NaNoWriMo 2023

It's November!
It's time to write a novel! Do you remember this challenge? Writing a book might not be for everyone, but believe me it is not impossible (1667 words a day). You should keep typing on and not think too hard while writing.

No idea what to write about? You could use someone else's storyline or rewrite a story (novel/tale).
This is the case with many books and NO, copying an existing storyline is not plagiarism as long as you write it yourself, in your own words and do not copy sentences or parts of text.

Fairy tales are a good example of rewritten stories which you can try too. You know the storyline and simply make your own version of it. Telling the story from a different perspective and letting a secondary character play the leading role is also an option. This is not only something you come across more and more often in books, but also in films. To be honest, I find that refreshing. I love reading those books and watching such films. It is good to know that just like me, others view a story from a different perspective or, when they are hearing or watching a story, they do not love the main character, but rather one of the secondary characters.

Little Red Riding Hood? I thought it was strange that her mother sent her into the woods. Why didn't she go herself? Why is a hungry wolf mean when looking for something to eat?
I've always loved wolves. I certainly didn't find the big bad wolf scary, on the contrary.
As a child, all those false princesses who never kept their word disgusted me. Rumplestiltskin kept his word, as did Ricket the Crested, but both were treated as the bad guys. Those lying women were rewarded for their bad behaviour.
You see the same disgusting behaviour in the movie Barbie. It's all about the complaining doll and Ken is the idiot who is treated like trash. Who comes up with something like that, but also who lets their children watch such a bad example? It is certainly not educational. As a parent, I would be ashamed if my children (daughters) treated boys the way Barbie behaves to Ken.

Tales are wrong? When the first Shrek movie came out I loved it.
A film in which many fairytale characters take part. For a fairy tale lover like me, this is definitely one of the best animations. The following parts are also worth watching.

Anyone who knows Shrek, who is familiar with fairy tales, also knows Prince Charming.
The Prince is in the average fairy tale a meaningless figure, a bit of a Ken. We don't know much about him, he doesn't really matter. His only use in the story is to save a girl or princess. The girl in question is also not exactly demanding or particularly intelligent. After the rescue operation she marries her lifesaver and that's it. Perhaps she is not demanding because she is not used to anything or is still young, very young, probably not even a teenage girl yet.

Fairy tales teach us that getting married is wonderful. However, not a word is said about having a lot of children, doing the housework in addition to a full-time job, the lack of money, lack of sleep, not being able to sit quietly on the toilet for a second (resulting in a blocked bowel), no relaxation and having to bear all the responsibility alone, because the husband is not present (hunting, going out with friends, business travel, broken space station, and so on).
Now you may say that this is a bleak outlook, but the fact is that carrying all the care alone is a heavy burden that many suffer. All those single parents would love to have a Ken, unfortunately there are not many of them. The Kens in real life are few and far between, but what they have in common is that they share a life with a Barbie.

Besides Ken Prince Charming would also be an option especially if he focuses mainly on saving ladies in distress and does want to get married.
In the animation "Charming" (see Netflix) we finally meet Prince Charming. The poor soul can't help being charming. His charm is the result of a curse. While Sleeping Beauty has to avoid getting stung and falling asleep, another lady has to give up her firstborn and beautiful princesses turn out to be terribly stupid or spoiled, Prince Charming is cursed with being... charming. Not a beast but charming.
Just like the Beast (Beauty and the Beast), he must find the eternal star (true love) before his 21st birthday. The clock tics his dad kicks him out to find his bride. The animation is quite good. There are funny moments, also in the details, and even though the ending is weak it is definitely worth watching.

I wrote before about the Christian version, of Harry Potter.
If you don't like Harry Potter then it might be interesting to read this. Let's say it is good for thought. Be sure to read the author's personal notes (reactions) too!
Nothing against evangelists, but this author continues to amaze me. She does not show much respect for other believers, Catholics are attacked and quite a few statements are made that, to my opinion, don't belong in a children's book.

The author stated that Harry Potter is unsuitable for her Christian children to read because of the wizardry, strangely enough, her version is full of magic.
I would never read her version to my (small) children. Her version tends too much to spread hate and I notice little love, compassion, 'who are you to judge' or 'love your neighbour'.

If it comes to the book Harry Potter I don't think many changes are needed to make it suitable for (children of) Christians. The fact that there is no discussion about religion, and no prayers every 5 minutes mentioned does not mean that none of the characters believe.

To me, stories are a source of information.
They not only tale about the past, present and future, but also convey a message and tell one a lot about the writer.

Let's be honest not everyone can write a fairy tale, love or horror story, same for poetry, but that doesn't mean you cannot write. Start with a story you like or dislike and write your version.
Don't worry if you get stuck, or are out of words. Writer's block happens to the best writers. For many, this is the case when there is no rhythm in writing. Only a few creatively elaborate on the sentences they have just read or heard.

Writer or not, writing can be learned.
Rewriting an existing story is certainly challenging, but can be very satisfying. You don't need a ghostwriter to succeed. Read a page or more, think about it for a moment and write down what comes to mind.
And you know what? If you write quickly, you will have something to read when you are done.

If it comes to Harry Potter I have to admit that I find many pages in the books boring. Especially those full of explanations about the ball game. I hated reading it and what I found even worse was that the author always devoted so many pages explaining it. So I skipped them. Explaining once should be enough, but after so many pages I couldn't imagine what she was talking about. Two hundred pages less and the storyline would have been the same. If so the reader could have, like a ghost diplomat, fill in the gaps with his imagination.

Photo taken by me

1-11-2023