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  What can he do now? He looks out at the world, at the fading world of autumn. Explain to her that though he loves summer, autumn also has its own special place in his heart? The two are not mutually exclusive to each other. Can he say that? Or will it sound stupid? Or did he even matter? Was he just a spectator in all this? Was this a private struggle all her own, her self-esteem struggling against her sniping demons?

  We leave the story here, open ended.

  The irony and the twist as usual work closely together. She has rejected him not for another, but because her self-esteem is fading with her looks which makes her feel she is no longer what he wants, no longer the woman he once loved. At least this is so from his point of view. And yet he wants her, as he’s always wanted her.

  The story doesn’t have to be linear; it could start where he is standing in the doorway of the bedroom gazing in at her standing in front of her mirror, ready to challenge her over the hotel receipts which he holds in his hand. While watching her, he could be thinking back to the inciting incident and what subsequently happened, bringing the reader up to date. This may well make the story tighter and will certainly greatly shorten its time period.

  This story has the makings of a fable and a saying.

  THE SECOND POEM

  After the great length, mystery, nuance and tragic mood of the first poem, we are now going to go in the opposite direction and take on something short, brisk, funny, quirky, ironic, to the point and bursting with inspiration for a humorous short story. This second poem is one by the Irish poet Thomas Moore (1779 – 1852), the same author as the Last Rose of Summer.

  An Argument

  I’ve oft been told by learned friars,

  That wishing and the crime are one,

  And Heaven punishes desires

  As much as if the deed were done.

  If wishing damns us, you and I

  Are damned to all our heart’s content;

  Come, then, at least we may enjoy

  Some pleasure for our punishment!

  THE ANALYSIS

  Let’s see how many of the storytelling elements this poem offers us.

  This first person POV (point of view) character is sharp, witty and ironic and sees through the poorly thought-out lecturing of those in moral authority.

  Two other characters are hinted at in the story. The first person POV character wants one of them to journey with him in his pleasure seeking, and the learned friars can be reduced to a single representative for the other one.

  The conflict begins in the intellectual sphere. If the punishment for wishing is the same as the crime itself then why not do the crime and at least get some pleasure out of it? Conflict will also erupt between the pleasure-seekers and those who would refuse them the pleasure.

  No plot in the poem but certainly a sense of scheming.

  Is there a Setting? ‘Learned friars’ takes us back in time and we have a feeling of a moral past no longer fashionable. Our task will be to update to a modern setting where the upholders of the moral order are different in style but similar in character attitude to the friars.

  It is ironic that the faulty logic of the ‘learned friars’ only works to encourage our character to pursue his desires. The poem’s last two lines deliver a sharp, ironic and witty twist. The words ‘wishing/desire’ and ‘deed’ look like anchor words and so will help to keep the focus on theme and irony in a story using the poem’s theme.

  Drama is conflict fuelled by the addition of moral choices, and though the poem is witty and appears somewhat flippant, it still offers a legitimate moral protest toward the extreme diktats of the learned friars.

  What’s the theme? There is a human flaw inherent in this poem: the desire for absolute control over another’s desires; which can also be a theme. The poem offers a way of fighting against this overbearing dominance, so a sharper theme or moral is the following: the consequences of the desire for absolute control over another’s desires.

  This poem lacks the powerful lyricism and imagery of the other poem in this chapter. The language here is simple, rhyming, vibrant, brisk, light and humorous, which ought to encourage the imagination to insert a humorous tone into any story’s narrative inspired off the back of it.

  A SAYING AND TWO FABLES

  We will represent the poem’s theme or moral in a saying and in two fables, both an old style and a modern style one. The first fable will encourage us with an idea for the second and the second with an idea for a story, though we won’t develop that one here. Of course, creating the saying and the fables is also a good way of familiarizing ourselves with the nuances of theme; and in general, these exercises are excellent in promoting short story writing skills.

  Here’s the polished version of the saying:

  Insist on giving desire equal weight with deed, and treating accordingly, and soon you’ll find no one will bother expressing desire, except through deed.

  The old style fable

  The Monkey & the Owner

  A monkey passing an open doorway saw within a table laden with good food and wine. He had no intention of touching it as he had food and wine waiting at home; yet, having an appreciation for good fare, he lingered a little to admire the table’s burden.

  Suddenly, he leapt high, screaming in pain.

  The owner raised his stick again. “Little thief!”

  The monkey cried out, “I admit dreaming of the food, but I wasn’t going to touch it.”

  “The desire and the deed are one. The wishing always leads to the deed. You’ve as good as eaten it.”

  He chased the monkey away with the stick.

  Soon, the monkey went over things in his mind. “If the desire and the deed are one then there’s only one thing for it.”

  A while later the owner caught the monkey scoffing the last of his food.

  The monkey burped, “Remember, the wishing and the deed are one. Well, you’ve already thrashed me for the wishing, so now I’m just indulging my due in the deed.”

  The owner stood dumbstruck, faced with the consequences of his own reasoning.

  The modern style fable

  A Wife & Her Husband

  A woman asked her husband whether he desired other women, expecting the answer to be, “Absolutely not, my dear.”

  Instead, he replied honestly, “It’s natural for men to desire beautiful women.”

  In her mind, his desire for other women was the same as chasing other women, so from that moment on, his life became hell. She searched his possessions with the thoroughness of a forensics expert and questioned him constantly on his whereabouts. Finding no evidence of any carrying on, she concluded he was cleverer than she’d ever realized and simply intensified her harassment of him.

  One day, her husband threw up his arms, “I admit it. I’m chasing other women.”

  “I knew it, I knew it,” she screamed in triumph. “When did all this start?”

  He sighed, “The moment I realized I might as well get the pleasure from it as up to that point I was only taking the punishment.”

  FIRST STORY IDEA

  Here’s an idea off the poem’s analysis with a different spin to it.

  A man wanting to seduce a married woman has her admit that she would wish to sleep with him if she wasn’t already married. Well, he says, it is wishing nonetheless; she wishes to sleep with him except she is married. She admits she finds it hard to disagree with this. Then he says that the wishing is as guilty as the deed, as the deed never happens without a push from the wishing and therefore, the wishing and the deed are one. He asks her to take her courage in her hands and be open with herself and see how this is the case. She relents and admits that the wishing is a form of unfaithfulness. So he persuades her that it is only reasonable, as weighty guilt is sure to follow now that she understands this, that she receives compensation for her guilt by accepting the pleasure of the deed. Eventually, she succumbs to the reasoning of this statement.

  Soon she and her husband are divorced and
she goes to live with her lover. But soon her lover starts to suspect her of two-timing him. When he confronts her with his suspicions, she happily admits to it. I’ve always had the wish to sleep with other men but never acted on it because I saw fidelity as important to a good relationship. But you opened my eyes to reality which is why I slept with you and consequently my husband threw me out. Wishing and the deed are one and the same, so what difference if I sleep around when my wish is to do just that? Oh, my dear, my various flings are all thanks to you.

  Here’s another twist to the ending.

  Her husband finds out about the affair and how the lover talked her into it. Her husband pays a visit to her lover, waving his fists about. My desire to beat you is so strong that the actual deed may seem little by comparison. Because of this it may be hard to get as much pleasure out of the deed as I think I deserve, but I am certainly going to try my best.

  This plan in its present state reads quite like another fable. But the story could work well if the character is developed sufficiently and it is light with humour. The middle part of the story can consist of his attempts to persuade her to sleep with him against her counterarguments until the moment she sees the light of his reasoning. Sharp, clever dialogue is important. Third person dramatic POV might work well here (no interior thinking in the narrative; we observe exterior body language, actions and dialogue to gauge a character’s thoughts). The story could be told easily in two scenes and in no more than 2,500 words.

  SECOND STORY IDEA

  This one’s spin is different again.

  A parent tells a boy that if he desires to do something bad then it’s a sin, as much a sin as if he had actually done the bad thing, and that God will punish him for it equally. Unfortunately, the boy already has such a desire and is now panicking, waiting for God’s punishment to befall him. Eventually, the waiting turns to torture and he wonders just how big this punishment is going to be. Finally, at the end of his tether with waiting, he suddenly realizes what the punishment is: the torture of waiting for the punishment to descend is the punishment itself. The boy has to admire God for his genius at thinking up such a clever punishment, but now he is greatly relieved it is over. Further, he realizes that from now on he might as well do the bad deed if he has the desire for it as the only punishment waiting for him either way is the torture of waiting for the punishment to fall.

  The inciting incident, of course, is where the parent informs him that the desire is as bad as the deed and he will receive equal punishment for it. The conflict involves the boy struggling with his fear of the unknown and wondering when this punishment will fall, what will be its nature and how bad it will be. The darkest moment for the boy will be where he thinks the punishment is coming and it is going to be dreadful. Maybe in the dark he sees this shadow coming toward him and fears it is a demon sent from God to carry out the punishment. Then, in the light of day, when the punishment has failed to materialize, expect in his imagination, he puts two and two together. Either first or third person POV of the boy would work well here.

  SUMMING UP

  We discovered that poetry can incite in us a very strong emotional response as well as an intellectual one and that the type and level of response will likely depend on the individual poem. We certainly experienced a powerful emotional response to the lyricism and imagery of the Lady of Shalott which leaned more for its strength on mystery and nuance rather than on an interpretation of intellectual meaning. This enabled us to work on a story of similar mystery and nuance with a heightened awareness of the power of language; and also develop another early draft plan based solely on the poem’s emotional response. The second poem held no mystery and little nuance and, in fact, presented in a clear and concise way a philosophical attitude that sharply exposed a human flaw. As a result, we were able to make a saying and two types of fable out of the theme as well as two quirky short story plans.

  CHAPTER 5

  Fairy tales

  Here we consider why the fairy tale, long a popular form of literature, has lost none of its appeal in the modern era, and why it has great potential as a stimulus and guide for the development of short story ideas. We will analyse a fairy tale for the storytelling elements so essential to the modern short story and then produce a saying and two fables, an old style and a modern style one, out of the tale’s theme. Our analysis of the tale will also help inspire and guide us in writing a short story plan, which will be followed by a 4,500 word story. Finally, we will create other ideas from the fairy tale.

  THE FAIRY TALE

  A fairy tale is a short tale inhabited by the usual folkloric characters of brave princes and noble princesses, knights and damsels-in-distress, heroes of lowly birth, elves, ogres, fairies, dwarves, giants, trolls, goblins, talking animals, fairy godmothers and wicked stepmothers. Magic or enchantments are a common ingredient in the genre. Landscape may also be magical.

  The fairy tale evolved out of the oral tradition of rural folklore, which includes genres such as ballads, oral history, legends, tales, sayings, old wives’ tales, humour, fables, proverbs, customs and popular beliefs. The oral folkloric tradition adapted to the nineteenth and twentieth century developments of urbanization and modernization in Europe. During this period, sections of the romantic and literary movements transferred oral folklore onto the written page. Folklorists like the Brothers Grimm were amongst those who attempted to preserve the purity of the fairy tale, but maybe without a full understanding of the impossibility of recording an oral tradition on paper for a market with different social attitudes to the original tellers and listeners, and from a tradition that to remain genuine had to keep growing via these oral storytellers within specific cultural and traditional boundaries.

  Once, fairy tales were enjoyed by everyone. Graphic descriptions of the darker and more disturbing side of human nature were not uncommon. The story’s telling might span hours, weaving sub-plots into the narrative, depending on the skills and imagination of the teller, and also depending on both the teller’s and listener’s endurance. But once an oral tradition moves to the page, it moves to a very different audience, and word economy and taste become an important factor of that change. Folklore was now at the mercy of the urban and literate middle classes. Out went the darker and more disturbing elements, and before long the fairy tale was seen as a short and simple tale for children.

  Ironically, those who had wanted to preserve it as the genuine ‘voice’ of the people were the very ones who had transformed it. However, the brothers Grimm, for example, made a huge contribution to the preservation of these oral stories which in the long run were going to die out, anyway, as the oral tradition of storytelling would never functionally survive full urbanization and growing literacy.

  As in the fable, the fairy tale also shows us the flaws of human nature, but in a much starker, more fantastic and complex way. The combination of the dark side of our nature battling with the better side while set in a world of magic and enchantment, touches some deep instinct in the human psyche, and finds parallels with other similar tales from other parts of the world and from other periods of history.

  The fairy tale offers not just psychological insight into human nature but in a subtle way gives practical and universal moral guides on how to deal with the challenges of the worst aspects of it. It promises that the righteous will prosper over the wicked and even inherit riches if these guides are followed closely. Cinderella shows us the attitude of a dysfunctional family on the only family member who is normal. Cinderella’s thoughts and actions are pure and help her transcend the wretched set of circumstances in which her family deliberately hold her. Even a lowly born person might succeed to the highest office by following the tale’s practical and universal moral guides.

  The fairy tale’s enduring relevance is that overall its moral code transcends politics, religion and fashion, which appeals to a very basic human desire in everyman to see justice overcome injustice. So, like the fable, its popularity remains. Film, of course
, has given it a whole new life. Culture and society obviously change aspects of the fairy tale. For example, we have stronger female lead characters that refuse to be saved by any hero and want to do the heroic work themselves. These changes can quite comfortably be incorporated into the body of the genre and will not lessen its general appeal as long as our deep and basic need is satisfied: that justice wins out against those aspects of our nature which are overbearing, cruel and wicked. Only if fashion puts itself above this core instinct, this deep need for basic justice, will the fairy tale lose its universal appeal.

  WHAT DOES THE FAIRY TALE OFFER US?

  Nowadays, the fairy tale is actually a version of the short story and packs quite a lot of useful storytelling elements into its word length. There is much for us to observe, take inspiration from and expand on for a modern short story. We can study it for character, plot, theme, conflict, tension, suspense, humour, drama, setting and even writing style.

  As with the fable, we know that the fairy tale’s core morality appeals universally and is therefore very flexible and useable for our purposes. In other words, much of the moral tone would not be out of place in our modern stories. As mentioned above, some deep instinct within us is touched by this combination of the darker side of our nature fighting with the better aspect of it while set in a world of magic and enchantment. So one of the most interesting things we can do with the fairy tale is to shift it as wholly as we might dare into a modern setting but still have it believable. We can’t bring across the obvious magic and enchantment or exotic character or underdeveloped goody-two-shoes character, but we may still be able to retain a touch of magic and enchantment. Unless we are actually writing another fairy tale, credibility is of key importance here. If we perform this task well, we will bring a touch of freshness to our work.