Author Archives: amy leigh morgan

About amy leigh morgan

I graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. (Honors) in English Literature in 1997. My mentor was Betty Sue Flowers, consulting editor for the Joseph Campbell/Bill Moyers series The Power of Myth. I've been writing short stories and reading fairy tales since I was old enough to do so. I've written and edited for publications ranging from MSN.com to the Encarta Encyclopedia to indie magazines, but my first and deepest love has always been fairy tales. My influences are varied, but all share the qualities of being fantastic and visionary: Márquez, Morrison, Faulkner, McKillip, Tolkein, LeGuin, McCaffery, Gaiman. Diana Wynne Jones is a new passion. Garth Nix is also wonderful. Oh, and Phillip Pullman. And Terry Pratchett. And then we get into Carl Jung and Marie-Louise von Franz and their psychoanalytic interpretations of classic fairy tales. I could go on. But if you've made it this far, you might as well come to class and we can talk more there.

David Mamet Tells It Like It Is

Two smart, funny friends forwarded this article to me recently. David Mamet (executive producer of The Unit, writer, director, smartguy) sent a memo to his writing staff with some seriously salient points about what makes good drama.

An excerpt (yes, written in all caps):

QUESTION:WHAT IS DRAMA? DRAMA, AGAIN, IS THE QUEST OF THE HERO TO OVERCOME THOSE THINGS WHICH PREVENT HIM FROM ACHIEVING A SPECIFIC, ACUTE GOAL.

SO: WE, THE WRITERS, MUST ASK OURSELVES OF EVERY SCENE THESE THREE QUESTIONS.

1) WHO WANTS WHAT?
2) WHAT HAPPENS IF HER[sic] DON’T GET IT?
3) WHY NOW?

THE ANSWERS TO THESE QUESTIONS ARE LITMUS PAPER. APPLY THEM, AND THEIR ANSWER WILL TELL YOU IF THE SCENE IS DRAMATIC OR NOT.

IF THE SCENE IS NOT DRAMATICALLY WRITTEN, IT WILL NOT BE DRAMATICALLY ACTED.

THERE IS NO MAGIC FAIRY DUST WHICH WILL MAKE A BORING, USELESS, REDUNDANT, OR MERELY INFORMATIVE SCENE AFTER IT LEAVES YOUR TYPEWRITER. YOU THE WRITERS, ARE IN CHARGE OF MAKING SURE EVERY SCENE IS DRAMATIC.

Read the rest

Fairy Tale Generator

Every once in a while it happens: You’re sick of all the old fairy tales, but you’re too tired to write a new one. So what do you do then?

You use the amazing Fairy Tale Generator, of course. Based on Vladimir Propp’s basic rules for fairy tales, this handy widget can sate your hunger for new stories without all the trouble of actually writing them.

Jim Henson’s “Storyteller” series

Fairy tale fan Lisa tipped me off to this amazing Jim Henson series a while back, and all I could think as I watched the videos was, “WHY have I never heard of this before? This is GENIUS.”

One of the most genius parts of the whole genius endeavor, in fact, is his version of one of my all-time favorites, “Hans My Hedgehog.”

Thanks, Lisa!

Summon Wolves with Your Mind

So maybe it’s a little bit of a stretch to say this is related to fairy tales. But you know what? Making connections between seemingly unrelated things = creativity calisthenics.

See if you can write a story outline about a man whose nagging wife drives him to desperate measures: a deal with the wolf king!

Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child

One day, on a whim, I put the HBO series Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child in my Netflix queue. I wasn’t expecting much, honestly. I mean, if you’ve seen one cartoon adaptation of fairy tales, you’ve seen them all, right? Wrong! This series is awesome. If I had a kid, this would be required viewing. As it is, all my friends’ kids can expect to receive copies for birthdays and Christmases.

I love the art, the clever dialog, and the diversity of colors and cultures portrayed. All the stories are good (witness: Cinderella, above). If you can find it, I particularly recommend “The Pied Piper.”

See part two and part three of “Cinderella.”