Many years ago, I was taking two classes simultaneously: Feminism and Fairy Tales and Women Writers.

I feel that it was these two classes, taken nearly at the same time, that subverted my point of view about stories I’ve known all my life. And I began to question things.

In one of the original tales of Snow White, she was already dead, lying in a casket, when the Prince, on his white horse, happened by….

SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT!

…the woods where the dwarfs mourned her.

He offered them money to bring the dead body and the casket to his kingdom. (Of course, no, no, they couldn’t take money. Then he promised he would take care of her/the casket – that they agreed to).

WHY DOES THE PRINCE WANT THE DEAD BODY OF A WOMAN?????

Part of being a writer is to question the world around you. Question what you believe to be true. This will give you fodder for stories.

Did you know that in The Three Little Pigs the wolf was framed? You can see the how – the only witnesses were the little pigs themselves, but why??? Why would they have wanted the wolf off the the land?