Fractured Fairy Tales

A fractured fairy tale is a classic fable, folk, or fairy tale that has been twisted or changed. This genre is especially popular because it centers on stories people already know and molds them into something new and fresh.

Writing a fractured fairy tale can be helpful if you struggle with coming up with plots and/or characters, because starting with something that already exists and changing it is often easier than coming up with completely new material. It can also be fun to take a story you loved as a child and come up with a clever or humorous twist.

The problem with writing fractured fairy tales is that there are so many already published. However, they obviously continue to sell well.  My advice would be to do a quick Google search and/or library check once you’ve got your idea to make sure it hasn’t already been done.

So… how to create that fractured fairy tale idea? The first thing you need to do is pick which fable, folk, or fairy tale you want to fracture! For ideas, check out some of these lists:

Ivy Tech Library Guide to Fable, Folk, and Fairy Tales 

Fairy Tales List 

Sur La Lune Fairy Tales 

Once you’ve figured out your story, there are plenty of ways to change it. Here are some ideas with examples:

• Gender reversal 

  • The Gingerbread Girl by Lisa Campbell Ernst 

  • Prince Cinders by Babette Cole 

• Point of View switch

  • Goldilocks and Just One Bear by Leigh Hodgkinson 

  • Seriously, Snow White was so Forgetful as Told by the Dwarves by Nancy Loewen

• New setting 

  • Interstellar Cinderella by Deborah Underwood

• Different conflict

  • Jack and the Beanstalk (and the French Fries) by Mark Teague

  • Mary Had a Little Lab by Sue Fliess

  • Mary Had a Little Glam by Tammi Sauer

• Different ending

  • The Princess and the Packet of Frozen Peas by Tony Wilson

  • Ninja Red Riding Hood by Corey Rosen Schwartz

• Mash up of multiple tales

  • The Princess and the Pig by Jonathan Emmett

  • Little Red Gliding Hood by Tara Lazar

  • The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka

• Different characters

  • Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs by Mo Willems

  • Cinderelephant by Emma Dodd

• Origin Story

  • Jack Frost by William Joyce

• Continue the Story

  • After the Fall (How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again) by Dan Santat

  • The Frog Prince, Continued by Jon Scieszka

• New culture

  • Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas by Natasha Yim

  • La Princesa and the Pea by Susan Middleton Elya

Of course, you can also combine any of these ideas and fracture the story in multiple ways! The point is to try to change enough elements in your story that it feels like something new, but keep enough of the story so that it is still recognizable.

I’d love to hear which story you pick and how this goes for you! Happy fracturing!