A great fairytale character will:-

1.  Be easy to identify with.  I love Tinkerbell in J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan for "wanting to get at those who didn't clap" when the children had been told clapping would restore her.  You can just imagine the annoyness and irritation there, can't you?

2.  Sometimes arouse your pity, other times your anger.  Fairytales are strong on right and wrong (which I think is why kids love them so much.  I remember at a very young age already knowing the world wasn't fair so stories which put "things to rights" very much appealed).  The Little Mermaid always generates pity in me.  The vileness of the cruel characters in fairytales riles me but all of the characters make you feel something.

3.  Be on some journey or quest and you just HAVE to find out how it goes.  This can be anything from finding out whether Cinderella will go to the ball or not to discovering if Frodo will complete his mission in the right way in The Lord of the Rings.

This is not a definitive list but what I think classifies a fairytale to be called a fairytale.  Comments welcome!

1.  Magic is involved.  This can be at a high level (Cinderella's transformation - clothes, coach etc) to low level (a little magic is used to help a character succeed at something.  This is taken to its logical conclusion in Fantasia though there the character also needed to know how to stop but that's another story!).

2.  There has to be a transformation of fortune.  Usually from being downtrodden to the happy ever after, but sometimes, such as in The Little Mermaid, the transformation can be seen not to have been what the character really wanted.  Or it failed to achieve what it is was meant to achieve.  However, the transformation of fortune has still happened.

3.  Generally, the good guys either win or fail heroically but leave the banner to someone else.  Always true.  I would describe a story where the villain won as a a nightmare, rather than  a fairytale.  Why?  Because with the villain winning, you can kiss goodbye to hope.  That villain will impose their will on their subjects say with nothing and nobody to stop them.  I fail to see the story in that.  Re the latter, remember in The Lord of the Rings, there had been a previous attempt to defeat Sauron once and for all.  That failed but it paved the way for the story to follow.

4.  Inanimate objects should be treated with caution.  This can include things like the Portals in the Harry Potter series, any shiny red apple, talking mirrors, and swords/rings etc that seem keen to be reunited with their former owners.  These always cause trouble but it is a major element of a fairytale.

5.  Expect the unexpected and/or what is unknown in our world to be known here.  This is especially true for the existence of magical creatures, universes far far away, and so on.

Am looking forward to taking part in the Hursley Park Book Fair on 23rd June.  About 40 authors are taking part in this and it will be the biggest book event I’ve taken part in to date.  I’ll also be giving a talk about flash fiction during this and, of course, I hope to sell some books!  

Fairs generally go back a very long way in the UK in terms of history and were the highlights of medieval life in particular.  They acted as a kind of holiday from the usual backbreaking toil which was the lot of the peasants.  

In your fictional world, does your society have this kind of community event?  If so, what form does it take, who can take part in it, and how often does it run?  Is there a history to it?  In a magical world, how do their Fairs differ from non-magical ones?

If there isn’t a Fair or something like that, what kind of recreational activities do the ordinary people of your world enjoy?  If there’s nothing at all, how do the people cope with work, work, nothing but work?  I would expect people to get ground down and tired and in need of some sort of break so what would happen in your world if that break doesn’t happen?  I would expect friction, at least, and probably more than that.  Someone is bound to rebel against their lot.  And that’s where your story may well be!

Do your characters ever wonder or take some time out to reflect?  Wonder can be at the physical beauty of the world they’re on, of course, (or if in a really bad place at just how ugly it is!), or they are aware of just how small they are in comparison to their surroundings. 

Characters, like us, need periods of reflection, especially if they are on any kind of quest.  So how do they find the time to reflect or is it forced upon them?  (They’ve got to hide out for a while, so have got plenty of time to do some thinking etc).

What do your characters make of the world you’ve put them in?  Are they observant?  Do they treat their natural world with contempt or are they conservationists?  Do they ever reflect on their own behaviour and attitudes?

Are your characters thoughtful or thoughtless ones?  If you have characters where one is a reflective type and the other would far rather watch paint dry, (a) you can see the potential for clashes here (though they could be humorous ones) and (b) how do you resolve matters if the two absolutely have to work together?  (Again potential for comedy or tragedy here).

I’ll leave you to wonder how to write that!  Good luck!

This is a useful question to ask from a reader's and writer's viewpoint, as it will help you work out which books you want to read, and inspire you, I hope, in the stories you want to write!

So what makes you decide a character is your favourite?  What are the special qualities that attract you?  Can your own characters share at least some of these traits and what is it about your people that makes them unique as your creation?

I suppose some of the qualities I love to see in a character can be summarised as follows:-

1.  Stickability.  They don't quit when the going gets tough. They may struggle, they may want to give up, it would be understandable if they did give up, but they don't!
2.  Loyalty.  This can be to a cause or another quality but great characters are usually driven by something.  This can apply to villains too.  They may be loyal to a cause (so often it is their own!) but they will have really good reasons for this that you could identify with, maybe even sympathise with a little.
3.  Dependability.  They don't betray.  They will do what they set out to do.  They are reliable. I can see the point of an unreliable narrator but have never been that fond of them.  I prefer characters who are what they appear to be, even if that isn't nice!  (Be fair, you knew where you stood with Hannibal Lecter or Dracula or any of the "great" villains). I suppose it's because there is honesty about the portrayal.  Also I worry a little in that as writers we are meant to come up with stories where readers willingly suspend disbelief and could an unreliable narrator break the trust we build up with those who read our work?  Hmm...