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- Determine the Moral of the Story. Decide on a maxim that will be the focus of your story and come at the end of the resolution. The key is that a moral is a lifelong lesson or an overarching rule to live by.
- Pick Your Characters. Choose two animals or inanimate objects to serve as your main characters. Some fables have just one character, and some have more than two, but two is most common.
- Pick Your Characters’ Traits. Whatever characters you choose, they will each need a defining trait that will play a big part in the story. Many animals are traditionally associated with human qualities.
- Shape the Conflict. Based on the characters and character traits you have identified, what kinds of conflicts could they get into? Choose one simple conflict that will demonstrate their personality traits.
People also ask
How to write a fable?
Why are fables important?
What is a moral lesson in a fable?
- Overview
- Part One: Outlining the Basics of Your Fable
- Part Two: Writing Out the Story of Your Fable
- Part Three: Editing and Sharing Your Fable
- Sample Fables
Fables are short allegorical tales that typically feature anthropomorphic animal characters, though plants, objects, and natural forces may also appear as characters. In classic fables, the main character learns from a key mistake and the tale ends with a moral intended to sum up the lesson learned.
Writing a fable demands a strong and concise narrative in which each component--character, setting, and action--contributes clearly and directly to the story’s resolution and moral. While each person has a unique writing process, this article provides a suggested list of steps and a sample fable to help you pen your own.
Decide what the moral or lesson of your fable will be, like “slow and steady wins the race.”
Flesh out your characters, their traits, and the fable-like archetype they embody.
Choose your setting and outline the central problem your characters will have to overcome.
Draft your fable using descriptive writing and dialogue to articulate the moral of the story.
Because the moral is the center of a fable, it’s often helpful to begin outlining your fable by determining the moral. The moral of a fable should relate to or reflect on a culturally pertinent issue that will resonate with many people.
Some examples of famous fable morals to help inspire you include:
"The greatest kindness will not bind the ungrateful."
"Advice prompted by selfishness should not be heeded."
"Fine feathers don't make fine birds."
"Strangers should avoid those who quarrel among themselves."
Once you’ve sketched out the main components of the story, begin fleshing them out.
Establish the setting and the relationship of the characters to the setting, which should be an easily recognizable place that's directly tied to the events of the story.
Set the plot in action.
Present the conflict between the characters in enough detail that the conflict or problem is clear and begs for resolution.
Be sure to move efficiently from a causal event to its effect. Don’t meander away from the point of the story.
Everything that happens in the story should be directly and clearly related to the problem and its resolution/moral.
Read back through your fable in its entirety and verify that all the pieces are in place and work in harmony.
Watch out for places where the fable may be overly wordy or complicated. The nature of fable is a simple, concise story that doesn’t mince words or lapse into purple prose.
Verify that each piece--setting, character, conflict, resolution, and moral--is clearly established and easily understandable.
Edit for grammar and style.
After you have nailed down the story’s content, go back through your fable again, this time focusing on sentence-level issues of grammar and clarity.
For a guide to making sentence-level edits, go
Sample Fable About New Ideas
Worker bees are female. Would it be acceptable to make them male when writing a fable?
You can do whatever you want if you're writing something that's fictional, including a fable. Just let your creative juices flow onto the paper!
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Sep 24, 2023 · Whether you're a seasoned writer or a newcomer to fiction writing, learning how to write a fable is a great exercise in storytelling. In this article, you will learn: What a fable is (and how it differs from similar stories).
Jul 23, 2021 · HOW TO WRITE A FABULOUS FABLE (With Teaching Activities) Step 1: Decide on the Moral of the Tale. Step 2: Define a Conflict and Plan a Climax & Resolution. Step 3: Choose a Setting. Step 4: Choose the Characters. STEP 5: Write, Edit, Proofread, Submit. EXAMPLE OF A FABLE. VIDEO TUTORIALS ON WRITING FABLES. MORE GREAT ARTICLES RELATED TO FABLES.
Mar 31, 2024 · A fable is a short, fictional story that aims to convey a moral lesson. Fables often feature animals, objects, or forces of nature as characters, which are anthropomorphized, meaning they are given human qualities.
How to Write a Fable. Generally, fables are short stories—they may even be only a few sentences. To use the genre of fable, an author: Develops a simple but familiar situation. Includes some sort of conflict that could occur in every day life. Follows with a relevant lesson to be learned.
Nov 5, 2023 · Here’s how to write your own fable in three steps. Table of Contents. Step One: Choose A Moral Lesson. Step Two: Choose Animals that Embody the Traits You Need. Step Three: Imagine How a Conflict Could Play Out. Conclusion: The Finished Fable. Step One: Choose A Moral Lesson. The heart of any fable is the moral lesson it teaches.
