How to Write a Fable

Part One: Outlining the Basics of Your Fable

Choose the moral. 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: "Like will draw like." "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." For a complete listing of the morals of Aesop's Fables and links to the stories in which they appear, go here.

Decide the problem. The problem is what will drive the action of the fable, and it will be the primary source for the lesson to be learned. Because the nature of fable is to convey culturally-relevant lessons and ideas, the central problem works best when it’s something to which many people can relate. For example, in "The Tortoise and the Hare," we are are quickly introduced to what will be the central problem or conflict of the story when two characters decide to hold a race.

Decide on the cast of characters. Determine who or what the characters in your fable will be and what traits will define them. Because fables are meant to be simple and concise, don’t aim for complex or multi-faceted characters. Rather, aim to have each character embody a single human trait and keep the characters within those specific limits. As the characters will be the primary vehicle for the fable’s moral, choose characters that will most clearly relate to that moral. In "The Tortoise and the Hare" the characters are, as the title indicates, a tortoise and a hare. Because a tortoise is easily associated with things that are slow-moving and the hare with things that are swift, the characters already have what will be their key traits in the story built-in.

Determine the characters' archetypes. Though the kind of animal or object you choose for your character will have objective traits built-in, as above, you'll also need to craft the subjective qualities attached to those traits. In "The Tortoise and the Hare," the tortoise's slowness is associated with level-headedness and persistence, while the hare's swiftness is associated with rashness and over-confidence. There are a number of classic archetypal characters used in fables that are broadly recognized and associated with particular human traits. Choosing two characters with opposing traits is often useful in setting up a clear conflict for the story. Some of the most common archetypes and their characteristics include: The lion: strength, pride The wolf: dishonesty, greed, rapaciousness The donkey: ignorance The fly: wisdom The fox: cleverness, trickiness, cunning The hawk: bossiness, absolutism The hen: conceitedness The lamb: innocence, shyness

Choose the setting. Where will the events of the story take place? As when choosing the moral and the problem, choose a setting that will be simple and recognizable to most people. The setting should also lend itself to the characters and their particular relationships. Try to make the setting simple but vivid--it should be a place readers can easily recognize and understand, which will save you having to explicitly lay out the details of the surroundings. For example, in the well known fable of the tortoise and the hare, the setting is simply a road through a forest, which sets the stage for the action (a race down the road) and lends itself to the kinds of characters in the story (woodland creatures).

Decide the resolution to the problem. The resolution should be satisfying as well as relevant to the other components of the story, including the characters, their relationships, and the setting. Consider how the characters will resolve the conflict and how that resolution will support the lesson and moral to be taken from the story. For example, in "The Tortoise and the Hare" the resolution is simple--the hare, in his rashness, loses the race through the forest to the persevering tortoise.

Part Two: Writing Out the Story of Your Fable

Fill out your outline. 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. Work on making the pacing of the fable quick and concise. Don’t waste time with unnecessarily elaborate descriptive passages or meditations on the characters and their surroundings. For example, in "The Tortoise and the Hare," the plot moves quickly from the initial challenge to the race to the hare's mistake and then to the tortoise's victory.

Develop dialog. Dialog is a key component in conveying a character’s personality and perspective, so rather than explicitly describe a character’s traits, use dialog to illustrate those characteristics. Be sure to include enough dialog among the characters to illustrate the relationships between them and the nature of the conflict they face. For example, the two characteristics of the tortoise and the hare are established as level-headed and calm on the one hand, and boastful and rash on the other, as we can see through the tone of their dialog: "I have never yet been beaten," said he [the hare], "when I put forth my full speed. I challenge any one here to race with me." The Tortoise said quietly, "I accept your challenge." "That is a good joke," said the Hare; "I could dance round you all the way." "Keep your boasting till you're beaten," answered the Tortoise. "Shall we race?"

Set out the resolution. After showing the nature and details of the conflict, begin moving the story towards its resolution. There should be a clear and direct relationship between the characters’ actions, the development of the problem, and the illustration of the moral/resolution. Make sure there is a resolution to every aspect of the problem previously established and that there are no loose ends. Referring again to the fable of the tortoise and the hare, the resolution comes when the boastful hare races ahead and then stops to take a nap, while the level-headed tortoise simply plods along, eventually passing the sleeping hare and beating him to the finish line.

Articulate the lesson. When the plot of the fable has resolved itself, set out the moral or lesson of the story. In fables, the moral of the story is typically stated in a single, pithy sentence. Aim to state the moral in a way that summarizes both the problem, the resolution, and what should be learned from that resolution. The simple moral of the tortoise and the hare, for example, is, "After that, Hare always reminded himself, "Don't brag about your lightning pace, for slow and steady won the race!" It encapsulates both the mistake--being lazy and arrogant from over-confidence--and the lesson to be learned--that slow and persistent will win over quick and careless.

Choose a creative and relevant title. The title should capture the spirit of the overall story and should also be enticing enough to catch the reader’s attention. It’s usually best to save this step until you’ve written or at least outlined your story so you can ensure that the title you choose will reflect the story overall. You might choose something basic and descriptive, in the tradition of Aesop's Fables (eg, "The Tortoise and the Hare"), or choose a slightly more creative or irreverent title like "The True Story of the Three Little Pigs" or "The Eyebrow Story."

Part Three: Editing and Sharing Your Fable

Review and revise. 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 here. Recruit a friend or colleague to read over your text. A second set of eyes is often key to catching errors.

Share your work! Once all the finishing touches are in place, it’s time to get your work out to an audience. The easiest and most logical place to start is with family and friends: post your fable on Facebook, post it to a blog and share the link through social media, and/or submit to sites that publish creative writing. For an extensive listing of online literary magazines that accept submissions, go here.

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