Hi Reader,

​Last week we talked about templates in general and how to use legends, myths, and fairytales as inspiration for your stories. This week it’s classic literature!

Classic Literature

All of those books you read in English class are a great place to go hunting for ideas. Most of them are in the public domain, so you can write a straight adaption without having to pay for an option. These books get made into movies and TV series again and again because they are wonderfully cinematic stories.

Besides straight adaptations, classic literature inspires many other kinds of projects. The mother of all classic literature templates is Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice, which continues to birth a steady stream of inventive versions like Pride & Prejudice & Zombies (2016), the Hallmark Channel movie Unleashing Mr. Darcy (2016) set in the dog training world, Austenland (2013) about a woman who goes to a Jane Austen theme park, and the sequel murder mystery Death Comes to Pemberly (2013). Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001) and Bride & Prejudice (2004) are modern retellings of everyone’s favorite romantic comedy.

Sleepy Hollow (1999) turned Washington Irving’s classic ghost story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” into a supernatural murder mystery. The book and hit Broadway musical Wicked is The Wizard of Oz with the Wicked Witch as the hero.

Super sleuth Sherlock Holmes is another favorite. Steven Moffat made a modern version, Sherlock (2010 -2016). There are movies starring Sherlock’s sister, Enola Holmes (2020) and younger brother, The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter Brother (1975), and his psychiatrist Sigmund Freud, The Seven Percent Solution (1976).

​Over 24 different versions of Alexander Dumas’ The Three Musketeers have been made, ranging from martial arts to musicals to modern day.

Who knew that the stuffy books from English class could be so much fun!

Here is a list of classic books to get you started.

William Shakespeare

While Shakespeare is considered classic literature, with 37 plays to his name, he is in a category all by himself. His plays run from comedy to tragedy to history. There are lots of juicy stories and characters to mine. Shakespeare’s plays have inspired projects across genres. Two beloved high school comedies are retellings of Shakespearean works: 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) is The Taming of the Shrew, and She’s the Man (2006) is Twelfth Night. West Side Story (1961) is a musical Romeo & Juliet set amidst gang wars in 1950s New York. The science fiction classic Forbidden Planet (1956) is The Tempest reimagined on a distant planet with the magician Prospero as a mysterious scientist. And House of Cards (2013-18) borrows liberally from the power-mad Macbeth.

Here is a list of Shakespeare plays by genre.​

In Case You Missed It

​Templates Part 1: Intro & Fairytales, Myths, & Legends​

​NaNoRiMo 101​

​The End is the Beginning​

Cheers,

Lindsey

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