by makexbelieve

From Gregory Maguire's Wicked - a Wizard of Oz retelling which puts the wicked witch centre stage - to Marissa Meyer's cyborg-Cinderella in The Lunar Chronicles, the popularity of fairytale retellings endures and it's easy to see why. Fairytales are timeless. We enjoy them as children and they still delight us as adults. Reading a fairytale is like returning to a favourite childhood memory, and what writer doesn't want to tap into that nostalgia?

But what is a fairytale? A dictionary definition is: a story about fairies or other mythical or magical beings, especially one of traditional origin told to children. Mythical beings you can expect to find in them include: fairies, elves, pixies, dragons (who doesn't love a dragon story?), goblins, giants, mermaids and, of course, plenty of talking animals.

Fairytales take the fabric of the real world and enrich it with magic. Beanstalks can take us into the clouds, carpets can fly us across the globe, and at every turn there are witches, stepmothers and evil queens trying to steal our happy endings.

For it is the happy ending that unites all fairytales. They may be dark, twisted and occasionally gruesome, but the princess always finds her true love in the end; the hero always vanquishes their foe. Love and happiness conquer all.

But it can also be argued that many fairytales are ridiculously outdated. Where are the princesses who want to marry other princesses? Or the ones who don't want to get married at all. Why is the girl always weak and in need of rescue? Why, in Western culture, are they almost exclusively white? Fairytales need to be rewritten for the modern age. They need to represent the amazing, multicultural societies we live in. They need to celebrate love in all its forms. They need to be retold.

This was the inspiration behind my own series of fairytale retellings, where I reversed the genders of princes and princesses - so Snow White became Snowdon, and Cinderella's Prince Charming became Princess Charmaine. I wanted girls who could rescue those they loved and boys who were more than a silent love-interest with a sword.  I'm now three stories into the series (Mirrored Snow, Princess Charming and Skin Deep) but I have plans for so many more. The possibilities for fairytale retellings are endless.

Some of my favourite retellings on Wattpad are Betrothed to Jack Frost by Alycat1901; I Wish I May by AdelynAnn; and Pumpkin Patch Princess by (which are both about fairy godmothers).

One of the most interesting things to consider about retellings is that many of our best loved fairytales are themselves, in fact, retellings. Look up Cinderella online and you'll see dozens of versions, originating from all over the world. If you're asked to tell a story from memory, it's likely that you'll fall back on an old favourite, like little red riding hood, or goldilocks and the three bears. But each time you tell it, you'll make it slightly different, putting your own individual spin on grandma's grisly end, or adlibbing a monologue about porridge. We all have a fairytale retelling inside us - so why not share yours on Wattpad?

Example of Retelling Fantasy:
Mirrored Snow by juliecdao

Synopsis:

Everyone know the story of Snow White: blood red lips, ebony hair and skin the colour of freshly fallen snow. Her vain step-mother, desperate to be the 'fairest of them all' attempts four times to have her killed, until her prince comes to save the day.

But what if Snow wasn't a princess, but a prince.
And the queen's antique silver mirror contained not just her reflection, but a girl.

Mirror can no longer remember her name - or life - before the queen imprisoned her. All day, every day, she finds herself at the queen's beck and call; a life of endless servitude and isolation.

Snowdon is approaching his 18th birthday and is an increasing threat to the queen's right to rule. And his looks are putting him in the running for her 'fairest' title too. So the queen decides the quickest way to solve all her problems is to get rid of Snowdon. Permanently. But the girl watching their every move has other ideas.

Excerpt:

"Mirror." She puckered her lips, pulling a ridiculous face as she smeared lipstick over them. It was a deep, gory red, the colour of blood. Knowing her, that's probably exactly what it was - lipstick made from the blood of her enemies. Pale powder from the crushed bones of those she had killed. Maybe her fake nails weren't really all that fake. I was going to have to question everything she pulled out of her makeup bag from now on.

Inspirations:

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Music

https://youtu.be/ahZ2bbhY4jo