How to Write a Fairy Tale?

 

How to Write a Fairy Tale: 7 Useful Tips for the Author

Fairy tales are loved by both children and adults — people enjoy not only reading them but also creating them. Russian folk tales are familiar to everyone from infancy. Nowadays, retellings have become popular — rewriting familiar stories in a new way. The genre’s popularity is partly due to its therapeutic effect. Characters face the mysterious and unusual — something otherworldly. Readers, through these examples, work through their own problems and concerns. Let’s explore what a fairy tale is as a genre, how to write one yourself, and how to make it relevant and modern.

What is a fairy tale

A fairy tale is most often a prose work that features a magical, heroic, or everyday plot involving fantastic forces.
The genre is popular both in Russia and abroad. Very different authors write them. For example, actor Chris Colfer — author of the “Land of Stories” book series — never planned to become a children’s writer.
Retellings are trendy: Marissa Meyer’s “Lunar Chronicles” retell familiar stories but from very unusual angles. For example, Cinderella has a cybernetic leg; young Scarlet is helped by a fighter nicknamed Wolf while searching for her grandmother; Cress is imprisoned on an orbital satellite rather than in a tower.

In Russia, notable representatives of the genre include Ekaterina Matyushkina, Sergey Sedov, Maria Bershadskaya, and Tamara Mikheeva.

Almost every writer sometimes thinks, “I want to write a fairy tale.” As with any genre, it’s important to experiment and find your form. Start with our recommendations!
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What is needed to write a fairy tale

1. Develop visual literacy

   Children’s and teen writer Elena Nesterina and Band lecturer advise reading as many fairy tales as possible — both literary and folk. This helps tune your internal aesthetic meter to the realities of fairy tales.
   At the same time, remember the genre’s multi-genre nature: boundaries are blurred, so don’t focus too much on canons — give your imagination freedom and write!

2. Get inspired by the classics

One classic plot structure is the hero’s journey. Christopher Campbell wrote extensively about this in his book “The Hero with a Thousand Faces.”
As children’s writer and Band lecturer Yulia Ivanova notes, the universal hero’s journey — the “monomyth” — repeats for centuries across many stories. But it still makes readers empathize with the characters.
A vivid example is “Harry Potter” by J.K. Rowling. Let’s analyze the first book:
The hero lives in an ordinary world → Harry with the Dursleys;
Hears the call to adventure → the zoo incident where the boa escapes the terrarium;
Resists change either personally or because of circumstances → uncle takes Harry to a hut on a rock in the sea to stop letters, but giant Hagrid still finds him;
Meets the mentor → meets Dumbledore;
Enters another world → becomes a Hogwarts student;
Faces the main trial → with friends, stops Voldemort’s return attempt;
Returns home → holidays at the magic school.

3. Choose the setting and plan the world

Whether you create a whole magical world from scratch or use existing mythology, think through every detail — even if it won’t be explicitly mentioned in the book.
Yulia Ivanova’s “Secrets of the Charmer” started with a map, like many classics — for example, Tolkien’s Middle-earth map.
Questions to answer:
If magic exists, how exactly does it work?
What living beings inhabit the world? What are their features?
Who rules the world? Are states at war?
What do they believe in? Are there rituals? If yes, what kind?
What flora and fauna exist?
Level of technology: are there incredible inventions?
What is the socio-economic structure?

4. Focus on the reader’s age

Don’t forget your readers’ ages. Writer and Band lecturer Ekaterina Matyushkina notes that for children aged 3-6, keep the world simple and understandable: no aliens!
Children aged 6-12 like secret worlds invisible to adults — Moominvalley, Santa Claus’s residence, etc. They want to befriend magical creatures — introduce helpers for the main characters.
Teens (12+) are especially interested in forbidden and dangerous places, amazing magic items, superpowers. Conflicts can be resolved with something relevant to their real life — for example, triumph over a bully.

5. Focus on a relevant problem

Neil Gaiman’s “Coraline” illustrates this: the heroine enters an otherworldly realm but doesn’t immediately realize her “new” parents are not real.
The author reflects on parent-child relationships. At first, Coraline is intrigued by her “new” mom and dad, who pay much attention to her.
Notice Coraline doesn’t have magical powers but still defeats the dark forces.

6. Put the reader before a difficult choice

A fairy tale must have a moral — not stated outright but carefully veiled. Yet the main idea must be clear and understandable.
The fairy tale “The Flower with Seven Colors” is familiar to many since childhood. The young reader and the girl Zhenya come to a clear conclusion: another person’s happiness is more important than fleeting desires.

7. Pay attention to details

Magic should be explained: in “Harry Potter,” the reader learns spells simultaneously with the characters during Hogwarts lessons. Expecto Patronum, Wingardium Leviosa — even complex names are memorable because the author introduced them into the plot.
A fairy tale always has a beginning and an end. All events are complete, all storylines converge, all characters receive closure, good triumphs over evil — remember the traditional ending: “And that’s the end of the story, and whoever listened is a good one!”