Choosing the Right Story for Your Retelling
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- čas přidán 25. 08. 2024
- Choosing the right story to retell--it's not always easy! I'm tackling this from a few angles, including the line between a retelling & fanfiction (and how to be "inspired by" something), as well as copyright and some pitfalls to avoid.
Mostly I'm talking about copyright, which is the most important thing for you to know if you want to do retellings, but I also mention fair use. Transformative works, including fanfiction, fall under fair use, but you can't legally publish and charge for fanfiction. As I say in the video: I am NOT a lawyer!!! I highly recommend checking out my friend Heidi Tandy's Tumblr EfYeahCopyright: www.isfanficleg.... Fair use is VERY INTERSTING and I encourage you do your own research, if that's your thing.
I also mention the cases of Peter Pan and Sherlock Holmes, and I cover both from a pretty high angle and I'm sure inevitably I got something wrong.
Here is the Great Ormond Street Hospital's FAQ: www.gosh.org/ab.... As they note and I did not make clear in the video, GOSH has the rights in perpetuity to all "stage productions, broadcasting and publication of the whole or any substantial part of the work or an adaptation of Peter Pan in the UK."
But: "This right does not apply to derivative works such as sequels, prequels, spin-offs or to extracts.", which is why Pan, as I mention in the video, didn't have to pay them a license fee. So HOW you approach Peter Pan will determine the legality of the case.
You should Google the legal case of Sherlock Holmes because it is FASCINATING.
Re: Disney... like I said! You can always be inspired, but be CAREFUL. If what you do is a fascimile of elements that are too close to Disney's original inventions (Disney movies being retellings themselves), they're not going to stand on their own.
What Makes A Good Retelling?: • What Makes a Good Rete...
What Fanfic Can Teach You About Writing: • What Fanfic Can Teach ...
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Thank you for what you said about Disney. It sort of annoys me that people just take for granted that they can just take the Disney Film as a base. It's like DUDE, no, your story about Dopey and Doc's Fab Road Trip is not public Domain, that's Disney Fanfiction!
It’s really interesting the way it’s done because Gaston from Beauty and the Beast is actually derived from Cocteau’s old black and white Beauty and the Beast movie La Belle et la Bete where they did some very interesting things with Belle’s human suitor who enters the scene before she goes to the castle and then tries to “rescue” her later. The human suitor isn’t in any of the “original” fairy tales and he started out as a creation for the french black and white movie. Cocteau created the human suitor to be not quite a foil of the beast but to allude to how the beast did wrong and became cursed before the story starts. Very interesting. It’s a retelling in a retelling in a telling and that’s how we have our modern Gaston.
One tiny quibble: Disney KIND OF invented Gaston in that there wasn't a character with that name before then, but he's basically the same character as Avenant in the Jean Cocteau version, which they explicitly took inspiration from.
This kept making me think of the episode of Adam Ruins Everything where he talks about how Disney has ruined copyright laws. Its one of those random things that I find super interesting haha. I think your list of oversaturated retellings was right on btw. And to add: if Marissa Meyer did it.. I'd stay away from it lol
Disney has ruined their properties by recent retellings
Love Adam Ruins Everything!
Disney lobbied hard for 20 extra years in copyright. But Mickey Mouse is still going to be in public domain very soon.
Interestingly enough, Disney sued a daycare for simply painting pictures of Mickey on their walls.
A great dark fantasy retelling I just read was Lost Boy by Christina Henry. It's the origin story of Captain Hook and I would pitch it as Peter Pan meets Lord of the Flies with a fairy dust sprinkling of Game of Thrones. It was brutal, haha.
I actually got an advance reader copy of Lost Boy, and I THOUGHT I was going to like it but it just wasn't what I was hoping for. It seemed to be shoving how "Dark" it was at me constantly without actually BEING that dark in a meaningful way.
I loved this video. I'm a huge retelling/fan-fic person. I got 2 simmering on the back burner right now. I think the key to retellings is to pick something as unique as possible. In other words, stay away from the ones you mentioned in the video. I think retellings are a ton of fun because you can take something that you love and made an impression on you, and put a new exciting spin on it. Thank you Alexa! -Erika :)
Disney's BandB is based on the Jean Cocteau film which is based on the original French story. Aladdin is based on a 1940s movie called The Thief of Baghdad, which is based on several different tales from The One Thousand and One Nights. Jaffar and the Sultan are lifted clean out of this movie. Go to the originals first. I love retellings. I never tire of retellings of Beauty and the Beast.
Loved this video. Your so enthusiastic 😀 I’ve been thinking of writing a retelling/sequel but it’s sort of turning into my own thing. It’s kind of nothing like my inspiration now so I’m unsure what to do with it. I’ll see where it goes. Thanks for the advice.
It's the same thing with The Wizard of Oz. I did a bunch of research on it because I was considering doing a retelling. The original is in the public domain, but the movie is not. Most people you ask would tell you Dorothy wore ruby slippers. In the movie she does. In the books, they're silver. So I could use the slippers in my retelling, as long as they're not ruby ones. Anything that was unique to the movie is off limits. I'd be working strictly from the source material. Makes it hard considering most people associate with the movie. It's also been retold ALOT. I put that project aside. lol
Would you ever do Little Women in space bc I would actually die for that
Oh my gosh. I want Little Women in space now.
So write yourself! And let me read it😁
I'm retelling my own story because my co-writers publish our work in eBook form but took so much out the story is just bloody awful so I'm starting over plus it's my story etc. Love this video.
First I was thinking of doing a retelling in my story. And I actually chose Beauty and the Beast. I was really inspired of the live action movie so I wanted to do a twist on it. But as I went along to writing my story, I felt that it wasn't really a retelling, I got really far off of the main theme of beauty and the beast and I don't regret it. I actually like what I'm doing. Thanks for the video, by the way. It was a lot of helpful information I could learn. ❤
Yeah, a lot of writers start off writing retellings and eventually the work becomes an original.
@@nabilamiah3814 I agree. And I think that's a great thing to happen. Sometimes it turns out even better than a retelling.
Thinking about a Cupid and Psyche or Hades and Persephone retelling in a fantasy setting.
I'm a simple girl. I see Alexa giving writing advice, I click😊♥️.
I'm at the point in my life where I click the "like" button of your videos before they've even started.
I'm trying to write a retelling of Arthurian Legends. I'm a huge fan of the stories in that mythos, and the mythos itself is public domain.
That's really cool! I'm trying to write Arthur Mythos But Mordred Really Doesn't Want To Kill Arthur.
I found an old book by chance, after a distant relative of my mother's past away. I really liked the idea behind the story and some of the characters, but the story is told in such a bad, even hillarious way, that friends, whom I told of this, labeled it as some sort of "Trash TV Show". But I'm a little hooked on the idea and some of the tropes, characters and events. I don't think that anybody knows or remembers this book, since it was published around 1930 or 1940 for a very small audience. It's fully made from paper and the publisher's company got burned down by the Nazis in the early 40s, so I doubt that there are much copies left. I really want to retell it, but the German laws stating, that the author must have passed away 70 years ago and there are no other rightholders alive (for at least 70 years). So far I get the copyright point, but the problem is, that the author was writing under a pen name and I can find out nothing about his real name or life dates or such, just the story of the publisher.
I now my working style and I guess, even a retelling will end up as somthing you called "inspired by", where I just use some tropes, ideas and/ or stereotypes, but I'm still a bit afraid, I have to say. But on the other hand, stories about a love spreading over eras, reincarnation and some strange wanderer between time and space are nothing really exclusive. I took up far more concrete stories and turned them into my own sucessfully by altering nearly all parts of the original over time (and I mean, all. Maybe not the main pitch or the basic idea, but every other thing. Setting, characters, POV, style, story). Maybe I should stop worrying and start writing it, but for the first time, I'm really unsure about how much of my own I can put into adapting this story, because it is basically good (just really badly told).
Sorry for whining around here, but I felt the need to do so. It's almost midnight here, so maybe that's the reason. Anyway, thank you for all of your advice, it help me a lot (I watch your videos when I got hit by a blank page or just don't want to start writing. They're always helpful ^^)
So much great info! Thank you for making this video. I currently have a brain child festering inside my mind heavily influenced by the Irish werewolves of Ossory and the wolf warriors in Irish mythology. I don’t want to rewrite the story, because it is just a religious story, but want to expand in the world and turn it into something fresh for the supernatural world.
Not that I don't appreciate the wonderful writing advice, but I'm so distracted by the cute galactic shirt lol. Where did you get it? (If you don't mind people biting your style lol).
Torrid! I do have to warn you: all the reviews on Torrid said the shirt gets ruined when you wash it. So I bought it during a 40% off sale and my reasoning is I'll just wear it to death, carefully handwashing (no machine washing) and when it dies, it dies. I just had to have it for filming haha.
I been researching Peter Pan, and the copy that the Hospital has, is the Play version of Peter Pan. You could probably research it more, and find it. I'm about to start a retelling of Peter Pan. However, the original Peter Pan novel is under public domain.
happy to have discovered your channel!
Beauty and the Beast is my fav story, so it can come in a lot of retelling I will read it, only if it is not horror. I hate horror! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
I have two story please do not take them from me
One is called shattered glass , Shattered glass is about a female who’s sister is taken
So originally that was a Danny phantom retelling but sadly I had to ditch it because it’s to hard
So I decided to make an original story called flames of evil and the protagonist is a villian because I thought it would be interesting he wants to travel back into the past and loves in fall with a music girl named Amber I’m just telling you my wip
I’m considering writing a retelling of Peter pan and Captain Hook MM romance, with a dark side to it with plot twist and a love triangle as in they both love Wendy darling and all remaining characters genders are switched and everything! It’s crazy but I’m afraid I will write to similarly to another author or get out under the copy write category- I’m also a teen and my DREAM is to write a book, a retelling seems to be my calling as of right now and because i already has a base to work off, I feel it’s easier to work with. I’m just a little lost on how MUCH I should change and what to incorporate into the story.
I am actually doing a retelling of Peter Pan, though I will be changing some things about it. However, I have no intention of publishing it. I'm just writing it because I love the concepts and ideas behind it.
Thanks for this. I've been wanting to do a retelling but don't want to get in trouble with the law. My idea is the retelling of the frog princess (not frog prince although there are a couple of similarities) combine Lindworm King. Imagine being a prince who discover their future wife is a snake or part snake. I'm more incline to the lamia form for their lack of appearances in book (to my knowledge). I've only found one book that is a telling of frog princess and another for frog prince. Plus only a few books center on the Lindworm King.
I just can’t think of anything
I love fairytales! I've been wanting to write a fairytale mashup for several years, but is that too "once upon a time"? The plot for mine is different but I feel like any big able mashup fairytale retelling might feel like OUAT, but I've been thinking of ways to combine these stories ever since middle school. (Actually I probably have like 5 different fairytale mashup ideas).
I think anything is worth trying, though anything too surrealist may have trouble finding a foothold in the traditional YA market. BUT that doesn't mean don't do it. (I could see it working for MG and adult)
I'm doing the same thing but I like to think of it as I'm taking inspiration from OUAT which I die for and the old fairytale's and Disney's version of retelling of them there's always something new you can bring into it or can change to make it better than before but I am also takings inspiration from other retelling that I loved and twisting some of there elements to fit into my story and add plot and interest so it can be done because it has already been done 3x over again
Oh btw, The Peter Pan PLAY I think is still owned by that Hospital, BUT the novel Peter and Wendy IS technically public domain.
My first (and last) complete book (which was never published) was heavily influenced by something I watched. But I didn't take what made it so special. but rather the relationships between characters. Wonder what would happen if I published it and people would notice.
I am doing what i thought was a retelling of peter pan as an old London lesbian pirate romance ( peter is a slave ship owner stealing children to sell them at neverland a pirate port that does not actually go by the name neverland) would i have to label it more as inspiration?
Thank you.
Can you do a video on how to write an adaptation
I've chosen The Shawshank Redemption to retell. The Birdshack Redemption isThe Shawshank Redemption retold WITH BIRD CHARACTERS.
?SHERLOCK? David Shore?
I’m not sure if it is entirely clear what is the difference between inspired by and retelling. Could you elaborate?
The reason I want to write the retelling? I want Scarecrow and Tinman and Lion to be explicitly gay in a polyamorous relationship
Hey again Alexa, how are you? I'm writing a fanfic story right now. It's about two pop music superstars who I wanna turn into a CELEBRITY SUPER COUPLE within their industry! Since I'm not trying to have my story published, I'm not really worried about any LEGAL issues. I'm just doing this purely for my personal enjoyment. Yeah, it's my own FANTASY. How I'm doing it is by taking certain FACTS about the careers and lives of my two main characters and mixing those facts with my IMAGINATIVE FICTION. So far, I think that I'm doing a good job but I could use some advice. That's why I would really APPRECIATE it if YOU would become my writing advisor/critic. You sound like you know a LOT about writing. I guess you do since you are a published writer, I imagine that you know a LOT MORE about writing than somebody like me. So may I send you some of what I've written so far?
I think Danny phantom is better in fanfiction ❤
Can this apply to cartoons
If they're in the public domain
@@elbraddock7711 what does that mean