Why Are Fairytales Important?

The best place to hide the truth is in fiction.

“One day you will be old enough to start reading fairytales again.” - CS Lewis.

Photo: Dakota Adan

“She was no stranger to herself. She knew security was too steep a price to trade for her wildness. She was worth fighting for, because she represented one of the most dangerously powerful things on earth: something worth living for.” - excerpt from my book, Legends of Lemuria.

After I wrote the first draft of my fantasy novel (spoiler alert, I’ve written six drafts), I knew something was missing. The characters were flat, because I categorized them neatly into villains and heroes. On a subconscious level, I was trying to control the world by making everyone and everything make sense, since real life did not. How easy would it be, if we could just file everything away into little drawers of good and evil?

“It’s easy to serve a king or worship a perfect god. What’s difficult is to embrace our fellow people for all of their flaws.” - excerpt from my book, Legends of Lemuria.

We grow up thinking love is black and white. Fairytales and failures that end with the first kiss, but love lives in the grey area, and perfection makes for a flat character. So, I gave my villain some of my own shadow tendencies. I gave my hero some of my insecurities to struggle with. I paid attention to the people around me and began to notice the unique yet invisible battles we all wage each day within ourselves.

Photo: Dakota Adan

“Careful, my dear. Wear enough masks, and you will forget your own face.” - excerpt from my book, Legends of Lemuria.

We are ruled by what remains buried in us, and the more I began to write the fantasy world, the more I realized that I had barely scratched the surface of my own subconscious. I thought I was making up a realm from scratch. The best place to hide the truth is in fiction, and because the story wasn’t “real” my psyche was able to explore the hidden corners of my inner world that I was too afraid to touch. I didn’t realize how much of myself had bled into the story, until my best friend laughed at me and said, “You can learn more about you by reading this book than having a thousand conversations.”

(Artist unknown, though please let me know if you figure it out so I can credit).

Simultaneously, I began to explore the outer world like a detective. I was the Sherlock Holmes of fairytales, trying to understand the point where reality and the imagination met. Writing this book busted open my capacity for empathy, because I realized that all of our flaws and quirks are actually what makes us so unique. I’ll say it again: perfection makes for a flat character. The parts of ourselves that we try to conceal, are perhaps the parts that are the most interesting and lovable.

We bleed into everything we create, leaving little clues to who we are behind in even the smallest of actions. Watch the way someone cooks a meal, or the music they listen to, or the books on their shelves. Watch the way they tell a story or react to a movie. You can tell so much about a person without them saying a word, if you really pay attention.

Growing up, I have realized, is a choice, and one I hope to never make. Only when our imagination calcifies, and the last drop of hope from our hearts has drained, do we truly grow up. When we forget the power of make believe, of magic and the endless possibilities of the world…we have fallen asleep to our lives.

After all, delusion is the first step to making a dream come true.

Cheers to fairytales, and those who believe in magic.

Your friendly neighborhood scribe,

Allie

PS: if you find these enjoyable, I appreciate the support of subscribing. I want this community to build and flourish over a long period of time, all of us exploring the creative forces in life hand in hand.