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If you take a look at Hollywood movies today, many of them are remakes of old movies or based on books that have been known for a long time. The same is true in the publishing industry. It is much easier to sell a book that is a sequel to “Pride and Prejudice” to the crowd of Jane Austen fans than it is to sell a new romance novel, and while most vampire novels today are not sequels to ” Dracula, “They take advantage of the popularity of the figure of the vampire.

A writer looking for a “new” topic might consider taking a look at popular stories, myths, legends, or events in history and creating a new story or version of history based on them; Such a review of an old story can be a profitable and easier way to gain a reading audience. Once you write a book that tells what happened after the fall of Camelot or after Cinderella married the prince, as long as she has told the story well, you will have created a reading audience. Then you probably have an audience that will largely follow you when you write your completely original novel set in a world with characters that you created solely without the help of another author.

Before you dismiss the idea of ​​rewriting an old story in a new way, take some time to think about the stories that have captured your imagination over the years and think about how you might have wished they would end differently. What would happen if you recounted them? the story the way you would have liked it to be told or with the ending you would have preferred? Here are just a few examples of old stories that have been reimagined in recent years for new audiences that might give you some ideas:

King Arthur: There is no absence in the number of novels coming out to retell the story of King Arthur and Camelot. Among the best are Marion Zimmer Bradley’s “The Mists of Avalon” (1982), which retells the story from the women’s point of view. This novel inspired countless others that retold the Arthurian legend, including Jack Whyte’s Camulod Chronicles which told the story before Camelot, numerous books about what happened after Camelot, and even King Arthur stories set in outer space. . There are many readers who will buy almost any book with a connection to King Arthur.

Ancient Myths: Marion Zimmer Bradley also capitalized on the Trojan War by retelling that story from the women’s point of view in her novel, “The Firebrand.” In addition, numerous books and movies have loosely adapted Greek myths, from “Clash of the Titans” to “Immortals.” Norse, Egyptian, and Celtic gods are equally popular and capable of inspiring some great new novels.

Archetypes or popular characters: Vampire novels are very popular. There are basic elements to all vampire stories, and “Dracula” is the most developed seminal work, although the writers reinvent the story by making it their own within the guidelines of key elements, such as the vampire being a bloodsucker, he cannot moving around in daylight, unable to face a crucifix, his reflection cannot be seen in mirrors and he can turn into a bat. Other archetypal figures to consider include mummies, mermaids, and a wide range of fairy tale characters.

Classics: As long as a book’s copyright has expired, you’re free to do with it whatever you want. Numerous authors have taken advantage of the classics. Some of the most popular in recent years have been “Mr. Darcy, Vampyre” and “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,” both revisions of Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” while mixing it with popular archetypal or mythical characters. Gregory Maguire’s “Wicked” revised the story of the Wicked Witch of the West in “The Wizard of Oz,” spawning a series of novels and a hit Broadway musical. Numerous revisionist “Wizard of Oz” movies and books are currently in the works.

Historical events: History can be dry, just facts and dates, but when you think about who these people really were, what motivated them, their love affairs, dreams and goals, you can create great fiction. The popularity of books such as “The Pillars of the Earth” by Ken Follett and numerous movies and television series such as “The Tudors” have made the people of centuries past real and interesting to 21st century readers. Is there something about the story of Alexander the Great, Cleopatra, Columbus, Napoleon, or Hitler that still speaks to us today? Of course; they were human like us; What motivated them, frustrated them, led them to do good or evil, made them dream, succeed and fail? How can you capitalize on their humanity to make an interesting story today?

How to rewrite history

The key to creating a success story based on a familiar one is to put a new spin on it. Here are some tips or questions to ask yourself to create that new version of an old story.

  1. What turned the villain into a villain? Is there a villain backstory to tell? In “Wicked”, the Wicked Witch was sympathetic when we came to understand her motivation for behaving the way she did.
  2. Was the story told from the point of view of the conqueror? In “The Wizard of Oz”, Dorothy simply believes Glinda and the Wizard’s word that the Wicked Witch is evil. What if the Wizard and Glinda just didn’t like the witch and lied about who she really was? What if you retell the story from the perspective of the conquered, or someone caught in the middle but not on either side? How would “Alice in Wonderland” be different if the Queen of Hearts or the Mad Hatter told the story? What if “Treasure Island” were retold from Long John Silver’s point of view?
  3. What if the climactic event had turned out differently? Stephen King recently published a time travel novel in which someone goes back in time to try to stop the assassination of President Kennedy. What if a key event had not happened or had happened differently? Kim Newman’s “Anno Dracula” is based on the assumption that Dracula was not defeated, and the result is that he has conquered England and even married Queen Victoria. Think of all the “what if” possibilities. What if the Trojans instead of the Greeks had won the war? What if the South, instead of the North, had won the Civil War? What if Abraham Lincoln hadn’t been assassinated? What if Napoleon had managed to conquer the world?
  4. How can you explain something magical or mythical? In “Wicked”, the winged monkeys are actually the witch’s experiment in which she sews her wings together. What if Merlin doesn’t have magical powers but he’s just a good scientist who knows how to trick people into thinking he has magical powers? What if the Greek gods were actually humans who used trickery to control people? What if St. George did a trick to make him look like he killed a dragon? What would any of these situations suggest about the main character or the world these people lived in? Think, for example, of the Wizard of Oz, who has everyone in awe of him, only to turn into a fraud. Who else in literature, myth, or history could have been a fraud?
  5. What if the bad guy really was the good guy? Everyone knows that Mordred killed King Arthur, but some authors now describe Arthur as the bad guy, while Mordred was just trying to protect his country. What if the stepmother wasn’t mean, but Cinderella was just a spoiled brat who was mad that her father remarried? What if the evil wizard was really a grandmaster trying to help the hero by playing devil’s advocate?
  6. What if the narrator is a liar, the unreliable narrator syndrome? Could the person telling the story be lying to us? David Copperfield could be an unreliable narrator, even a bully, while Uriah Heep is really a humble hero wrongfully accused of stealing Aunt Betsy’s money when in reality she was just a spendthrift. What about Injun Joe? Isn’t it possible that Tom Sawyer and his community were just racist?

There are so many possibilities to retell a classic story and make people reconsider and watch it again. Make sure the work you choose to rewrite does not have copyright attached to it. Anything published before 1900 should be safe.

Oftentimes, rewriting a story with a new twist or twist can be a great writing exercise that takes an already effective plot and characters and allows for the chance to see them again while teaching a writer about pacing, plot, and development. of the character. While I always advocate for authors to be original, retelling a story in an original way like Marion Zimmer Bradley did in “The Mists of Avalon” or Gregory Maguire in “Wicked” can do more than create a great novel. It can make people reconsider history, see gray areas of meaning, and stretch their imaginations in new and inspiring ways.

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