Tags
Ash, Cinder, Eyre House, For Darkness Shows the Stars, Olivia Twisted, Queen of Secrets, reduxes, retellings, TBoE
Retellings are fascinating things. On the one hand, someone else has already handed you characters, a plot, a setting… so many things you can choose to work with to make writing your book easier. On the other hand, making the choices of how to incorporate the source material and generally working within the confines of what’s already there can be maddeningly impossible.
I wrote my first retelling – a contemporary YA retelling of the biblical book of Esther (cleverly titled THE BOOK OF ESTHER, aka TBoE, which we pronounce like Tebow in my house for our amusement) – last summer, after years of knowing there must’ve been a way to do it and then finally figuring out how. As far as items on my writerly bucket list went, writing this retelling was #1, and just having done it feels like an achievement in itself, no matter where it ends up.
Especially because, honestly? It was hard. In ways I hadn’t really anticipated it would be.
To start with, if you’re writing for traditional publication, you have to ask yourself: is there room for this story? Fairytale and Greek myth retellings have been especially popular in recent years. Before you embark on your own, look at what’s already been done, taking category (e.g. YA), genre (e.g. Sci-fi), and source material (e.g. Cinderella) into account. If there’s already one that matches all three out there (e.g. CINDER), ask yourself both 1) Is this different *enough* to merit its own shelf space? and 2) Is that something I can successfully convey within the confines of a query letter/short pitch?
Personally, I did and didn’t. Traditional publishing is obviously the path I’ve chosen to pursue, but this was a story I was going to write no matter what. I’d been dreaming of what I could do with this source material for years, and as soon as I figured it out it would’ve taken an actual bulldozer to stop me.
As it happens, there actually *is* another contemporary YA retelling of Esther out there, called QUEEN OF SECRETS by Jenny Meyerhoff. TBoE definitely passes the “is it different enough that there’s room for both” test (QoS is narrated in 1st person by a very, very passive Esther, and largely revolves around her cousin being an observant Jew. TBoE is narrated in 3rd by five characters including a very revenge-bent Esther, and religion plays no part in the story.) but honestly, it wouldn’t have mattered. I was writing that ms whether it was sell-able or not.
The next thing to ask yourself – how true to the original do you want to be? Is it a “loosely based” situation in which you gather inspiration from a source but don’t pay particular attention to the specific events or characters? Or are you going to do a close retelling and work with as many bits of the original as possible?
For my retelling, I went with the latter; I so badly wanted to include as much as humanly possible. I gave roles to all the main characters and tried to keep in many of the tiny ones (though I certainly had to bend some backgrounds). I used the same structure as the original, even though it meant doing a major no-no (leaving the title character out of the entire first chapter). Every single name is a reference to one in the original, and many of the little details refer back to the original too. Though some of the main storyline was definitely wholly invented for the purpose of my story, much of it is actually based on a contemporary interpretation of Midrashic or Talmudic commentary. (Have I mentioned that I attended yeshiva day schools for 14 years followed by a year in a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem? That helped :)) Of course, not all stories will have an equivalent, but many do have varying versions that are worth a look for inspiration. Lord knows Grimm and Disney have very different interpretations of fairy tales!
And then there’s the focus on what you’ll be doing differently. Will you be throwing the story into another genre or time/place, like ASH or OLIVIA TWISTED? Will you be gender flipping your characters, like in ACROSS A STAR-SWEPT SEA (thanks, Rachel!) or EYRE HOUSE? What new thing(s) are you bringing to the table?
Although my change (setting Esther as contemporary YA) seems relatively small in the face of the kinds of massive overhauls some of these stories get, for me, the hardest part was taking the motivations of the characters of the original and trying to apply them to the present day. In the original, Haman, the villain, actually isn’t clear on why he wants to kill all the Jews; it seems rather borne out of insanity. Try applying something like that to a seventeen-year-old villain. In the original, Akhashverosh (Ahasuerus), the king, obviously has royal power and can kill with a word; in modern day, how do you keep up with those kinds of stakes?
Well, whether or not I did it successfully, I certainly enjoyed the challenge, and I love that I took a concept I always wanted to write and made it happen on paper. (And, of course, my next one is in the works, because Ruth needs some love too ;))
What about you? Have you written a retelling, and if so, what’d you struggle with/love the most? Read one you loved? What do you think made it stand out as being awesome?
Beauty and the Beast, gender flipped MCs. Haven’t decided POV yet. Steampunk Sci-Fi retelling. In the works.
I would seriously break *most* of the 10 Commandments to get my hands on this story.
Yes! Olivia Twisted, as you kindly mentioned above! =) I wanted to stay true to the story but there were parts of Oliver Twist I simply didn’t care for, so I twisted (haha) them in different ways to fit the story I wanted to tell. For example, Olivia is a much stronger protagonist than Oliver (really, I thought society was more the protagonist in the original story). So adjusting the main character’s personality to fit contemporary style while staying true to the story was sometimes a challenge. =) Vivi
My debut, Forged by Fate contains a retelling of the Creation story — my main character is Eve — and man, did I struggle with it! It was the hardest part of the book to write, hands down. Playing with all the other gods and goddesses and their myths was easy peasy in comparison to retelling Eve’s story in a way that gave her agency and strength. But it was totally worth it, and I’m really thrilled with the way the book came together (finally finally finally).
But I’m definitely a sucker for the retellings — since a lot of my writing is related to mythology, I’m always retelling something, but I try to find those inbetween places where we only have a passing reference here or there to something compelling that hasn’t been fully explored. That’s my favorite way to learn about myth AND history!
Retellings — yes indeed! My debut novel — CROWN OF ICE (Month9Books, Dec. 2014) is a retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen”. It’s told from the perspective of a 17yo Snow Queen.
I used a “fairytale” equivalent setting — based on the time period/places that Andersen lived, but I don’t mention specific nations, dates, etc. However, I do ground the story in that general sense of place and period.
Although I took major liberties with the plot, I actually follow the arc of the original story fairly closely. I’ve included references to many things in the Andersen story. For example, in the scene equivalent to a scene in the original story where Gerda meets up with talking crows, I make several allusions to the guests at a ball looking/acting like crows. If a reader hasn’t read the original story, the scene still works — hopefully, anyone who knows the original will catch the allusions. I basically did that throughout the book. I do love the original story, so I wanted to give it an appropriate homage without hobbling the plot of my book.
Anyway, your story sounds awesome. I’ll keep an eye out for it!
First off, thanks for the EYRE HOUSE shout out! I had so much fun writing it. The concept of retellings fascinates me, and I enjoyed EYRE so much that I’m working on two others! My approach has been to take the themes central to the original and throw them in a new setting so that they become relevant to the now. That gives me the freedom to play with the characters and the world, while keeping the feel of the original. And it’s so much fun!
YES RETELLINGS FOREVER
Seriously, I’m obsessed. My current project is a contemp retelling of Tristan & Isolde, which is obviously a result of my undergrad degree in medieval literature (duh, source material), but LESS obviously a result of that same degree in that writers of the Middle Ages were CONSTANTLY retelling stories from ancient mythology and beyond—I actually wrote this MS at the same time as I wrote my BA paper on the Old French “translation” (read: retelling) of The Aeneid.
And people told me Medieval Studies was a useless major! Except that it kind of is! But WHATEVER
Great post! I’m doing a re-telling of the Persephone/Hades myth from Hades’ POV. He’s an underestimated guy, I suspect. LOVED the Lunar Chronicles!
Really intrigued by your retelling of Esther. Can’t wait to read it one day!
Neat coincidence. I have the notes and opening chapter for a dystopian retelling of Esther stashed around here somewhere. It involves Russians and the moon.
I am reading East of Eden by John Steinbeck and it is a semi-retelling of Genesis. I like it a lot.
ZOMG, that sounds *awesome*. I minored in Russian Studies in college so I get extra excited by that addition. (And if you don’t yet know Lindsay Smith, the lovely author of the upcoming SEKRET, you totally should!)
I *loved* EAST OF EDEN. I was so obsessed with it that I refused to put it down and read it in a day. While on spring break. In Miami. With my then-boyfriend. He was not so pleased.
I’d love to read your story when it’s done. The only version of Esther I’ve seen is the VeggieTales version!
I’ve been working on my Pied Piper retelling, Piper Girl, for about a year (you might have seen it in Pitch Wars). I changed almost everything about the original story (setting, time period, gender), but I kept the main concept – that a magical piper is hired to get rid of rats.The challenging part was creating the magical system and fitting it into a contemporary setting. I also gave the piper the ability to charm people, but with a completely different twist than the original. I’d love to do a modern retelling of Puss n’ Boots or Jack in the Beanstalk next.
There’s a VeggieTales version?? Now I must see that!!
I do remember reading about PIPER GIRL – sounds like so much fun! I actually used to copy edit for a m/m romance publisher and one of my favorite things I ever worked on for them was a JACK IN THE BEANSTALK retelling. So creative!
Here’s the link to the Veggie Tales video from their website. I got it out of the library when my kids were in their Veggie Tales phase!
http://store.veggietales.com/esther-the-girl-who-became-queen-veggietales-dvd.html
The gender-flip by Diana Peterfreund is actually DARKNESS’s companion, ACROSS A STAR-SWEPT SEA. 🙂 I wrote a retelling! My first (very very trunked in a dresser forever) novel was a Beauty and Beast feminist retelling, where all the women went to war, and the men stayed home, and the Biblical women were >>>> way more important than the men, etc. It was fun. I loved TBoE and hope to be able to see it on shelves one day.Mad love. ❤
Aaah, thank you! I *thought* it might be ACROSS (I haven’t read either yet!) and told myself to double-check and then obviously didn’t. Fixed!
That feminist retelling sounds cool; you should give it another shot someday!
Sorry I didn’t mean to be all snooty with the correction!!! I felt awful about it. (DARKNESS is still girl=girl character , boy = boy) but in ACROSS it’s the male pimperneil from the original is a girl which is really interesting- I’m looking fwrd to picking up a copy @ BEA next week. And thanks on my retelling – it has too many world building issues to go back and fix (let’s just say…I didn’t do any!) but it’s a first novel, and that’s an accomplishment I am always proud of . 🙂
Dahlia,
Have you read Diana Peterfreund’s FOR DARKNESS SHOWS THE STARS (retelling of Jane Austen’s PERSUASION)?
Not yet, but I bought it, and it got a shout-out in the post 🙂 I actually interviewed Diana on the blog recently; definitely recommend reading it if you’re a fan and haven’t seen it yet!
>_< I skimmed. Reading too much on my cell gives me a headache!
I'll check out the post. Thanks!
I’m working on fairy tales, but with the traditional villain as the protagonist. Some of what has been hard for me is the obvious: finding a way to make a woman who wants to murder her daughter sympathetic, but also some less-obvious stuff. Like the fact that the source material is often pretty flimsy. I mean, the reason the evil queen tries to kill Snow White is because she’s too pretty. Being faithful to that source material while still making it meaty has been incredibly difficult.
I want desperately to see some awesome Biblical/Torah sci-fi/steampunk stories.
Love that idea! You and Julie (below) definitely need to get acquainted!
I’d love to see more Biblical stuff, but I’m definitely not the one to write sci-fi/steampunk versions of anything 😉
Oh, apparently I’m being instructed to “get acquainted” with you because we both have written fairy tales with villains as the protagonist. 🙂 You don’t necessarily need to be true to the source material. Just use the soul of it, maybe.
I’d love to do a retelling of a story from Yiddish folklore. For now, I’m working on a YA ghost story/mystery.
Ooh, do it! There are some great stories in there and they’re so underdone!
I wrote a middle grade Secret Garden retelling, with a sprinkling of A Little Princess. To top it off, I set it in Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost city in the US and made the garden a greenhouse. I’d been wanting to do a Secret Garden retelling, and when I learned of Barrow, Alaska, I knew it had to take place there where the midnight sun shines. (Now it sounds like I’m writing a query…gah!)
I loved working with the themes in The Secret Garden. My MG novel is a lot shorter than the original, so I had to pick and choose what elements to include.
A retelling I LOVED is Skinny by Donna Cooner. It’s a YA contemporary Cinderella retelling where Cinderella is a 302-pound 15-year-old girl who undergoes gastric bypass surgery. What I loved about this retelling is that all the characters that “Cinderella” deems “villains” are actually just multi-faceted people that are nice sometimes and misunderstood other times.
Thanks for the great post, Dahlia!
Your Esther story is something I’d totally read. Ruth, too. One day, when I have tons of time to research this, I’d like to write a retelling of the story of Moses’ birth, but from the perspective of the women involved.
Right now I’m revising DEADLY SPLENDOR, which is an original story, but with Norse folkloric creatures as the main characters. I’m tweaking the creatures a little, so I guess that’s a retelling. 🙂
My NaNo project last year was a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. It’s the first one I haven’t completely pantsed. I went back looking for the original tale. It turns out we can’t really trace it back far enough to do that, but it is amazing how it’s evolved over the years. I ended up mixing a lot of the older tales (where Belle is the daughter of a fairy) with some of the more modern tellings and placed it in the desert instead of France.
I really enjoyed writing it. 🙂
Um, LION KING is a retelling???
*dunce* apparently.
I’m writing a Robin Hood Re-telling and having a lot of fun. I hope it turns out well… I’m waiting on my first round of CP’s and I know it needs a lot of work, so… we’ll see! Great post, Dahlia!
❤
Yes, I’ve written a retelling! Cool to hear about your take on it! Mine is a Sleeping Beauty retelling (from the bad fairy’s point of view, so of course it keeps getting compared to Wicked). I think you’re spot-on with your rationale for retelling: Many readers LOVE having that taste of the familiar, but beyond the tickle of recognition, they really do want something new, and you really do have to have some reason to tell that story again. Glad there’s so much enthusiasm for my genre.
Many of the favorite works I’ve written are retellings of one sort or another. It’s big fun to take stories and characters I love and come up with ways to make them my own.
Reading retellings is a treat, too. I like seeing which elements of the story the reteller will choose to keep the same as what we know from the original, and which they’ll turn on their heads. Just finished reading “Mechanized Masterpieces”, for example — a book of short stories inspired by literary classics like “Jane Eyre”, “A Christmas Carol”, “Frankenstein”, all reimagined in a steampunk setting.
Heh, I guess the essence of all retellings is rather like “Frankenstein”: Knitting bits pieces from old stories together and giving them exciting new life!
I love retellings (huge fan of Eyre House right here!) but find I’m usually the doof who doesn’t realise it IS a retelling. *Cough* Clueless *cough* 10 Things I Hate About You *cough* The freaking LION KING *hacks up lung with infinite grace*.
I didn’t know the story of Esther until you wrote a post about it a few months back, but have to say I’m REALLY looking forward to reading what you’ve done with it!
You’ve never seen One Night With the King? I love that movie. (For me it was like graduating to the big kid stuff, because I’d had the Bible Book version of it when I was a kid.)