In the writing community, there’s a saying that there are no new story ideas – there are around 12, and every “new” story is one of those 12 told in a different voice and from a different angle. The Orphaned Chosen One and the Unasked For Journey are two common ones.
Another “branch” of these is retellings – those stories that are new takes on old classics. They don’t pretend to be “original.” Their charm lies in the fact that they follow a known story line but in a new setting.
I love retellings. This year I read one of my new favorites, Cinder by Marissa Meyer. It’s the Cinderella story told in futuristic China and where Cinderella is a cyborg.
Another retelling that I loved is Ruby Slips and Poker Chips by Heather Kindt. It’s a new spin on The Wizard of Oz, where Dorothy is a teacher and the 
wicked witch is her principal. There are analogs for the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion as well, but you have to read the book to discover what they are. I especially liked the Lion analog.
I like retellings so much I decided to write one. My latest work-in-progress is a middle-grade retelling of the Aladdin story set in a modern-day urban elementary school. It stars Alejandro (Aladdin), who with the help of his pet hedgehog (monkey), discovers a magic coin (lamp) that houses the ghost of a janitor (the genie). I even have Alejandro steal bread in the first scene.
As a side note – writing a hedgehog is super fun. Everyone should try it.
The analogs are what make retellings fun, I think. Readers have to figure out what new thing represents something from the known story. A movie that did an especially entertaining job of this was Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?, which you probably know is a retelling of a very old story, Homer’s Odyssey. I think the corrupt preacher as the cyclops was brilliant.
Credit: imdb.com
Another movie favorite is Ten Things I Hate About You, borrowed from Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew. In that retelling, the sisters are high-school students, and the younger, popular sister can’t date until the older, jaded one does.
Credit: thesun.com
There’s even a not-so-subtle nod to The Bard himself in the secondary characters, one of which claims to be in a relationship with him.
I’m not sure that would have worked if the story hadn’t been a retelling. It might have been the only reason that part was there.
I’ve had the floor long enough, so now it’s your turn. What do you think of retellings? What great ones have you read/watched?
Allison Maruska 
Reblogged this on Heather Kindt.
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You two can tell me what if the 12 my books are like. Angel? Poggi?
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Angel: overcoming the monster
Poggi: forbidden love (also voyage and return)
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I guess if you want to see stories falling into only 12 categories, you will. If you don’t, you won’t.
To view those two examples and say they are basically this, especially angel where overcoming the monster is about one chapter out of 45, I just don’t see it.
I suppose if that’s the 30,000 feet view, then at 60,000 feet you say there’s just one story: person overcomes challenge.
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I would also argue those aren’t stories. They are topics at best.
Without all the things that make great storytelling, they are nothing. So they can’t be stories. And they aren’t.
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They are basic story lines.
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They are blasphemy.
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I love ten things I hate about you.
I agree with Allison though Dan, there’s only so many stories.
I just had this arguement with the hubs. We watched Guardians of the Galaxy with the kiddo and I said he’d like Star Trek, it’s just like this. And I managed to argue the plot similarities sufficiently to get the hubs to agree. LOL
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Hey, Guardians and the new Star Trek both have Zoe Saldana. 😆
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Laughing. Oddly that was not part of my arguement.
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Ruby Slips is probably my current fave, as far as retellings go.
I’m not sure about the “only 12 stories” thing. I suppose if you look at a story from a far enough distance, you can say it looks like something else – but that also means you already know the 12 stories and are observing at twenty thousand feet. From there, cars look like ants. That’s not even close to correct if the effort is taken to observe either from a normal perspective.
12 Stories Guy: Die Hard is like the Adam and Eve story.
Normal Person: What? No it’s not. Die Hard is a Christmas party where the guy’s wife is taken hostage and euro bad guys steal a bunch of bonds.
12: it has a girl and a guy
Norm: and explosions and a bad @ss beat down and a really cool shootout…
12: and at the end they leave the place
Norm: but-but… no, see, it’s not similar at all…
12: uh huh
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It’s the hero saving the damsel in distress.
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