Greetings, I am honored to be the guest editor for this issue of the Writing.Com Fantasy Newsletter ^_^ I believe that all creative writing, be it poetry or prose, has an element of fantasy. We write what we know, perceive, and imagine.

         The word "fantasy" has myriad definitions; but thumb through any dictionary, or surf dictionary.com or wikipedia.com, and you will see that they all begin with "imagination."

         Is that not what the writer does? ~ Observe, perceive, or visualized an object, emotion, situation, and with pen/pencil, or keyboard, use words to develop a story or a poem that relates that observation, perception, or vision.

         So, how do we make our fairytale memorable and engaging, whether revisiting one from memory or envisioning one today in our world or perhaps one parallel to ours?

What's the moral of the story? What lesson will your fairytale teach. For example, was not 'Little Red' cautioned not to talk to strangers? What of 'Jack' trespassing? See where this is going? Generally, a fairy tale is also described as a fable that teaches an important moral. The message of the story may be subtle, but it is what makes the fairy tale endure for generations of readers. Be careful what you wish for, you might get it.

Characters that make you care, both good and not-so-good, but ones that your reader can relate to. Generally, a fairy tale needs both a hero and a villain. The interaction between good and evil is a critical element in the success of your story. Remember, these characters need not be human, perhaps a couple of little pigs, or a gnome, elf, goblin, faeries, witches, giants. The sky, and beyond, is the limit.

A fairytale needs someone to root for. They're not perfect, but someone to empathize with or to pull for, like 'Jack' and 'Red' - you want them to succeed.

Now for the 'bad guy' who works as an antagonist to the good character. The evil character usually has powers of some sort and they must use those powers in a way to cause the good character pain or or create obstacles.

A magical character or object which 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.

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. Some obstacles or challenges could be: a person or creature to rescue, a curse to break, finding true love, helping a family or clan member, finding something or someone long lost. Keep going, I'm sure you'll think of more.

Write a happy ending. A fairytale isn't a fairytale unless it has a happy ending. Your good character must succeed and your evil character must lose and lose in a big way so you can write your "happily ever after."

Engage the Journey.

Write On!
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading