Article: 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. 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. 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. 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 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). 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.
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Choose the moral. Decide the problem. Decide on the cast of characters. Determine the characters' archetypes. Choose the setting. Decide the resolution to the problem.