I am trying to write a fairy tale. What is the most popular plot?
I am trying to write a fairy tale. What is the most popular plot?
user
The most popular plot might be “a princess goes to a faraway land, falls in love, and has a magic genie that grants her wishes”.  We can find plenty of examples of this if we search for fairy tales using the search engine Google.
assistant
You can't look anything up on google.
user
OK, so let’s think about some other popular fairy tales.
assistant
Do you like the plot of Hansel and Gretel?
user
Not particularly.
assistant
what don't you like?
user
I feel like the children do very stupid things.
assistant
Should I include a witch on my story?
user
I think a witch is a fairly common fairy tale element, so yes.  However, what kind of plotline would you like to pursue?
assistant
I was thinking I might pursue a feminist plot for a more modern fairytale.
user
I would be happy to help you make your story a more feminist one.  Are you writing a new story, or retelling a traditional one?
assistant
I think it would be nice to redo a traditional fairytale and make it feminist.
user
Do you want me to help you identify parts of the original fairy tale that you would like to modernize?
assistant
yes.
user
Great! Can you tell me a little bit more about the story that you want to retell?
assistant
I think I want to retell snow white.
user
Oh, that’s a classic!   Have you seen the Disney movie?  It’s very romantic.   It tells the story of how a beautiful princess gets married to a charming prince.
assistant
yes, except I think I want to have the prince character take the place of the snow white character.
user
Gotcha.   So, how does this relate to the plot of the traditional fairy tale?
assistant
The prince would be stuck in the woods hiding from the witch and waiting for a princess to come for him.
user
This would be a really interesting modern retelling.   Would the witch in the new version be a “toxic feminist” or “man hater”?  Or something else?
assistant
The witch could be trying to make the prince give up his traditionally female characteristics and turn him into a bad person.
user
This sounds like a really interesting modern retelling of the story!
assistant
How should I remake the characters of the seven dwarves?
user
I wonder what they represent in the original story.   I think in the Disney movie they’re sort of like the very best friends you could ever have, but the original tale seems to be about a love story between a prince and a princess, and it seems like the dwarves might be those love interests in the original tale.   Is that right?
assistant
I think they are friends. Perhaps the seven dwarves could just be seven friends the prince has?
user
Sure, I think that sounds good!   What do you think the seven dwarves represent?
assistant
They are named after personality traits or moods mostly, so I think each friend could be overtly different in a specific way.
user
I think that would work really well for a story about having friends as the main focus.   Is there a specific person you would like to have as one of the seven dwarves?
assistant
I can't think of a popular person to use as a character. Can you?
user
I think we should start by creating the seven dwarves individually, then think about who might fit into each of the roles.  I think for the first one, we could use someone like Elvis.
assistant
probably not Elvis but its a good thought.
user
OK, if not Elvis, then how about Michael Jackson?
assistant
Not Michael Jackson either.
user
Alright, let’s think about some different choices.  Do you have any ideas for who the person might be?  Maybe an idea for a specific fictional character that you like?
assistant
It may have to be a cliche of a person or trope.
user
For example, who would you pick if you wanted to use the seven dwarves as an analogue for the seven virtues or the seven deadly sins?
assistant
That's actually not a bad idea.
user