Weekly Inspiration

This is a new segment I thought I’d add randomly throughout the week as a way of finding inspiration in weird little stories and articles all over the Internet. Sometimes I’ll find an image, if it’s particularly compelling, but most of the time I end up finding something interesting by going through a Facebook feed or through friends sending me interesting links.

This week, I wanted to highlight this article on the age of fairy tales. It’s a fascinating read and, as a big fan of most fairy tales, I find it interesting that fairy tales can now be traced back thousands of years, rather than just hundreds, with the use of the biological study of language. We’d all like to think that we’ve hit upon truly unique or unusual stories, but they have all been told before. It’s a matter of finding the new angle to write about it, the perspective that makes it feel new and fresh again. This particular article highlights a story called “The Smith and the Devil,” about a smith who makes a bargain with the Devil to have the ability to meld any two objects together. He then pulls a “Wishing for more wishes” and melds the Devil to the anvil, therefore getting out of giving the Devil his soul.

Cleverness, it seems, has always been one of those highly admired traits in storytelling culture. I love that in the types of books I read. I’ve had friends hammering me to read The Lies of Locke Lamora, a book about a clever trickster who gets himself in and out of trouble.

My take away: I love reading about tricky protagonists who get into equally tricky situations. What makes these stories work? The stakes are high, the urgency is palpable, and the characters are highly likable in general.