Two weeks into our #GRIMMread2019, and I can already tell I need to start a list of tropes, themes, common characters, etc.

Frogs anyone?

I’ll add to this post over the course of the year and by the end the list should be quite robust. [edited: so, this list turned into pages and pages of lists which now comprise the appendix of Lessons From Grimm: How To Write a Fairy Tale. Over 100 characters, over 400 plot points, magical items, themes and more!]

Favorites List

To those writers out there, you can use a list like this to help you in your writing if you view it as your favorites list.

Some authors are calling it an Id list.

According to Dictionary.com, the id is: the part of the psyche, residing in the unconscious, that is the source of instinctive impulses that seek satisfaction in accordance with the pleasure principle and are modified by the ego, etc, etc.

We’re focusing on the part that says “seek satisfaction…pleasure principle” which seems like a fancy way of saying, the thing that floats your boat.

I’m sticking with simple terminology: a favorites list.

What is it about fairy tales that draws you in? What key elements do you like to read? Is it the cursed prince? The wishing well? How about talking animals?

If you keep a favorites list, whenever you’re stuck in your writing and need to do some brainstorming, you’ll have your list handy of all the things you love about fairy tales and can choose one of those to help get yourself unstuck.

Here is a sampling of the Brother’s Grimm Fairy Tale Favorites List:

Creatures: frogs, white horses, cat mouse, wolf, goats, cows, dogs, fox, raven, fawn, snake

Objects: well, golden ball, violin, money, coat, flax, spinning wheel, enchanted water, enchanted flowers, enchanted house,

Character Tropes: Prince trapped in animal form, self-absorbed princess, poor woodcutter, the fool, the peasant, spinner, witch, old crone, lazy maiden, angry mother, evil stepmother, brothers, sisters, benevolent king, shrewd queen, immature prince, gnomes,

Activities: leaving home, spinning flax, gathering firewood, looking for food,

Themes:

Good: keeping your word, helping others, innocence, faithfulness, redemption, resurrection,

Bad: betrayal, trickery, greed, selfishness, stubbornness, laziness,
poverty, faithlessness, death

This list is starting to look like a list of tropes and fairy tale archetypes.

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ALERT! This series of posts has turned into a book! Preorder the ebook now; paperbacks and workbooks to follow!

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