Once Upon a Time- In Depth Introduction

In-Depth. It’s that time of year again. Amazing how quickly months roll by, isn’t it? It seemed just like yesterday that I was studying ceramics… Well, perhaps not quite like yesterday. A lot has happened between then and now.

One large thing that has happened is this- my idea of what makes up a good In-Depth project has changed drastically. I checked out the list of some ideas I had from last year, and I was able to rule out all but one in the first thirty seconds of staring at the page.

The remaining one didn’t fare any better.

These things included a whole range of topics from baking to veganism to dance to some art related topic… I had a few writing related ones, of course, but they were greatly outnumbered by other ideas.

And it’s not that the other ideas weren’t excellent, viable In-Depth projects, it’s just that I had come to a realization. I wanted to further explore writing. Nothing else actually made me excited about In-Depth.

Once this idea was in my head I was quick to jot down writing related possibilities. It was soon narrowed down to poetry and novel writing. I then remembered I don’t really like writing poetry, so I was left with novel writing, all alone on the page, its only company the scribbled out words of ideas which hadn’t quite made the cut.

Those of you who know me will realize novel writing isn’t exactly a new endeavour of mine. I’ve written novels before, I’ve even completed some of them. Maybe it makes me crazy, but I’m actually okay with it. I love writing. I love novels. I love finishing things. I love pouring heart and soul into a piece and getting to have the utmost satisfaction at its completion.

If I have such a love for novel writing, you may be wondering why I did not choose it immediately. The answer? I assumed because I already wrote novels, there was nothing “in-depth” about it. I chased all of the ideas surrounding it, never actually reaching at the topic which made me feel the most inspired and free.

I still do think if I simply did ‘novel writing’ it would be a little… Not easy, but not much of a change from what I do now. I wanted to do something new. And this is where my In-Depth came from.

Why not play with genre? This would give me the opportunity to do something I love, and learn something new.

And from here, I came to the decision I would write a novel-length fairytale.

Why a fairytale? Because honestly, I love them. I love the magic; I love how essentially anything goes. I love how good always defeats evil, and how the people who are true to themselves and to their friends will receive great things in their lives. They’re fairytales. They are magical and whimsical.

And, I have never, ever, even considered writing one before.

So where have I started in this process? I must admit, it was an intimidating prospect. I essentially went in with little knowledge of what classifies a fairytale. So to get better acquainted with the genre, I began reading many, many fairytales (some disturbing, some ridiculously happy) and I have learned this.

The basic formula is that the story is human centered, specifically, a person who faces some sort of obstacle (evil step mother, anyone?). This person will then overcome the obstacle with the help of a magical item or person. A talking animal, a fairy godmother, a special spell, an enchanted objects, they all work. From here, the evil is overthrown and everything ends perfectly for the main character. Did I mention that the moral of every fairy tale is good will always triumph over evil? Seriously. If you are evil in a fairytale you better watch out, because you are going to get it. And it will probably be in a painful and gruesome manner.

Also, the rule of three appears constantly. Basically, things happen in threes. Three fairies, three magic words, three items- It’s everywhere.

Now, I could go on and on about what makes up a fairytale, but these are some of the points I found interesting.

Once I had my head better wrapped around this concept, I began plotting my own. That didn’t take long once I settled on a plot. What is it? Well, you’ll just have to wait and see. (;

Writing is the stage I am at currently. I have done a whole ton of writing for the setting and characters, most of which is irrelevant, but it’s there anyways. Whenever I sit down to work on the actual fairytale, I don’t know how to start, so instead I make up all of the kingdoms surrounding the one where the story is focused. Productive? Probably not. Entertaining? Yes.

I think I am almost at a loss for anything else to plan out, however. Once this happens, I will have no choice but to start the actual writing.

It’s an odd thing for me, to be so stuck on how to start. Usually I leap right into writing with little thought. Now I am stuck at the beginning. But slow and steady wins the race? I like this thought, so I’m going to stick by it.

As for the mentor situation, I have a  few people in mind who know about writing, but I would really love to be able to get in contact with a local authour. I say local because I think face-to-face contact is definitely ideal. This week, I’ll be sending out tons of emails. I’ve just been too busy to do much of that lately. If I don’t get any responses, I’ll expand my horizon and consider working over email with someone. Either way, my search for a mentor is really just beginning.

Anyways, this is where I am at for my In-Depth as of now. In fact, I’m going to go and try and write a little right now.

And here is the very beginning of the story, for those of you who want to bother to read it. It’s only a paragraph, but I figure I have to start somewhere, right?

Once upon a time, there was a kingdom. A home to many, or few, depending on who you asked. See, it was a peaceful place separated from distant shores by thousands and thousands of miles. It may as well have been thousands more, for what the kingdom cared.

There were people out there; many people in numbers the island folk could not comprehend. But an unfortunate thing had happened to the kingdom- it had never once occurred to the Good King that these other people really did exist. Or, that they would ever mean anything to his land, nestled on an island, far beyond even the most distant of memories.

And it never was going to matter; not for him, at least. For you see, King Aldrich was dying, and there was nothing anyone in the entire kingdom could do to stop it.