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Pulchritude is an archaic word meaning beauty.
We all know the story of Beauty and the Beast. With her novel, Pulchritude, Ana Mardoll recreates the fairy tale in novel form. She adds some twists and turns not found in the original. She tells the story from multiple perspectives, each character getting his or her own telling of events. Mardoll does a good job of creating vivid imagery and lively, believable dialogue. There is tension between the characters, especially between Bella and her father, whom she feels has betrayed her... because he has.
We all know the Disney version of the story. This isn't it. In this version of Beauty and the Beast, the father is a selfish person. He sacrifices his daughter to save his own life. He is despicably selfish. Bella feels resentful, betrayed and abandoned.
These are not feelings normally explored in fairy tale. The facts are laid out, but the feelings are not explored. The reader can see very clearly that a betrayal of some sort has occurred, but the characters of the story don't have room in the format of the short tale to develop fully, their thoughts and inner experiences.
Fairy tales are raw plot. The format doesn't lend itself to the complexity of the relationships, the introspection of each character, yet the plot of the fairy tale nearly screams for such a narrative. So kudos to Ana Mardoll for taking on the struggle of turning a fairy tale into a novel.
It is not an easy task. You must imagine details, and create worlds from the old timeless classics without being cliche. But it is a good idea to do an exercise like this. You don't have to create the tension, it is already there in the story. You don't have to invent the plot. This frees you up to examine other aspects of writing. It allows you to immerse yourself in solid, time tested examples of great story telling. It forces you to deal with the tension and discomfort that conflict creates, and should create, in a story.
Amateur writers shy away from tension. Fairy tales force you to deal with tension. Fairy tales are nothing but tension. No fairy tale drones on and on without a central conflict, usually a betrayal of some sort. I cannot think of a better way for a writer to improve than to do what Ana Mardoll has done, and done very well, than to take on the challenge of turning a fairy tale into a novel.
Ana Mardoll is one of the top reviewers on Amazon. As such, she has been deciphering good writing from bad and has obviously learned a great deal about what makes a story work, and what leaves the reader unsatisfied. What the average reader is looking for is high dramatic tension and conflict. And the fairy tale is a perfect place for a writer to get his training wheels. Of course you don't have to stick to the story either, nor the time frame.
You could take the story and tell it in a modern setting, disguising the fairy tale underneath. In fact if you look at many great and famous love stories you will find the Cinderella story, Beauty and the Beast, The Frog Prince or some other basic fairy tale structure at their core.
In some ways writing a story with the fairy tale structure beneath the surface might be easier than what Mardoll did in her book Pulchritude. She brought a timeless classic to life in something close to the original version (although there are usually many versions of a fairy tale) with some new twists. She played with the storyline and used creative license to give Beauty and the Beast a new look. A face lift, if you will.
Pulchritude is available for free if you want a pdf file, or you can get it for $2.99 on Amazon kindle. For the free PDF file find Ana Mardoll on Goodreads or Amazon and ask her to send you one.
Anthea Carson is the author of "How to Play Chess Like an Animal," an illustrated chess book for children, "Ainsworth," a YA fiction and "The Dark Lake," a novel of obsession and madness.
Anthea has been writing, coaching chess and playing tournament chess since the 1990's. She is in the top 100 chess females in the US, and one time winner of the US Game 60 female chess championship. She obtained her bachelor's degree in Philosophy from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. She currently lives in Colorado Springs with her husband and two children.
http://www.thedarklake.com/
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