the noise escape her, “he he he”. “What’s that noise?” Monty thought to himself. “Was she mocking him?” Monty quickly turned away from her, and bounded through the forest. He did not look back and ran with all of his might home, eager to get away from the new creature. At last he had reached home; he slowed down his pace and walked steadily to the door. He closed his eyes and sighed, ready to relax. When he opened his eyes, there was an unexpected surprise. “Hello” the brown bear said gently, leaning against Monty’s front door. “I’m Isabel”. Monty frowned at the big green eyes, annoyed that this bear would follow him home. The other creatures in Gandolona knew not to follow or bother him; she must not be from around here. “Go away” Monty said hoarsely as he tried to push inside his cabin. “What’s your name?” Isabel persisted. Monty rolled his eyes and he mumbled his name to the annoying brown bear. Isabel curiously let herself into Monty’s cabin, making his space her own. Monty angrily followed her inside, “You are not allowed here” Monty growled. He removed objects from Isabel’s hands as she searched his cabin. “All of these trinkets are so neat!” Isabel exclaimed. “Do you live here all by yourself?” Monty hung his head to the floor and retreated away from her, “Yes” he whispered. “Can you just please leave.” Monty sulked into his corner, annoyed at Isabel’s presence and at her complicated question. “I’m going to make dinner,” Isabel said sympathetically, aware of the soft subject. While Monty lay against the wall, Isabel bustled around the kitchen. She made porridge for the pair while Monty slept. “Wake up, I made dinner,” Isabel said to Monty later that night while she nudged him with her paw. Monty rose and joined her at the table impressed with what she made with the minimum food in his cabin. “So tell me about yourself,” Isabel said to Monty. “There is nothing to say, I am just Monty,” he replied. “Well that’s boring,” said Isabel. “I know you’re wondering where I am from. I lost my sister while traveling, and this was the first place I came to, and you were the first person I met.” “Hmph” Monty grunted, trying not to sound overly interested in Isabel. They ate their porridge in silence for a while. Isabel finally broke the ice, “So you must have some family around here…” But Isabel couldn’t finish her sentence, “No” Monty said shortly. “I have no family”. Immediately, Monty got up and took the dishes and occupied himself trying to clean them, while Isabel sat quietly at the table. After the dishes were done and everything was clean, Isabel got up and walked towards the door. “Well I guess I’ll be going” she murmured. But, Before she could exit Monty asked her quietly where she would go. “I don’t have anywhere to go,” she whispered to herself. Monty quickly walked towards the closet, grabs a pillow, and hands it to her. She rose her head up to look into his eyes, and he saw a glint of tears, he again offered her the pillow, and pointed towards the wall opposite of his. The next morning Monty awoke to a clattering of pots and pans. For a second, Monty was confused, because no one is ever in his cabin but him. When he opened his eyes he saw Isabel reheating the porridge from the night before. He hungrily got up, from smelling the porridge he was no longer tired. “Goodmorning” Isabel readily greeted him. Monty grunted and sat down for porridge. Once again they ate in silence, Isabel observing Monty, and Monty trying not to notice. Full from breakfast, Monty walks out of the house to go bathe, like he does every day. Without talking to Isabel he wanders through the flowers and trees to the creek. As usual he paws through the water and lets himself sink deep. When coming up for air he lets himself float on his back. He gets lost in his thoughts when all of a sudden there is pressure on his stomach and he is being pushed down under the water. Monty immediately flays his arms and legs and finally he was able to reach the top for breath. “He he he” Monty heard once again from his left. He wiped his eyes and whipped to the left and saw Isabel floating in the water, giggling. Infuriated, Monty took his great black arm and whooshed it through the water and sent a wave at Isabel’s face, totally catching her by surprise. The pair laughed together as water stung their eyes and they kept attacking each other. As Monty walked out of the creek he looked ahead and noticed Isabel laying in the field of wildflowers, looking beautiful as her hair dried. Together they laid there in silence, looking up at the passing clouds. “What now?” Isabel asked Monty, lazily turning her face to meet his. “Louis’ house” Monty replied. Confused, Isabel got up and followed Monty to the unknown destination. They weaved in and out of the bushes and tall trees, greeting all of the animals as they passed. Stopped to eat berries from Monty’s favorite bush, Monty showing her how to retrieve the best ones from the back. They pranced along to Louis’ in pure bliss until Monty heard a noise he never wanted to hear again. BANG. Monty jerked his head up and was staring into the cold, icy blue eyes of the man who killed his parents, many years ago. “RUN ISABEL” Monty roared as he charged at the bitter man. Monty saw from the corner of his eye Isabel sprinting away. With all of his might, Monty ran at the man and rose onto his high legs and let out a huge roar. The man fell down from surprise, and right when Monty was about to bite his arm, he felt a shooting pain in his left paw. “Owwww” Monty groaned. Terrified of the great black bear, the men fled, never to return to Gandolona again, leaving Monty alone. He tried to get up and go back to the cabin to find Isabel, but there was too much pain in his foot. “Hoot Hoot!” Monty heard with a whishing sound, and soon enough Louis was at the foot of him with a medicine belt, ready to take care of Monty. “I saw what happened, Monty, but you are going to be okay” Louis told him. “Lay very still, this will hurt.” As Monty closed his eyes and felt Louis take out the bullet, he wondered where Isabel was at and if she was okay. As Louis put stiches in Monty’s paw, he felt a great rumbling of the earth, and Monty’s heart started to race in fear. “I FOUND YOU,” Isabel panted as she slowed to a stop in front of Monty. “I was so scared that you were dead, and that I would never see you again.” With that statement Isabel hung her head to the ground, and Monty saw tears falling from her eyes. “All done!” Louis exclaimed. Louis fluttered away and Monty yelled out a thanks. Monty raised his paw to touch Isabel’s face. She looked him in the eyes and smiled. “Let’s go home” Monty murmured while Isabel shook her head in agreement. Monty limped against Isabel as they walked home together to live happily ever after.