What are the signs of a fairytale world?  How can you know quite quickly you ARE in one (via fiction I'm presuming for the purposes of this post!  If you do find a portal to another world, however, be sure to report back with plenty of details, pictures if at all possible.  We will all want to know!!).

1.  Magic.  The biggest giveaway of course is the use of magic.  The interesting thing to work out when planning your stories though is whether everyone can use magic or just a select few.  If everyone can use it, what are the rules so anarchy doesn't break out?  Boundaries increase the drama in your story.  If everyone can zap everyone else, that doesn't make for much of a story.  If only a few can do that but the price they pay is their own lives are forfeit, now there's a potential story.

2.  Inanimate Objects - The Use Of.  We all know from Disney (see Beauty and the Beast) a teapot, to name one example, is rarely just a teapot!  Sometimes they're an enchanted victim.  Sometimes these things are portals (also see Harry Potter).  So what uses are the inanimate objects put to in your setting?  Does a particular object convey a particular meaning or power and, if so, what and why?  What are the limits to the use of objects?

3.  Creatures.  Ranging from domestic animals that can talk (hello, Puss in Boots!  Loved Puss in Shrek.  Thought they had the portrayal spot on) to odd creatures that are the stuff of legends to monsters of course.   Basically what you wouldn't see here!  And there's nothing to stop you inventing your own.  This is where some knowledge of natural history is invaluable.  Knowing what animals need to survive and how their bodies are designed to handle that should inspire some ideas for how the creatures in your stories will do this kind of thing.

Happy writing!

Flash fiction is an ideal vehicle for fairytales.  Why?  Because the best fairytales set up their world quickly, have a definite conclusion, and often pack a powerful punch.  Flash fiction does this too so to my mind flash and fairytales are a match made in writing heaven.

Flash fiction has to be character led due to its limited word count but you can set that character wherever and whenever you wish.  A few telling details can set up a magical world quickly.  For example from my George Changes His Mind (in From Light to Dark and Back Again), I set up a magical world with the opening line "He refused to kill the dragon."  The telling detail there is in one word - dragon! The story goes on to show what happens and that is the important bit of the story after all.  I don't need to use thousands of words setting up the magical world in which this is set.  This is not crucial to this story.  What matters is it IS in a magical world and what George goes on to do or not do.

A lot of my stories are either reflections of a fairytale world or set in it and they are great fun to write but I always focus on what the lead character is like.  That is the crucial point of any story I think but in flash where every word must work hard to earn its place to stay there, it is even more so.

What do you love most in a story?  I look for the following:-

1. Gripping characters - I've got to really root for them to succeed or get their just desserts for me to stay with them during the story.
   
2. Good pacing - What pacing is required obviously depends on the type of story but generally I'm looking for a pace that keeps the tension up until the end.
   
3. Unforgettable settings - This doesn't have to be an invented world (though it often is).  Here I'm looking for the setting being appropriate to the story and characters and be a place I'd love to visit or equally be glad I'm nowhere near.  The latter depends on the type of story but whichever way it goes, the setting has to provoke a reaction in me.
   
4. Entertaining dialogue - Sure sometimes this will be funny dialogue (when appropriate) but even when not I want to feel as if I'm eavesdropping on a conversation that I have absolutely got to finish listening to!
   
5. Strong Resolution - The story definitely has to end.  Not on a cliffhanger - that should be for the chapters leading up to the end in a novel or in the middle section of shorter works before the issue is resolved. 
   

A good fairytale should have:-

1.  Believable characters (no matter how magical they are.  There should be something about them that resonates with a reader, which is why magic is NOT the be all and end all situation to your characters' problems.  There should be things for them to work out without magic.  There should be things about their character which engage the reader so if the old fairy godmother turns up and does work magic for them, your readers are going to be pleased for them rather than see it as a plot device to get your character out of trouble!).

2.  Emotional impact.  Whether this is where your reader ends up screaming at your character to stop being so stupid or laughs with them or cheers when they get their happy ever after, as long as there is some emotional impact, your story is "getting through".  People will want to read more.

3.  Justice will out somehow.  This is true most of the time.  Stories where the villains win always make me feel uncomfortable.  It just doesn't seem right.  This is why I love the cliffhanger ending in The Italian Job with Michael Caine.  Even where the villain does seem to get away with it, I like to see some hint that in the future their success may come back to haunt them or they would have done even better had they acted better.  I suppose one reason why I like to see justice of some sort being done is because in life, it so often isn't like that.  One appeal of stories overall is that they can reflect life as it should be at times - the underdog does win out, wrongs are put right etc etc.  (The other thought here is that perhaps the villain does have cause so are they so much of a villain after all?  Food for thought here I think).