Are you interested in writing fairy tales or teaching others to write fairy tales? Let me help you!
Modern fairy tales and retellings are more popular than ever.
If you’ve tried your hand at writing one but still feel you’re missing something, take a step back and learn writing techniques from the Brothers Grimm.
I spent a year blogging through Grimms' fairy tales looking for patterns that have made these classic tales so endearing. With this series at your side, you can quickly learn these techniques for yourself and apply them to your writing.
You'll find plenty of examples from both well-known and more obscure tales and will come away with a fresh perspective on Grimms' fairy tales. Your imagination will explode with ideas for writing your own stories or teaching others.
This complete collection of the 7 books that make up the Lessons From Grimm: How to Write a Fairy Tale Series includes:
Lessons from Grimm: How to Write a Fairy Tale (the blue book). This book is the main text of the series.
In Lessons from Grimm, you'll study how the Grimms handle key elements of character, setting, plot, fairy tale magic, and theme.
- 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! Includes comprehensive lists of characters, settings, plots, romance tropes, magic objects and more, saving you hours and hours of research time.
This Lessons from Grimm book (affectionately called the blue book) is the foundation of the series. There is a companion workbook that goes with it, as well as leveled workbooks for school-aged writers.
Lessons from Grimm Workbook. This book is the companion workbook that goes with the blue book. These two books are best used together, as this workbook is mostly that--a workbook with very little instruction.
Student workbooks.
The workbooks in the Lessons from Grimm Series take you from finding your own fairy tale voice to plotting your fairy tale. Leveled according to age-range, the elementary is the simplest, then up through middle school to high school, to the companion workbook, more sections and complexity are added.
Find Your Fairy Tale Voice
Discover what is unique about the way you write a fairy tale. Whether you want to write royalty tales, twisted tales, or fairy tale romance, these exercises will help you pinpoint key elements that make up your fairy tale voice.
Brainstorm a Fairy Tale
Through questions and charts, maps and brainstorming space, you’ll be guided through the specifics of genre, character, setting, plot, theme, and fairy-tale magic.
Alternatively, you can use the workbook to assist with editing as you record key elements of your story to make sure you’ve hit all the marks.
The Grimms’ fairy tales are rich with characters, settings, plots, magic, and more than can help you take your tale to the next level.
The Elementary, Middle School, and High School workbooks do not need the blue book. Necessary material from the blue book has been added to the workbooks at an age-appropriate level.
Story Prompts.
Writing Prompts from Grimm workbooks for grades 3-6 and 7-12 contain quotes from Grimms' Fairy Tales to spark creativity. What makes these prompt books different from other books of story prompts is that they focus on three areas of story telling logic: Beginnings, Middles, and Endings.
Each section works on a different aspect of storytelling and logical thinking. Think of the formula as ABC.
Beginning prompts: Students are given “A” and have to come up with what leads to “B” and “C.” Generally, these prompts give characters and setting, but few clues about conflict and plot.
Middle prompts: This type of prompt works on the middle logic of a story. Students are given “B” and have to come up with a logical start “A” as well as a logical conclusion, “C.” The conflict is well underway, so they have to unravel what is going on.
Endings: Starting with the conclusion, “C,” students work the logic backward to arrive at “A” and “B.” Like a detective walking in on a crime scene, they have to come up with characters and motivations and a logical plot that makes sense with the ending.
Appendix: This section lists the story prompt with its original source. Once students have written their stories, they can go and read the Grimms’ version and compare ideas.
Grades 3-6 contain 50 prompts:
26 Beginnings, 12 Middles, and 12 Endings
Grades 7-12 add to the above for a total of 100 prompts:
34 Beginnings, 33 Middles, and 33 Endings
Formats:
Lessons from Grimm (the blue book) is in e-book format for your e-reading device.
The workbooks are downloadable pdf for printing from your own computer.
