allbingo | August Bingo Fest: Fairy Tales!

I'm pinch-hitting for the Allbingo August theme of fairy tales, and I'll be the first to admit that it's also an opportunity to shake up a very, very familiar genre. The thing about fairy tales is that if I say “Cinderella,” almost anyone who speaks English also knows the story, even though the original story was popularized in French. The same recognition happens with “Hansel and Gretel,” or “The Pied Piper of Hamelin,” though those stories were more commonly known in Germany. The most well-known characters in Russian folklore and fairy tales include the iconic Simple Ivan, a good-hearted but often inept young man who stumbles through adventures and wins because he is good-hearted, rather than brave, clever, or patient. I'd call Harry Potter a Simple Ivan story, especially in the first book.

The other iconic Russian character is commonly considered a villain: Baba Yaga. She is a witch with an exceedingly varied portrayal in the traditional tales, which brings up one of the best part of writing: creating what you like best. Why not have a complex, intriguing foil for your heroes?

It's entirely possible to write fairy tales geared to a particular age, without falling into the Disney trap. Too many stories have been sanitized in the last thirty years-- try to find a story where the Gingerbread Man dies, I dare you!-- but we're writing our own, which makes it easy to create exactly what we want to read! There are versions of “Beauty and the Beast” meant for adults to read, there are versions which preserve the level of gore and violence of a college-level translation of The Odyssey, and at the other end of the spectrum, balancing the danger to characters in a story intended for preschoolers requires more than just “and they all lived happily ever after.” Take a look at a standard fairy tale plot, but consider the age of the reader. Or the protagonist. Changing either one can open up profoundly different opportunities as a storyteller.

What about iconic locations, or time periods? The tradition is a generic, pre-industrial Euro-centric backdrop. Change it up and the familiar story becomes something exciting and new. I've written stories set in spacefaring cultures, or steampunk Victoriana, and even in pre-history. Enjoy yourself, and don't believe that the “standard” fairy tale setting is mandatory.

What about plot? Characters? They're archetypes, and if I say there's an “Egyptian Cinderella,” even someone who has no clue what Egyptian society was like in 900 CE, can tell how the central characters will behave, and what the sequence of events will be in the story.

For the convenience of those making their own bingo cards, I've divided the master list into categories: Setting, event, magical thinking/actions, archetype, and Change It! (these all include an exclamation point for ease of recognition in mixed cards, since the intended use is not obvioius). Because each list is ten items, and far from exhausting, choosing three categories is the simplest way to generate a card. I'll also put a general card at the end of the post.

The spectacular bingo card generator made by

magibrain has been a part of my 'arsenal' of tools against stuck plots, a messy house, and studying various topics. Using it to generate a list is easy. Commas separate everything in the input box, and then the user selects the size of the card and the contents of the center square (I chose to use ??? instead of 'free space'). To customize a list, just add or delete words as necessary and check for extra commas, then push the button to generate a card.

Setting:
modern wilderness, South America, Native American (pre-Columbus), Native American (modern), near future, spacefaring future, urban setting, Asia, Middle East, Africa,

Event:
lost/ abandoned, lost item, gifted item, errand, strange visitor, unhappy family, natural disaster, law/ decree, needed travel, surprise

Magical thinking:
walking backwards, clothes inside out, speaking backwards, rhyming commands, cold iron, made of wood, baked magic, clay life, sweetest honey, fern seeds,

Archetype:
mentor, magician, fairy, commoner, travel companion, guide, soldier/ sailor, craftsperson, student/apprentice, wise/ learned person,

Change it!:
Gender! (main character), Gender! (magical character), Age! (main character), Age! (companion), Time!, Time! (only one character), Culture! (backdrop), Culture! (single character), Point of view!, Central character!

One last detail: Because this is the SECOND week of August, I'll create an icon/banner on the 31st and anyone who has completed a bingo then will get it, but I'd consider the actual month to silently overlap with the first week of September's planned theme. If someone completes a bingo then, either post the comment as a reply here, or send me a private message, to keep from interfering with the should-be-on-time September plans.

Here's the sample card, and the one I'll be writing from:

lost/ abandoned	Time!	clothes inside out	Native American (pre-Columbus)	fern seeds
rhyming commands	craftsperson	magician	commoner	Time! (only one character)
cold iron	surprise	? ? ?	near future	Gender! (main character)
gifted item	law/ decree	Africa	Culture! (single character)	urban setting
lost item	speaking backwards	baked magic	Middle East	mentor

ETA: The incomparable, wonderful

rogueprince will be generating icons for this fest, with my profound gratitude!

Current Mood: amused

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

cornerofmadness

Here's my card Though I have to say, they'll probably end up as scenes in projects I have to get done rather than as fairy tales (I'd love to do that but I doubt the deadlines will allow me to play)

From:

dialecticdreamer

I hope you enjoy the writing, whether in drabbles, scenes, or challenges to George Martin's epic sagas!

From:

cornerofmadness

Thanks!

From:

rogueprince

Now this looks like fun. Can't wait to see what everyone comes up with! Thanks for hosting it~

From:

dialecticdreamer

I've already jotted a couple of notes for my card, while scanning for typos. I'm delighted with the realization that no two people will fill the same prompt the same way.

From:

rogueprince

Let the creativity flow! :D

From:

vexed_wench

Can I just make a card full of Fairytales and fables? My week has been hectic and odd so if I missed the answer I apologize.

From:

dialecticdreamer

The first choice under the bold category of "Historical and miscellaneous fiction-writing prompts" is the Aarne-Thompson fairytale classificatoin list, with examples. Making a card from that would be fun, and easy.

Or, you can create one just from the familiar titles:

Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, The Ugly Duckling, Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, The Swan Prince, Rapunzel, The Singing Carp, Rumplestiltskin, Thumbelina, The Little Match Girl, The Little Mermaid, Rapunzel, The Frog Prince, The Emperor's New Clothes, Bluebeard, Puss in Boots,

Fill in with character types, or from this list at Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fairy_tales

You'll need twenty-five items for the card to be non-repeating.

ENJOY!

From:

vexed_wench

Thank you!

From:

vexed_wench

I made a small card. My Card

From:

dialecticdreamer

OOH, thank you for including Aesop!

From: (Anonymous)

My card needed it ;). Thanks for stepping up to host.

From:

dariaw

Here's my card - this looks fun!

Are there minimum word counts?

lost/ abandoned	errand	Time!	Gender! (main character)	Age! (companion)
guide	Culture! (single character)	student/apprentice	gifted item	strange visitor
Time! (only one character)	natural disaster	FREE SPACE	lost item	travel companion
spacefaring future	Age! (main character)	unhappy family	Point of view!	surprise
needed travel	mentor	Central character!	fairy	urban setting

From:

dialecticdreamer

Please, don't stress! I'd LOVE for someone to fill a bingo with nothing but 100-word drabbles!

Minimum word counts are particularly nasty to those who prefer poetry and song lyrics, so I apologize for forgetting to specify that there weren't any minimums!

From:

ysabetwordsmith

See our Achievements page for Diamonds and Dynamite, a bingo with all tiny fills.

From:

dariaw

So cool - thanks!

From:

lea_hazel

My card is here, I'm not sure how well it will go in three weeks, and I am out of practice at bingo cards, but hell yeah. I gotta give it a try.

From:

lea_hazel

But also, question: "time" means time period? Like age of sail or middle ages etc.?

From:

ysabetwordsmith

If all it says is time, then I'd say it applies to any aspect of time. Some stories are very particular about the hour of day, season of year, a certain birthday, etc. A magic portal opening at dawn doesn't necessarily behave the same as one keyed to dusk. The Snow Queen is a winter story; it could become the Sun Queen. "Sleeping Beauty" is set at 16; it would be a very different story at 8 or 12 or 24. In fact that'd be a fascinating way to address the growing issue of early puberty.

From:

lea_hazel

That seems sensible. I'll keep it in mind.

From:

dialecticdreamer

OOH, excellent point! I would've done a genderswap for similar reasons, since menses tends to begin between eight and nine now... which exaggerates the difference between boys' and girls' mental development in many ways.

From:

dialecticdreamer

Oh, no, 'time' is far more general. If I meant "time period" or "era," I would've used that. Some key magic happens ONLY at certain times, as in Polynesian stories that take place exactly at dawn and sunset. Transformative magic usually has a time component; what if Jeckyll became Hyde for exactly seven days per transformation, but could be Jeckyll for weeks, months, or years in between?

From:

ysabetwordsmith

The best way to get back in practice is just grab a card and start filling squares. :D

From:

dialecticdreamer

I specified the full four weeks, with "PM me to keep from crowding the September theme," just so there will be the full four week run. If the September theme appeals more, no harm, no foul, but I'll be keeping an eye out and cheerleading (quietly) for a 'usual' month.

From:

ysabetwordsmith

There's no rule against fests overlapping. I think Winteriron is actually still running, that one had a 3-month span. As for crowding, look at the post calender; this isn't a high-traffic community. We do tend to get more activity on the last and first days of the month, but that's about it.

From:

dialecticdreamer

Excellent! I just wanted to make sure that the delay didn't send people crunched up against a new, busy few days with the September theme. Thanks!

From:

ysabetwordsmith

That makes sense too; very thoughtful of you. I think the main thing I'd prefer to avoid is having multiple fests beginning and ending on the same day. Same week isn't as tight a crunch.

From:

spindle_ella

I just want to check - is this to write versions of fairytales, as such, or can I just use the prompts as a jumping off point? (The fic universe that's currently eating my brain does contain a lot of fairytale elements, but also lots of others too).

From:

dialecticdreamer

I'd consider Harry Potter a "Simple Ivan" story, so I'd say my interpretation automatically allows for fairy tale elements. What if you told the story of Hansel and Gretel with NO magic? Would it still be a fairy tale? Try it and see!

Just have FUN writing.

From:

spindle_ella

lol, I'm actually a bit more stuck because I write urban fantasy where archetypes are a subspecies of deity that evolved to take advantage of that big ol' pool of belief nobody else was using, so I've already written a number of fairy tale rewrites and wanted to know if I can head off in another direction with a prompt as long as fairy tale creatures are involved.

From:

dialecticdreamer

I'd say go for it!

It sounds wonderful.

From:

spindle_ella

Thank you!

From:

ysabetwordsmith

Honestly, drive around a large enough town or better yet a multicultural city and you'll see urban fantasy in action. Ye gods and consorts, the weird-ass shit I have seen in Detroit because my partner wanted to visit his old neighborhood. Parts of the city are so torn down that jungle-demons are nesting there. You know, the ones that don't like people? Turns out they'll take over empty lots if it's big enough. 0_o Just in that one spot there are layers of Native American, French, Italian, Polish, African, and who-knows-what-else.

From:

spindle_ella

Heh, city-dwelling nature spirits being less laid back and more 'come on then, if you think you're hard enough!' is a minor plot-point of the novel I'm currently working on.

From:

spindle_ella

My card is here.

Edited Date: 2018-08-09 03:24 pm (UTC)

From:

dialecticdreamer

Especially given your screen name!

From:

spindle_ella

NGL, I'm looking at a couple of the prompts and considering what's in my fibre stash... XD

From:

icedark_elf

Well, I joined in on this as well. My card, which will likely be focused on my new, cracktastical OTP. Because I love them.

This will be a nice break to my H/C Bingo challenge. Almost missed that this had been posted, so I'm glad I caught it.

Edited (I forget how to html sometimes) Date: 2018-08-08 09:59 pm (UTC)