writing a folktale

M.A. Vianey Martín Núñez A. Universidad Nacional, Heredia, Costa Rica.

1. Think of, and make a list of the characters you want to include. Folktales are generally associated to local customs, traditions and culture. Ex. The farmer, the fisher, the miner, the king, the queen, the maid, etc.

2. Fairy tales are; somehow; a fight between values and anti-values. Think of a person (or people) who might represent this antagonism. E.g. The farmer’s brother, the greedy prime minister, the evil fisher’s wife, someone’s step-sister, etc.M.A. Vianey Martín Núñez A. Universidad

Nacional, Heredia, Costa Rica.

The moral…3. Think of a moral you would like to teach. * Folktales have been told for centuries in

order to transmit a moral (generally a virtue, a positive teaching or, a value.)

For example: love prevails, misers won’t be happy, greedy people are punished, fairness and humbleness are always rewarded, forgiveness is the key to happiness, etc.


Brainstorming, shop listing, mapping, cognitive islands and other pre-writing exercises, can help you to define important events in your story.Ex.


The setting…5. Provide yourself with a list of places where

your story is going to take place. Folktales frequently take place in real places (the forest, the farm, the castle, a village, a garden, the meallows, etc.)

6. Now, events in your story might happen in a specific time order. Relate the places you have written to specific periods of time.

Ex. The forest------at night, the castle----next day.


Writing


7. Once you have your ideas properly listed is time to organize them and add some content. Start by writing simple sentences. Remember that most sentences follow this pattern: subject + verb + complement (direct, indirect, place, time…)E.g. The fisherman captured a gold fish from the lake that very morning.

Once you have several sentences start adding details…

Ex. The old fisherman captured a small gold fish from the waters of the lake….

And more details…

The old but brave fisherman captured a very small gold fish from the dangerous waters of the dark lake…


Organizing your ideas…Put sentences in order (time sequenced),

then polish ideas and add extra information to support your writing.

. One sunny morning, the humble fisherman took his old boat and went fishing.

After many hours of hard work, the old but persistent fisherman captured a very small gold fish from the dangerous and deep waters of the dark lake…


EditingEditing is the process in which other

text corrections are made. For example verb tense agreement,

subject -verb agreement, adjective-subject agreement, declinations, spelling, punctuation, etc.

You can also add what your characters thought or said…


So…The Fisherman and the Gold FishOne sunny morning, the humble fisherman took his old boat and went fishing. -What a beautiful morning!- He exclaimed.

After many hours of hard work, the old but persistent fisherman had captured nothing but a crab and a pair of old boots. Finally, something hit his line. It was only a very small gold fish who lived in the dangerous and deep waters of the dark lake…-Well, he thought, my kids will love to have this gold fish as a pet…


The End…Remember to provide a proper

ending to your story. This ending must reflect the moral you tried to teach…

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writing a folktale

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