I’ve always loved fairytales; that’s what happens when you grow up watching (and rewatching, and rewatching, and rewatching…) Disney classics. I was writing stories as soon as I learned how to hold a (sparkly pink glitter) pen, but surprisingly, fairytales didn’t influence my writing much until my dad gifted me a massive book of fairytales and folk tales when I was seven years old. I read through it a million times and practically memorized all of the stories; I still look to it for inspiration today! And so began my love for adapting classic tales and mythology.

Because of Disney’s exhaustive adaptations of their classics and the boom of other fairytale adaptations that started a couple decades ago, adaptations have been getting a bad rap recently. And I get it. Disney’s adaptations are exhausting me, too—I’d much rather them spend their effort on great new ideas as they did with Encanto and Luca, but that’s a different story.

The point is that, yes, there are a lot of adaptations, but that’s only because they’ll never go out of style. Who doesn’t love reading a familiar story with a twist? As long as unique people keep being born (which is…always…) there will always be unique takes on old stories, and that’s what makes adaptations a timeless fad. 

While adapting a story rather than coming up with an entirely new one can be easier in some ways, it still has its own challenges. As someone who’s dabbled in quite a few fairytales at this point, I’ve found a path that works so you don’t have to make the mistakes I did. Read on for how you can successfully adapt old stories in your voice and make them enticing for your readers!

But First: Copyright!

The very first thing to look at when thinking of adapting fairytales or classic stories is copyright. Make a mistake in this area and you could get seriously sued! No one wants that, so save yourself before you make a mistake. Do some extensive research on the story you want to adapt and make sure to take a good look at the copyright details in your country, specifically, as copyright laws vary greatly.

While many classic tales are in the public domain, certain aspects might be trademarked by Disney or other big companies/publishers, which is why you need to make sure your research is thorough. 

Absolutely do not skip this step! It would be terrible to have a great idea for an adaptation, write it all out, and then realise you can’t publish it—and that’s the best-case scenario.

Identify the Themes

You know me—I believe that themes are paramount in good storytelling! The really neat thing about fairytales and folk tales is that they’re always centred around some kind of moral or lesson. Finding out what this theme is (which isn’t hard) will automatically guide your retelling, even if you don’t end up using the exact same theme(s).

In fact, one of my favourite adaptation tropes is when the same theme as the original is used, but it’s shown through a different character or has some kind of twist put on it. You can even add some of your own themes or update them for an older audience (if you’re not writing for children). 

Change the Setting

One of my favourite things to do in a fairytale retelling is change the setting. My obsession with this started back when I first saw Treasure Planet, the most underrated Disney movie of all time. Who would ever think about making Treasure Island sci-fi? It’s brilliant!

Changing up your setting, whether that means making a fairytale modern or changing the genre entirely, is one thing that can really set your adaptation apart and make it memorable. Plus, it really stretches your creativity!

Make the Characters More Complex

Oftentimes, the characters in fairytales are pretty flat. To make them compelling, you’ll need to do quite a bit of work on their personality, motivations, background, etc. This is key to pulling off a retelling. Nobody wants to read a new version of Beauty and the Beast if Belle is just the same person as she is in the Disney movie. Readers don’t care about a caricature villain who is evil “just because.” Take your time to flesh out the characters; they’ll make the story come alive in a whole new way. 

Remember that characters are right behind the theme in order of importance in a story. If they aren’t compelling enough, your readers won’t get very far because they won’t care about the events in the story. As far as they’re concerned, they’ve seen it all before. But when they can see the story through fresh eyes…now that’s interesting.

Give It a Twist

Pretty obvious, but most fairytale retellings have a twist. Why? People do like familiar stories, but if they’re too familiar, then why not just go back to the original version of the tale or whichever one they like best? (Spoiler alert: this is why the Disney adaptations are mostly ineffective; they’re too similar to the adapted material.) Besides, the whole point of a retelling is to put your unique spin on it, to add your individual voice to a classic tale. 

But a word of caution: twists can be overdone. They have to be logical, and there can’t be too many at once, especially if they’re surprises. You need to give readers tidbits of information throughout the story instead of saving everything for a shock at the end. 

My Adapted Fairytale

As an example of all of this, you can check out my short story “Seven in One Blow,” a retelling of “The Brave Little Tailor.”

One afternoon, as the sun let its hazy rays shine over the tailor’s work table, some flies buzzed in through the open window. Sweating and fretting over his work, the tailor became irritated at constantly swatting the flies away. He picked up a nearby rag and whipped it at the flies, hitting spot-on. He pulled the rag away and stared at the seven flies lying dead on the table. 

“Seven in one blow,” he murmured. The phrase echoed in his mind. Seven in one blow. 

A wave of drowsiness washed over the tailor, as if he had become exhausted from his simple feat. He leaned back in his chair and let his eyelids fall closed. Like a lullaby, the phrase seven in one blow sang him to sleep. His dreams were of grandeur and fame, with people from every village and even the king and the six princes hailing the man who had killed seven in one blow. 

When the tailor awoke, he knew what he had to do.

Read “Seven in One Blow” for free on Vocal

Whenever I read “The Brave Little Tailor” in the aforementioned fairytale book, even as a kid, I was always mystified that apparently the moral of the story was to “be clever” like the tailor. But the tailor was a jerk!! So yes, the inspiration for my adaptation was just pure annoyance that the tailor was applauded for being a complete git. If no one else would give him his comeuppance, then I would. I wanted to tell a story that said using cleverness for selfish gain isn’t all that matters in life; it can get you far sometimes, but does stepping on everyone else’s toes really bring happiness?

And so, I published “Seven in One Blow” in my first book, The Drabbles of a Dreamer. But today is a very special day because I’ve now published this story individually on Vocal where you can read it for free! (But still check out my book—there are many more stories in it to enjoy!)

Remember that the key to a successful adaptation is to stay true to the spirit of the original tale while adding your own unique spin on it. With these tips and examples, you’re now equipped to adapt to your heart’s content—so go forth and make better adaptations than Disney!

Happy writing!
—E.J.

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Photo by Liana Mikah on Unsplash