Storybook Plan

Story Sources

Obviously the Harry Potter book series is the most important source for me with this project. I'll also probably use some character or location analyses from the plethora of Harry Potter information online to make sure my writing is accurate. That will most likely come from Pottermore (Lupin's bio, for example), which is an official Harry Potter website.

Stories

(Note: These are extremely tentative. They're kind-of fillers because they're the only myth/folklore stories I know. I'm really just waiting for inspiration to strike as I read more of the stories this semester. Hopefully I'll find some before the project really has to take off.)

1. The Sparrow with the Slit Tongue (a.k.a. "Tongue-Cut Sparrow")
2. The Wind and the Sun
3. The Astrologer

Storytelling Styles

I am most likely going to use frame tales, where certain character(s) are telling a story to my main character(s). I think each frame tale will be its own entity, but the overarching plot will be continuous. I have three ideas for stories right now (my indecisiveness is getting in the way of making progress):

• Idea #1: Shrieking Shack - My main character (MC) wanders into the Shrieking Shack to find Professor Lupin, who tells MC stories of how he used the shack as refuge for his werewolf transformations when he was a Hogwarts student. The stories would usually be about his friends (the Marauders--Remus, James, Sirius, and Peter), the trouble they got into, and the support they gave him. 
• Idea #2: Department of Mysteries - MC (and friends?) end up in the top-secret Department of Mysteries in the Ministry of Magic. They find different objects and creatures in there that each tells a story (potentially helping them solve ethical dilemmas and life issues?). 
• Idea #3: Forbidden Forest - MC is having a bad day, wanders into the Forbidden Forest, and comes across creatures that each tell stories (of comfort?). Alternative: A "guide" of some sort (either from a myth--like the sparrow--or a Hogwarts teacher) walks the boy through the forest and explains different aspects of it (creatures, objects, locations, etc.) with different frame tales. 

I really like them all, but I listed them in the order of my favorites (so #1 is my favorite, #3 is my "least" favorite--even though I still love it). The problem is that I keep choosing one idea but then I am sad I can't do the others. Definitely need some input here. I also want to make sure I'm not straying too far from the original intent of the storybook assignment (focusing on myth/folklore) so call me out if I am!

Storybook Theme

Originally I wanted to send a moral message through my writing, but now I think my aim is to just make sure my stories are fun. It will really depend on which idea I choose, though. Idea #1 has a lot of potential to discuss the importance of friendships, idea #2 could definitely emphasize fable-like stories that convey a moral, and idea #3 could be stories that bring comfort.

Also, I might have an internal conflict that the MC is struggling with, and the overall effect of the frame tales is that they help him see a solution more clearly. Just a possibility!

Image of my storybook site. 

The name/appearance/everything is very subject to change since I still need to decide on an idea.

Topic Research: Frame Tales

Although I'm still trying to decide which topic I will use in the end, I think the one I'll stick with for now is the frame tales with Alice in Wonderland one. In this concept, a young boy will end up in Wonderland and will have well-known characters (Mad Hatter, Cheshire Cat, White Rabbit, etc.) telling him stories that teach him a lesson. The lesson would be related back to situations that the boy had encountered and is trying to figure out how to deal with. I'm considering changing the setting, though, as I am currently not feeling super attached to Wonderland. I am starting to think I would prefer a setting of Hogwarts (potentially with Dumbledore or Lupin as the storyteller), but I'm going to think on it.

The following are three possible stories I will use for this topic:

1. "Tongue-Cut Sparrow" (Here is a good summary of the story, although with a slightly less forgiving ending.) - This is a Japanese folk story about greed and anger. The key feature I would use from this story would be the idea of having a good-natured person choose a smaller and more modest gift if given the choice between two packages. Then I would have a less kind person steal the larger gift and end up with the "cursed" package. 
2. "The Wind and the Sun" - The key feature I would use from this story is the idea that it is more effective to treat someone with a kind and gentle attitude rather than a harsh and authoritative one. I would write a story about two people using either approach and show how the kinder person's approach worked best. 
3. "The Astrologer" - From this story I would use the idea of a person getting himself into trouble because he is paying too much attention to the future, and not enough attention is being given to the present. 

Side note: Since Aesop's Fables (numbers 2 and 3) are so short, re-writing them will probably have to involve adding in a lot of new details. I will either do that or I will only make the frame tales half of the story. After the tale is told, the boy will then use the new knowledge to apply it to his own situation. This might seem repetitive, though, so I would need to avoid that somehow. 

Image information: Storytelling from Tumisu at Pixabay. A visual of how I hope to bring stories to life through frame tales. 

Topic Brainstorm: Frame Tales and Other Ideas

1. My first idea is to combine the world of Alice in Wonderland (story here) with fables by using frame tales. Our professor helped me think of this one and I really love it! I have always been a lover of the obscure nature of Alice in Wonderland and how it shows the progression and confusing aspects of childhood. I also absolutely adore fables and any story with a moral (examples: the "Tongue-Cut Sparrow", "The Tortoise and the Hare", and "the Man in the Moon"). So the idea is this: Characters (the Mad Hatter, Cheshire Cat, and the White Rabbit) from Alice in Wonderland would be telling fables to a boy who fell into the world and is in need of a few life lessons. I would use common fables but twist them in a way that is unique to each storyteller. With this idea, I hope to learn how to better use frame tales so that I can apply them to my writing outside of this course.

2. Another idea I have is to have a character (potentially from a show, book, or folktale) take a trip through the underworld with Hades who is showing a character how different people died and why they are receiving punishment. I would use stories from fables about greed, anger, etc. The TV show The Good Place has really instilled in me a desire to understand what could happen after death, what it means to actually be a good person, and if any individual truly deserves to be punished for eternity. I would love to explore this and come up with my own opinions on the matter. Plan A for this idea would be to write deceased characters who you would not expect to be in hell and do not deserve the fate they were given (i.e. they were a good person but just did a couple of bad things that landed them in hell). Plan B is to write actual evil characters who "deserve" they fates they were given. 

3. My third idea concerns the backstory of the Seven Dwarfs. I would pick a few of them (if not all) and apply folktales/mythology to them that serve as their backstories. For example, Grumpy might be the way he is because of a story in which a character loses everything he loves (I'm depending on what I learn this semester in this course to give me ideas for stories to retell and apply to this). I am interested in this topic because I always wondered why each dwarf was the way he was when I watched Disney's Snow White. This would be a good opportunity to come up with my own backstories for them. From this, I hope to learn more about how to creatively write backstories because that is something I struggle with immensely. 

4. My final topic idea is twisted and unfair endings. For this one, I would use stories that are supposed to teach people a lesson (like Aesop's Fables), but the endings would favor the antagonist. For example, in "the Tortoise and the Hare," the hare would end up winning the race because the tortoise is too slow and the hare's ego does not get in the way. Putting stories in this light show the harsh realities of life and can bring attention to the fact that life is not always fair due to advantages and opportunities that some are lucky enough to have. I am interested in this topic because I grew up always hearing happy and seemingly impossible endings, and it would be nice to read something realistic, albeit frustrating and negative, for once. They would be more in line with nursery rhymes like Jack and Jill or the story of the Boy Who Cried Wolf. From this I hope to learn how to avoid writing to please the reader and instead write for the sake of a story. 

(After writing these out, it seems that the most important part of this project for me is that I use stories that can teach a lesson. I am most interested in using Aesop's Fables and Japanese folktales. Whether they are about greed, kindness, anxiety, or other issues, I really hope to convey some type of message. With the exception of the third idea, this is the general pattern of my ideas. Even with the fourth idea, I would still be applying life lessons to my writing, even if they are not happy ones.)

(Image Information: illustration by Sir John Tenniel from Un-Textbook)