The writing group I belong to sends out COPs, which stands for Crap on Paper. A subject is thrown out and then we write whatever comes off the top of our heads about it. The purpose is to get our creative juices flowing, as well as keep us writing. As I normally write non-fiction, the COPs have been a bit of a challenge for me. The latest assignment was to write about the influence on us of fairy tales in general, a particular fairy tale or a character in a fairy tale. I really struggled with this. I'm not a big fan of fairy tales, so I don't really have a favorite. I was going to write about Little Red Riding Hood, noting the similarities between her experience and owning a business (lots of wolves disguised as something else in the business world.) But as I re-read the story, I remembered how much she annoys me. Why didn't she just listen to her mother? Look at all the angst she created! So I created the top ten things we can learn from Little Red Riding Hood as my COP. Which caused one of the other writers to respond that she had always been bothered by Goldilocks. After all, if she had come upon an empty chair and a bowl of porridge (which she didn't even have to prepare!), she would not be complaining. Who was Goldilocks to think it was all about her anyway? We decided there are a lot of top ten lists in fairy tales. And way too many Goldilocks in the world.
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