#galindafied

Setting

The first step to modernizing a fairy tale is to work out just what works for your world and your story.

Some questions to ask yourself...

Where is this taking place? What time period is it? How does this effect the story?

Is there magic? If so, who knows about it?

How would the tale be different if modernized? Would it end the same way?

 You should choose a setting and time period that works with the story you want to tell as well as the themes, challenges, and elements you wish to incorporate. 

Characters

What about your characters? How are they different from the original tales? How does the new time period affect them? Do they hold the same beliefs, morals, and standards or have the ways of the new times changed them and their views?

Are they the same people, or are more of their aspects metaphors now? 

How do they dress in these new times? What about their hair? Makeup? Are pieces of their original style still recognizable?

What are their hobbies? Have those changed?

For example...

Let's look at Robin Hood, shall we? We can put him in current times, say right in New York City. He's now a teacher who works for an underprivileged school district that struggles heavily with its funding. However, he's always managed to salvage the school's archery team, even if it came from his own or the Merry Men's (what some of the school's PTA and Robin's closest friends) pocket. The team is a getaway for both Robin and his students who participate and every year, he leads them in an archery showcase. The team displays their skills as a fundraiser and business and rich members of the city can in turn donate to the team as well as the school's funds to continue to allow the activity to be a possibility. However, that's not where it ends.

Robin keeps track of the banking information of the donating rich. He gradually steals from them over time, making sure to never get caught and to always cover his track. The money goes straight into the school's pocket, or to the students with the families who are struggling to pay their bills and put food on the table the most.

Of course, nobody but the Merry Men know about this. If they did, Robin would go to prison and the school would likely crumble in his absence... as well as his beloved archery team. Though, some of them wouldn't want to admit it, they all love their coach and would miss him terribly. Even his stupid hat and feather that he insists on wearing for good luck to their competitions.

Times have put Robin in a different situation, but he is able to hold to his old beliefs and it's not too hard to see that Robin is Robin Hood through and through.

Plot

How will you make your story your own? How can you set it apart from the original?

You could change up some plot elements. Maybe the Big Bad Wolf didn't eat Granny after all. What if Rapunzel decided to get a hair cut? Perhaps when Cinderella was trying on the glass shoe, her clumsiness made itself evident when she dropped it and it shattered. What would have happened if instead of Ariel losing her voice, whoever she fell in love with would, so she'd never be able to hear them tell her she felt the same way? How about if Snow White can only stay awake if music is playing or if the Evil Queen really wasn't as bad as everyone thought. For all we know, Snow White could be a compulsive liar.

Reverse some roles. The little mermaid is a boy who dreams of marrying the prince, but knowing that he's already been arranged to marry a princess of a far away land. John Smith is a girl who is used to the cold brush of loneliness. The most she has ever wished for was a friend- and she finds one in  the most unexpected of places... a Native American reservation after getting lost on a trip.

Who says you can't throw together a bunch of fairy tales and combine them? What's stopping you from putting all of them together? How do these characters react to each other? How do they all even know each other? What conflicts might they have?