“Fairy tales are the skeleton of story…” – Kate Bernheimer
On February 20th, Author Amber Sparks, the 2024 winner and runner-up of the Jerome Irving Bank Memorial Short Story Prize, provided the F&M community with a craft talk and reading. The craft talk’s central theme, “Fairy Tales as an Inspiration,” taught the audience how to write creatively through the mediums and rules of fairy tales.
Sparks recounted that fairy tales are the first thing she remembers reading and writing as a kid, but she also mentioned that she did not find her voice as a writer until she discovered the writing art of various fairy tale stories. Gaining inspiration from writers such as Angela Carter and Hans Christian, she used elements incorporated within these stories to make fairytale-like stories of her own. In her own words, she had become a better writer by having fairy tale themes, repeating patterns, and rhythms within her work, even if the particular thing she’s writing about isn’t entirely a fairy tale. Even so, she claimed there are merits in adding these fairy tale elements of craft even within other works of creative writing, and that other people can achieve this too. In her craft talk, she reviewed various elements and uses of fairy tales and then proposed a writing exercise for the audience that incorporated the principles she taught.
Sparks proposed many elements regarding how fairy tale stories are created. The first element is Flatness. Flatness in terms of characters manifests in archetypes, characters that are not fully fleshed out. A common principle of creative writing is that one would want their characters to be full and fleshed out. However, when characters aren’t fully fleshed out, it can be more accessible for the reader to project themselves onto the character and follow the story easier which could be a beneficial aspect to consider for one’s story. Another element is Rules and Normalized Magic, as fairytales generally have rules that are inherent within the world the writer has created; magic is naturally accepted in society. These rules also pose patterns that readers can detect in the story, and patterns are pleasurable for readers to scope out.
She continued on with the theme of elements, one being Ornaments. They are items and symbols that seem “impossible” but still have a plot importance within the story. A Warning is a plot device commonly used to ‘warn’ and ‘help’ characters, typically women, from bad things happening to them; Sparks regards it as an older form of feminism. The last element is a Way of Telling, as fairytales always tend to tell, not show. Though not a typical way to write a story, fairy tales were originally meant to be easily pictured and told orally to others. When put in a story form, it can leave a narrative open and, in Spark’s words, “beautiful.”
Sparks then talked about the Uses of fairy tales. The first use she proposed is Structure; if a writer wanted to use these elements and principles as constraints to ground their writing. The following use she talked about is Trauma. Fairy tales, in reality, can tend to be dark and depressing, a stark contrast to most of the populace perceiving fairy tales as always happy-go-lucky and magical, like how they’re shown in Disney. However, through fairy tales, one can write the story in a way that distances oneself from this trauma and recounts the events as a fable.
Destabilization is when one uses fantastical elements within a realistic story. Sparks talked about how this aspect can be accounted for in fictional fairy tales and nonfiction works, bringing upon this uncanny effect of recounting actual events through a fantastical lens. The Mirror World use is a story element of the characters facing a literal or figurative reflection of themselves. The last use Spark mentions is Evoking Childhood. By deciding to have this theme of childhood through a fairy tale lens, one can complicate and deepen the meaning of adult stories. The childhood voice can effectively connect more to one’s audience and help the author make sense of the stories they might not have previously if not for the fairy tale lens.
Amber Sparks intricately incorporates aspects of fairy tales into her writing and invites other inspiring writers to consider doing the same for themselves. Whether one wants to write through a new medium, test the waters and break the mold of their writing, or simply just wants to understand the principles of fairy tale stories, these elements and uses relayed in her presentation encapsulate all these aspects to understand and therefore incorporate into ones own stories, no matter in what form.
Within her writing exercise, she allowed students to practice incorporating fairy tale aspects into their own writing. It provided new exciting ideas and ways for students to approach their own future creative writing. Thank you, Amber Sparks, for the presentation and the opportunity to write fairy tales!
Gab Neal is the Onion Dip Editor. Her email is gneal@fandm.edu.