• Fairy Tales and Costumes

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    A few years ago, there was a missed opportunity for me to dress up my daughter as Red Riding Hood and my son as the wolf (a lumberjack-type werewolf to be exact) for Halloween, but my son had his heart set on being a different character, so I put the idea on the back burner. This year for Halloween the idea came back into my mind: I wanted to have a Little Red Riding Hood group to go out trick or treating. It would be fun. I tried asking my kids if they wanted to do the idea with me, but they are still young to understand the fun of being in a costume group. They have their own ideas and I love their imaginations and want them to dress-up as anything they wish. Alas, the Red Riding Hood group would have to wait. 
     
    Who Am I kidding? As much as I love to write I also love to create characters, and costuming is another one of my creative outlets. If my son and daughter wouldn’t be part of the fairy tale group I would make one with my husband (the woodcutter/ lumberjack), myself (Red Riding Hood), and my dog (the big bad wolf). This group will happen!
     
    Fairy Tales have been apart of my childhood and probably lit the fire for my love of stories and, at the very least, kept me in the dreams and wonder of where the fairy tales could take me. As a child, the fairy tales told to me or read by me were often the lighter versions of their darker counterpart, but as I grew older I began to explore the origins of these stories and, my goodness, were these ever creepy and sometimes down right disturbing. (Halloween and fairy tales seem to be a great fit, am I right?) 
     
    Despite the ‘grim’ stories (pun intended) there are gold nuggets among the pages. Many authors in the past decade have searched these fairy tales and put their own twist to these stories of old and have come out with amazing retold stories of their own. Red Riding Hood has been told and re-told time and time again, each with small changes that make it slightly different than the last. Some re-told Riding Hood stories have been changed so much that they are hardly recognizable. Two things remains the same. The person with the red hood and a depiction of a wolf. 
     
    Any hint of the essence of fairy tales being told in a story, consider my interest piqued.
     
    Tell me, what are your favourite fairy tales of old or new?
     
    Until next time, keep creating.
     
    Inkblade Writer.
    http://Photo credit: chiaralily via Visualhunt.com / CC BY-NC
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  • Choosing a Fantasy Race

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    I admit it. I, from time to time, have fun playing those silly quiz games; you know the ones – What part of the world you really belong? What era best suits you? What Jane Austen character are you? Take this quiz to find out! – type quizzes.

    Well, some time ago I too took one roughly called ‘What fantasy creature are you?’ It asked various questions like what is your favourite colour and what is your ideal place to live? I answered them to the closest honest answer. My result: a fairy. I wasn’t expecting that, but I wasn’t disappointed. I took the quiz again, just because, and got a different result. This time I was a centaur. Who knew? Maybe I’m a fairy centaur? Does that even exist? Oh well. It is a fantasy after all.

    To tell you the truth, if I were to choose to be a fantasy creature I wouldn’t know what to choose, but a fairy would be a very close guess. Although, fire breathing dragon does sound like great fun. Mmmm, choices.

    Now, if someone were to ask me what fantasy race I would be, I would choose elf, hands down. I am an elf. What kind of elf? That would take a bit more research on my part. (Just not the north pole kind – not that I have anything against Christmas elves. I just don’t think I am that jolly.) 🙂

    Picking out a fantasy race to write about can be a lot of fun. So many possibilities. Endless fun, really. Writing about a random fantasy creature or race can make for a great writing exercise. Choose a creature or fantasy race then write a scene where they do ordinary things or routines, adding in as much or little adventures as you wish. Try the same scene with a few different creatures or fantasy races. What are the differences? What are the similarities?

    I leave you with this question: if you could be a fantasy creature or race what would you be and why?
    Until next time, keep creating.

    Inkblade Writer.

     

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