Today I’m over at JoyfullyJay.com on my blog tour, talking about writing a retelling. How easy is it, really? Do you need to be a special kind of writer to enjoy writing a variation on a literary classic or a fairy tale?
It seems like it should be easier to retell a story than to come up with a new one. You’d think you could use a cookie-cutter approach and half of the work would be done for you. But in fact, it doesn’t work quite like that. The story still has to spark in the writer’s imagination. And unless you’re typing out exactly the same events word for word, the details of the plot have to be transformed in a way that gives at least a nod to the story you’re basing it on, while also making sense to somebody who’s never read the original version.
I think it does help to be a certain type of writer. The more planning you tend to do for your books, the easier it’s going to be to follow the structure of another story. So to me, it seems to fit with being a “plotter” (although however much we plan, things always change during the writing).
On the other hand, there are a lot of different ways to retell a story. Some variations start off with the same situation and then diverge to a different ending. That could work for a “pantser”.
So what was the biggest challenge for me, when I found myself imagining Pride and Prejudice in modern England with two male protagonists? Find out in my guest post at JoyfullyJay.com.
Order links:
Amazon