This book offers a detailed exploration of the plot genotype, the functional structure behind the plots of classical fairy tales. By understanding how plot genotypes are used, the reader or creative writer will obtain a much better understanding of many other types of fiction, including short stories, dramatic texts and Hollywood screenplays.

This book offers a detailed exploration of the plot genotype, the functional structure behind the plots of classical fairy tales. By understanding how plot genotypes are used, the reader or creative writer will obtain a much better understanding of many other types of fiction, including short stories, dramatic texts and Hollywood screenplays.

Uncover the fairy tale secrets that made the Grimms famous. In fairy tales, a young woman can have impossibly long hair, a man can turn into a lion during the day, and a simple spindle can change a kingdom's history. There are few limits on characters we can create or the stories we tell. Our characters don’t necessarily have to look or act a certain way, and fairy tale magic can delight readers in fresh new ways. In Lessons from Grimm, you’ll do a deep dive into how the Grimms masterfully handle key elements of genre, character, setting, plot, fairy tale magic, and theme. Lessons from Grimm is perfect for teenage writers and up. While beginning authors will learn basic storytelling techniques, more advanced storytellers will hone in on specific tips for writing fairy tale magic and themes. By studying examples of well-known and more obscure tales, you'll come away with a fresh perspective on Grimms' fairy tales and lots of ideas for writing your own stories. * quickly brainstorm ideas * streamline the creative process * create endearing fairy tale characters * build on time-tested plots and themes * write a better fairy tale Bonus! The appendix includes comprehensive lists of characters, settings, plots, romance tropes, magic objects and more, saving you hours of research time. Get Lessons from Grimm today and get started writing your own magical tale.

We often hear about the noble prince who rescues the poor king's daughter from the clutches of her pestilent stepmother, of course after he has passed all kinds of tests. Kingdoms, beautiful princesses, subjects: the main prize for demanding adventures, so that young minds should fall asleep peacefully and emulate their heroes. These old-fashioned clichés are now being done away with! And what else is there? The fact that today anyone can become "king" and even try to do so often results in a trail of destruction, in line with modern moralism. The fairy tales collected in this volume deal with these and similar problems.

From wicked queens, beautiful princesses, elves, monsters, and goblins, to giants, glass slippers, poisoned apples, magic keys, and mirrors, the characters and images of fairy tales have cast a spell over readers and audiences, both adults and children, for centuries. These fantastic stories have travelled across cultural borders, and been passed on from generation to generation, ever-changing, renewed with each re-telling. Few forms of literature have greater power to enchant us and rekindle our imagination than a fairy tale. But what is a fairy tale? Where do they come from and what do they mean? What do they try and communicate to us about morality, sexuality, and society? The range of fairy tales stretches across great distances and time; their history is entangled with folklore and myth, and their inspiration draws on ideas about nature and the supernatural, imagination and fantasy, psychoanalysis, and feminism. In this Very Short Introduction, Marina Warner digs into a rich hoard of fairy tales in all their brilliant and fantastical variations, in order to define a genre and evaluate a literary form that keeps shifting through time and history. Drawing on a glittering array of examples, from classics such as Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, and The Sleeping Beauty, the Grimm Brothers' Hansel and Gretel, and Hans Andersen's The Little Mermaid, to modern-day realizations including Walt Disney's Snow White, Warner forms a persuasive case for fairy tale as a crucial repository of human understanding and culture. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

"Legendary storyteller Stephen King goes into the deepest well of his imagination in this spellbinding novel about a seventeen-year-old boy who inherits the keys to a parallel world where good and evil are at war, and the stakes could not be higher--for that world or ours." --

"A time long ago, when the Moon and Sun were friends and shared the same sky, a strange man wandered down an even stranger path." In this folkloric tale, a man known only as the Stranger finds his way to another world and embarks on a journey to take back what he has lost. Watched with growing interest by ancient celestial beings, he faces a different challenge at every turn and each one more tempting than the last. Can he resist the temptations, or will the Four Winds sway his heart with bribes cloaked as gifts? This is a world of shadow and light, where the winds follow no particular direction and where even time has a will of its own. Deeply rooted in dark, traditional storytelling and enriched with stunning olde worlde illustrations by Adam Oehlers, A Stranger's Tale introduces familiar characters in an unfamiliar world. Rich in imagery and a nostalgic charm, Natasa Xerri brings a fresh new voice to age-old themes, as she weaves a story that has readers of all ages spellbound from beginning to end.