Editor Claire Massey shares the secrets of writing the perfect fairy tale
Claire Massey
Claire Massey is the founder and editor of New Fairy Tales, an online magazine dedicated to publishing brand new fairy tales that stir the imagination of a broad range of readers. The magazine is free to download, but accepts donations to raise money for Derian House Children’s Hospice in North West England. Claire tells EssentialWriters.com about the stories she finds herself reading again and again.
What inspired you to set up New Fairy Tales?
I’ve always loved reading fairy tales and there are some wonderful fairy tale magazines online but I felt there was room for a magazine that concentrated just on new fairy tales rather than retellings.
What’s your professional background?
I originally trained as an actor at drama school, it was an experience that really confirmed my love of character and story but ultimately it put me off acting as a career and I’ve concentrated on writing ever since.
What was your favourite fairy tale when you were growing up?
I can’t choose just one but The Princess and the Pea and Rumpelstiltskin are stories I remember asking for again and again. I also loved Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes, particularly his version of Little Red Riding Hood.
What is your favourite fairy tale now?
Again it’s too hard to choose just one, there are so many that I love! Particular favourites are The Story of the Eldest Princess by A. S. Byatt which is a brilliant example of a character breaking the fairy tale rules, the eldest princess says at one point ‘I could just walk out of this inconvenient story and go my own way’.
I also love Angela Carter’s versions of Beauty and the Beast -The Courtship of Mr Lyon, and Red Riding Hood - The Company of Wolves (both from The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories), and Carol Ann Duffy’s The Princess’s Blankets is a beautiful story with wonderful illustrations.
What do you look for in a fairytale submission?
It has to be a story I really want to read again and it needs a spark of originality. Sometimes when writers try too hard to write a fairy tale to formula it just ends up feeling tired and dusty.
And I hate to get to the end of a story and then read he/she/whoever woke up - I don’t care how popular Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is - finding out something was all a dream undermines the whole reading experience.
Have you written any fairy tales yourself?
Yes, it’s a type of writing I’m really drawn to. I’m working on a collection at the moment but as I have a bad habit of having too many projects on the go at any one time it may be a while before it’s finished!
How do you think fairy tales differ from other types of fiction?
Although there are definite rules to writing a fairy tale it can be very hard to define what a fairy tale actually is. With fairy tales you have an entire canon of plots, characters, settings and objects that have been used to tell and retell stories over hundreds and possibly thousands of years.
What’s exciting for a writer is that they can pick and choose from all of these goodies and then use them to come up with something new.
Fairy tales are frequently interrelated and are often a comment on or a reference to the tales that have gone before, or they use the fairy tale form to comment on contemporary predicaments. There’s a lovely feeling of community and of everyone chucking things into the story pot.
What do you find the most challenging aspects of running New Fairy Tales?
The time it takes to run is definitely an issue. When I was just starting out I had no idea how much work would be involved!
What do you enjoy most about it?
I love reading all the stories and I love working with the illustrators. I feel so honoured to get to (virtually) meet and work with so many talented individuals who all share a passion for fairy tales.
I get submissions from and work with people from all over the world, while I’m just sitting at my laptop in my dining room in Chorley - the possibilities the internet offers are amazing
Whose writing do you admire?
The writers I’ve already mentioned, and other favourites are Italo Calvino, Margaret Atwood and Alice Munro. I read a lot of children’s books and I think Phillip Reeve’s Mortal Engines series is brilliant and should be read by more adults.
I also love Marina Warner’s non-fiction books From the Beast to the Blonde is the best book on fairy tales I’ve read and Phantasmagoria is a delight to read. She has a wonderful way of collecting together mounds of fascinating information and presenting it in a passionate and thought-provoking way.
What inspires you?
As a writer: Museums, libraries, bookshops… Anywhere quiet that’s full of stories.
As an editor: Reading lots of other online and print journals and magazines and also seeing what small independent publishers are producing. People dedicate so much time and talent to these usually non-profit ventures, I love seeing what it’s possible to achieve.
What advice would you offer an aspiring writer?
Ideas are the easy bit; it’s the writing and redrafting that matters. I’ve been told about the BOS (bum on seat) principle many times but it’s true, if you don’t make yourself sit down and write you’ll never be a writer.
What comes next for New Fairy Tales?
We are just launching an audio collection, thirteen wonderful, free to download MP3s of a selection of the stories we’ve published. They’ve been recorded by MA Acting students at East 15 Acting School and I’m so excited about them - they sound amazing!
We’re continuing with two online issues a year and there will be more audio stories in 2010 and I’m also keen to investigate the possibility of commissioning some short fairytale films for the site.
For more information please visit www.NewFairyTales.co.uk
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