Running Wild With A Writing Exercise: Your Turn!

As mentioned in an earlier post, HAWAII FICTION WRITERS members participated in an entertaining and educational project involving the creation of fractured fairy tales. The anthology, compiled to raise money for local libraries in Hawaii, is entitled KISSING FROGS and other Quirky Fairy Tales. 

Frogs are well represented in such tales as the eponymous Kissing Frogs; Frog Prince Wants a Condo; and The Kindred Frog. Some tales are a bit more unconventional, quirky to be precise. Examples include: Jack and the Beanstalkers; Why Were the Brothers Grimm?; and Hansel, Gretel, and the Food-Challenged Witch.

One of my tales easily falls into the "quirky" category. The story employs details from various tales of Snow White, details concerning the methods in which the queen attempts to eliminate Ms. White - diabolical plans that included ordering the huntsman to cut out the step-child's heart; then resorting to poison, and finally asphyxiation. And while Snow White is forever associated with the lives of seven dwarfs, my story has Detective Whitey Snow focused on the demise of seven corpses. 

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In the opening lines of her FOREWORD to the anthology,

Cultural Mythologist Jane L. Mickelson poses the questions: 

"What is the relationship between ancient myths and retold fairy tales? When does a myth morph into a fairy tale? And at what point is the fairy tale turned inside out to become “fractured” or “retold”? 

She continues in this following excerpt: "In one sense, all myths, fairy, and folk tales, as we know them now, are retold. They arise out of oral tradition and are passed along by memory, which inevitably puts new spins on their telling, to match the cultural environment in which they’re told. From the sacred to the profane, nothing seems outside the permissible."

Would your version of a fractured fairy tale lean toward romance, comedy, mystery, or a completely different genre? Pick a well-known or even an obscure fairy tale and let your imagination run wild writing a whole new (fractured) version. 

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