• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Chandler's Ford Today

  • Home
  • About
    • About Chandler’s Ford
    • Chandler’s Ford War Memorial Research
  • Blog
    • Blogging Tips
  • Event
    • Upcoming Events
  • Community
    • Groups
    • Churches
    • Schools
    • GP Surgeries
    • Leisure
    • Library
    • Charities
    • Eastleigh Basics Bank
    • Community Food Larder at Chandler’s Ford Methodist Church
  • Contact
    • Subscribe
  • Site Policies
You are here: Home / Arts / Classic Stories

Classic Stories

January 27, 2023 By Allison Symes Leave a Comment

Image Credit: Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos.

What would you define as a classic story? Do you define it by age or by how often it can stand being re-read? Or do you define it by its word count where you have a story where you can’t imagine another word being added and/or words being taken out of it?).

Of course, your answer can be any of the above, maybe all of them! For me, though, the age of a story is irrelevant. If it is classic, it is because it is a fabulous tale, not because of its antiquity (or lack of same).

Realistic or Not?

I love the works of P.G. Wodehouse but I think it is fair comment to say realism is not applicable here. Doesn’t stop them being classic tales though. At the opposite end of the scale is Tolkien’s The Lord of The Rings, which does make it clear it is fantasy from the outset. What both have in common though are characters you can sympathise with (Bertie Wooster and Frodo Baggins, both of whom you want to be successful) and that good “will out” in the end.

Classic stories often have themes behind them – good overcoming evil (and the fairytales cover a lot of ground here too) and always look out for the unexpected hero. They’re likely to change the mood of the story as things progress.

So a classic story draws you in then with a powerful hook, characters you care for, and a situation which needs resolving. Only way to find out how it is resolved is to read the story. Job done by the writer!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Knowing the Storyline Is No Barrier to Classic Status

Knowing the storyline well doesn’t prevent a story from being a classic either. I can happily re-read Agatha Christie despite knowing the stories well. (Still think Murder on the Orient Express and The ABC Murders are her finest Poirot ones and Nemesis and 4.50 From Paddington are her finest Miss Marple books).

Stories like these appeal to our wish to see justice done especially since we know it so often doesn’t happen in life. Fiction can be a great comfort here at times.

Then there are the tales which have stood the test of time and continue to do so – Aesop’s Fables (The Hare and the Tortoise especially I’d say) and the parables of Jesus (especially The Good Samaritan). It is so often the theme behind these which turn these tales into classics.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Quality is Everything

Classic stories don’t have to be any particular length either. A point I often make in flash fiction workshops I run is that less is more and Aesop and Jesus’s parables prove my point here. Most of these stories are not especially long. Yet equally you can have a fully fledged fantasy trilogy (Tolkien) which is an outstanding classic.

So the quality of the story is by far much more important here than its word count or genre.

Naturally what someone describes as quality will vary depending on personal tastes but I think the underlying important thing is having those characters you care enough about so you must find out what happens to them. That for me is the acid test of whether a story works at all, yet alone whether it becomes a classic.

Inspirational Stories

Then there are the classics which started a genre. Think Frankenstein by Mary Shelley here. Think The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allen Poe, which is recognised as the first detective story. Think of the early women novelists including Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters for breaking new ground by showing women were just as capable of coming up with great books as the men.

Stories which inspire other stories can count as classics too. A Christmas Carol by Dickens is a fabulous tale of redemption and that theme is a classic one to write for in short and long fiction. It is also a novel idea to have a ghost try to help a living person. (Later television shows such as Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) play on that idea too).

And as for Shakespeare, where to start there? Is there anyone who doesn’t know the broad outline of Romeo and Juliet? It took me a long time to get into the Bard’s work at all (National Theatre Live has been marvellous here) but even I know this plot line from things I’ve picked up from media comments, other stories based on the plot line etc, ages before I started watching him. (And I remain convinced Shakespeare is meant to be watched rather than read – the plays, anyway).

Some stories can kind of sink into your subconscious and even the national consciousness).

Learning From Classic Stories

For me, characters make or break a story so when I read other writers’ works, I’m looking to see how they build their characters up and develop them. All writers learn from others in this way. You realise what makes something work for you in a story and then try and replicate that in your own tales with your own characters.

We all build on what has gone before. You can also learn the classic themes writers work with time and time again. There are always good reasons for writers to do this. There will never be a shortage of love, crime, history stories etc because these things have always appealed to people.

Sometimes you come across characters who would work well in our modern age too. Wouldn’t Sherlock Holmes have a field day with forensic science? (I suspect poor Poirot might be suspected of having a very bad case of OCD, mind you!). But for that kind of character, you can work out what would still make them appeal to us today and again try and replicate that in your own characters. Readers need to understand where characters come from. They don’t necessarily need to like them.

We all have our own ideas as to what makes a story work. I want strong characters put in interesting situations they have to get out of – there has to be a conflict and resolution and the conflict must be over something vital. The characters have to be “earn” their “win” or deserve their loss.

Ambiguous characters are harder to make work. There is no doubt Ebenezer Scrooge is a nasty bit of work at the start of his tale and very different by the end of it. Readers also want to see the right kind of changes, apt for the characters, happening too.

And the classic tales have all of the right ingredients to reach out to audiences far beyond the ones the writers would have been writing for. It is why Shakespeare, Dickens et al still “work”. Make us care about your creations. Get that done and, for me, that will always make a classic story.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Conclusion

No writer can dictate their work will be a classic – rightly so, too. That’s for readers to decide but we can serve up characters they’ll root for. And this is why, for me, knowing my character is my way into working out what their story should be. I am on the side of character in the old character -v- plot debate. I like to know what makes characters tick, whether I read them or write them.

Shortly I’ll be off to see The Chameleon Theatre Group perform Pinocchio. Now there’s a classic tale based on a classic theme – one of acceptance and that topic never dates. (The Ugly Duckling is my favourite for this theme but I’m looking forward to seeing Pinocchio. One lovely thing about pantomime? The audience will show they’re getting behind the characters all right! Review to come soon).

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Related Posts:-

What Makes a Classic Book

My Favourite Fairytales

Hooks

Read interviews with Chandler’s Ford writer Allison Symes: Part 1 and Part 2.

Read blog posts by Allison Symes published on Chandler’s Ford Today.

Never miss out on another blog post. Subscribe here:

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google
  • Email

Related posts:

Endings in Fiction Small World Syndrome – Introducing Helen Matthews – Part 1 Back From Brechin Geography in Fiction Human Behaviour In Fiction
Tags: am reading, am writing, characters, classic stories, classic themes, quality of stories, repeated reading, test of time

About Allison Symes

I'm a published flash fiction and short story writer, as well as a blogger. My fiction work has appeared in anthologies from Cafelit and Bridge House Publishing.

My first flash fiction collection, From Light to Dark and Back Again, was published by Chapeltown Books in 2017.

My follow-up, Tripping the Flash Fantastic, was published by Chapeltown Books in 2020.

I adore the works of many authors but my favourites are Jane Austen, P.G. Wodehouse and Terry Pratchett.

I like to describe my fiction as fairytales with bite.

I also write for Writers' Narrative magazine and am one of their editors. I am a freelance editor separately and have had many short stories published online and in anthologies.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Search

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to Chandler's Ford Today blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Archives

Top Posts & Pages

Wellie’s Gardening Tips for July 2025

Categories

Tags

am writing arts and crafts books Chandler's Ford Chandler's Ford Today Chandler’s Ford community charity Christianity Christmas church community creative writing culture Eastleigh Eastleigh Borough Council education entertainment event family fundraising gardening gardening tips good neighbours Hiltingbury Hiltingbury Road history hobby how-to Joan Adamson Joan Adelaide Goater local businesses local interest memory Methodist Church music nature news reading review social storytelling theatre travel Winchester Road writing

Recent Comments

  • David Powling on Chandler’s Ford School Days: 1970s – 1980s by Betty Brooking
  • Ray Fishman on Supporting Marie Curie – Great Local Contributions
  • Linda pickering on Pine Road Cemetery (part 1)
  • Catherine Baynham on Charles Baynham in Chandler’s Ford
  • C. Klingler on Gladly, the Cross-eyed Bear and Other Mondegreens
  • Robbie Sprague on VE Day – Thursday 8th May 1945

Regular Writers and Contributors

Janet Williams Allison Symes Mike Sedgwick Rick Goater Doug Clews chippy minton Martin Napier Roger White Andy Vining Gopi Chandroth Nicola Slade Wellie Roger Clark Ray Fishman Hazel Bateman SO53 News

Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal by Joan Adelaide Goater

Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal by Joan Adelaide Goater

Growing up in Chandler’s Ford: 1950s – 1960s by Martin Napier

Growing up in Chandler’s Ford: 1950s – 1960s by Martin Napier

My Memories of the War Years in Chandler’s Ford 1939 – 1945 by Doug Clews

My Memories of the War Years in Chandler’s Ford 1939 – 1945 by Doug Clews

Chandler’s Ford War Memorial Research by Margaret Doores

Chandler’s Ford War Memorial Research by Margaret Doores

History of Hiltonbury Farmhouse by Andy Vining

History of Hiltonbury Farmhouse by Andy Vining

My Family History in Chandler’s Ford and Hursley by Roger White

My Family History in Chandler’s Ford and Hursley by Roger White

Do You Remember The Hutments? By Nick John

Do You Remember The Hutments? By Nick John

Memory of Peter Green by Wendy Green

Memory of Peter Green by Wendy Green

History of Vickers Armstrongs (Supermarine) Hursley Park by Dave Key

History of Vickers Armstrongs (Supermarine) Hursley Park by Dave Key

Reviews of local performances and places

Reviews of local performances and places

Copyright © 2025 Chandler's Ford Today. WordPress. Log in

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.