I have written two novel-length fairy tales and have rough copies of future stories. When I get the inspiration for a new story set in the world of Kingdom, I now ask myself two questions: Who will kiss? And who will die?

Great fairy tales, in my opinion, are about loss and love. They resonate with the human condition. Now, by “kiss,” I don’t necessarily mean two characters are required to touch lips. Kiss here means a strong affection for one another, and if a kiss happens, it may occur off-page. This may signify a deep friendship instead of romantic love, or the saving of a parent. Death is similar. The main character must suffer a devastating loss in some way. For example, abandonment by parents is a death experience.

The death and kiss story beats are why Cinderella and Jack and the Beanstalk are so resonant. Most fairy tales contain one of these two elements. Cinderella loses both her mother (the death) and gains her prince (the kiss).  Snow White similarly loses her mother (death), becomes friends with dwarfs (symbolic kiss), and meets her prince (literal kiss). Sleeping Beauty is fascinating as the main character falls asleep (death) and is awakened by a kiss (in Grimm’s version). Rapunzel is sold off by her parents (death) and cries in her prince’s eyes to restore his eyesight (kiss).

Now, you could say this applies to every story and you wouldn’t be wrong, but it’s hard to apply it to novels. Where is the kiss in Moby Dick? And while there exists a literal death in Great Expectations, it’s not a death experience. The pinnacle of fantasy, The Lord of the Rings, has a kiss (the Fellowship, Frodo and Sam’s friendship) and a death (certain characters in the Fellowship, including the final scene in Return of the King).

Fairy tales are the most basic of stories so the kiss and death are usually obvious. As a writer of fairy tale novels that want to honor the genre rather than deconstruct it, I aspire to include a kiss and a death in my stories. However, I also challenged myself to structure any future story around a literal kiss and a literal death. So while many characters may kiss or die in the novel, there must be one that stands out—the one the book revolves around.

As I come up with the genesis of my idea for another novel, I ask myself these two questions. In order for the idea to take flight, does it require a significant death or a significant kiss? If not, I discard the idea. You might say: “Are you crazy? What if it’s a good idea?” My thought is it just isn’t for me if it doesn’t capture these two elements.