Original ideas??? Do they exist???

tailstrike · Jan 31, 2009

Well howdy all and im new here just a question to start and a rant along with it about my current ideas....

While working on a semi current plot i have my girlfriend read over it to see what she thought and she turns to me and says "It sounds like Harry Potter cross Star Wars" I was shocked...she hates both of these and in less than 30 seconds identified elements of both in my work. The more i sat there and looked at it i realised without consciously doing so i had incorporated key elements into my work.

Now i have a notebook full of ideas and odd writings all mine but my question is how can i steer through the current writings and write what i consider to be original novel and not get told i have ripped off someone elses work? Unintensionally of course...

Cheers

Kathleen42 · Jan 31, 2009

Star Wars isn't exactly original. I love it but it's fairly well trodden ground.

The truth is that there isn't much new under the sun.

If someone looks at what you've written and says "I've seen exactly this before" you've got a problem. If someone says "I like this, it reminds be a bit of XYZ, only different" then you're fine.

sunandshadow · Jan 31, 2009

Well, if you are doing a book with a basic structure of 'boy or young man learns to use his special powers and eventually battles the dark lord' then it just is going to be like Star Wars and Harry Potter and a million other heroic coming of age fantasies. Similarly if you have a school where students practice their special powers, it's going to be like Harry Potter and Naruto and three dozen other school fantasies. That doesn't mean you shouldn't write that - give 10 writers the same basic premise and they'll come up with 10 unique stories. Both of these story structures are popular, people enjoy reading them. There are certainly less common genres and structures you could use if you wanted to, but who knows if you would actually be motivated to write them?

Ciera_ · Jan 31, 2009

The only way you're going to have absolutely unique, unheard of, brand-spanking-new ideas is if you discover something absolutely undiscovered. You land on a planet we didn't know was there and write about the things that happen there, and you may have a shot at absolute originality. Maybe.
You just have to take the old, done-to-death ideas and turn them inside out, shred them up, glue them back together with chocolate icing, and turn them back outside out. That's what I attempt to do, anyway.
. . . I'm starting to see why my manuscripts are so sticky.

Fenika · Jan 31, 2009

I would caution a new writer against writing something that is commonly done. It's much harder to break away from the tried and true and into unique territory when you are working with something like that.

Consider putting it aside and exploring other themes. You don't have to, but it's a suggestion. Otherwise, continue to be aware of the issue and be as original as possible within the confines of 'there are no new ideas'

Confused yet?

Ciera_ · Jan 31, 2009

Bahamutchild has a very good point, there. The series I'm working on, it's my first and only serious writing (with a book and a half out of five books done) is about vampires. And it's a serious pain and a challenge to have to be damn sure it doesn't come across as similar to Twilight.
It's really NOTHING like Twilight, but that doesn't matter. There're vampires, there's some romance, the main character is a 16-year-old girl, so it's going to seem like Twilight at first glance.
It'd probably be better to put it aside until Twilight dies down a little, but who knows how long that might be? Anyway, I have these over-optimistic hopes of knocking Twilight on its ass and showing people how a vampire series SHOULD be handled. [/end egotistic boast]

Shurikane · Jan 31, 2009

OP, what's your synopsis? Perhaps a wee bit of brainstorm might create a couple of new and fresh ideas to work with and look at the story from another angle.

Shadow_Ferret · Jan 31, 2009

Write it and make it your own. Truth is, there are supposedly only 7 basic plots out there.

It's what you do with those plots that make your story different.

Gynn · Jan 31, 2009

All human conflicts have been explored (ask the Greeks). Your job is to find interesting ways to present these conflicts.

Smiling Ted · Feb 1, 2009

If you really want utterly new and fresh ideas, just send five dollars to that PO Box in Schenectady, and they'll send you one. All the big writers do it.

Rarri · Feb 1, 2009

Shadow_Ferret said:
Write it and make it your own. Truth is, there are supposedly only 7 basic plots out there.

It's what you do with those plots that make your story different.

That's something i've heard before, except that rather than seven, we were told there were only six basic plots.

Kathleen42 · Feb 1, 2009

Shadow_Ferret said:
Write it and make it your own. Truth is, there are supposedly only 7 basic plots out there.

But.. But... Mine's completely different! I mean, my MC has RED HAIR! Red Hair!

Smiling Ted · Feb 1, 2009

Kathleen42 said:
But.. But... Mine's completely different! I mean, my MC has RED HAIR! Red Hair!

Oh, that's not new.
Wonderella did it two months ago.

scope · Feb 1, 2009

There are no new ideas. They have all been used and written about. What is new, better yet, can be new, is how writers treat an idea or subject, what they bring to the plate, their unique perspective. This is what makes a book stand out in the crowd.

RobJ · Feb 1, 2009

Christopher Booker came up with seven basic plot types for his book. Others have categorised them differently and come up with another number. But plot types and ideas are not the same thing. Within those basic plot types a huge number of ideas are possible, and in my opinion there's still plenty of scope for fresh ideas.

Cheers,
Rob

MattW · Feb 1, 2009

Like others have said, there are common plots.

There are also genre conventions and tropes that exist in storytelling because they work.

It might look like every story has some or many of those, but it's how the pieces fit together. We as writers have the same Lego box, but how it's put together that makes things fresh and interesting.

tailstrike · Feb 1, 2009

i liked the lego analogy... i suppose the more i look around the more i see works of the same content i suppose it was just hard to delete a freemind map i had spent like 3 days on and noy ba able to keep most of it

sunandshadow · Feb 1, 2009

Originality may not even be the real issue. I feel sorry for any writer who is excited about an idea or genre that their significant other or best friend doesn't like; I can't tell you haw many times I was wounded by the fact that my best friend hasn't liked a single story idea I've ever come up with, despite the fact that he does read sff. He and I even admire the same books sometimes... for completely different reasons. I'm thinking "this was good, it might have been great with more humor and romance" while he's thinking "this was good, it might have been great with more ass-kicking and less romance". In a case like that, although it's sad, all you can do is just not discuss your ideas with that person.

scottVee · Feb 1, 2009

All basic plots have been done, but you can still come up with new combinations of things. Star Wars and Harry Potter elements could easily blend together into a perfectly good story. As mentioned, Star Wars itself was a pretty annoying hack of older themes.

Other writers go for absurd extremes, like Seinfeld meets Fifth Element on the Island of Mr. Moreau. You can eliminate 99% of all audiences by making something too wacky, or so alien that nobody can follow it. I usually joke about a "samurai taxidermy cooking mystery" when this topic comes up ... or some similar nonsense.

A good story isn't necessarily "original". It's well-told, engrossing, and hard to put down. It's important to know the classics of any genre you're writing in, and what's happening currently. Right now, vampires & werewolves are a dime a dozen. I can't imagine there's ANYthing new to say about them. In the last week I've been subjected to partial readings of scripts that were clones of Galaxy Quest and "Lost". Ugh. Still, if they were written well, they could have been great.

If your girlfriend puts your work down solely because it reminds her of stuff she doesn't like, she'd not the critic who will really help you. Bummer. My wife (and family) won't read anything of mine, so I know the feeling. Just find the right audience.

Nivarion · Feb 1, 2009

since everything we think is reflections of the world around us, there is not an unusual idea. there can be unusual results from blendding idea's but there arent' any new ones.

well, except for that time that i figured out how to convert matter into energy, and energy into matter, but i burned them books so no one will make ubber evil death rays. and now i cant get back on that old train of logic that got me there. *cries again*

tailstrike · Feb 1, 2009

Thanks all for your comments and suggestions...I guess its a little daunting being 'new' to writing and seeing the magnitude of stories 'similar but not the same' out there...i suppose that once i have written and had someone read it will i know if its any good...

Cheers

MattW · Feb 2, 2009

tailstrike said:
Thanks all for your comments and suggestions...I guess its a little daunting being 'new' to writing and seeing the magnitude of stories 'similar but not the same' out there...i suppose that once i have written and had someone read it will i know if its any good...

Cheers

Good luck and keep at it. The first dozen or so stories I came up with were dreadful, hacky, or thinly veiled ripoffs. As a general rule for small plot issues, the first 3 directions you come up with will be bad or predictable - keep coming up with more until you hit the sweet spot of interesting and believable.

MelancholyMan · Feb 2, 2009

I had an original idea once until I found out it had already been done.

Look, even Solomon knew that, "there is no new thing under the sun." Pretty much all the story ideas were already used by the ancient Greeks. But all that means is that the story 'idea' isn't what's important. What makes a story distinctive are the characters with respect to the people for whom the story is written. Just because your story has elements of Star Wars and HP doesn't mean you shouldn't write it unless your main character is named Luke Potter, he has a mentor named Dumblewan, the bad guy's name is Voldevader, and the story takes place on Tatoowarts. You might want to rethink that one.

MattW · Feb 2, 2009

MelancholyMan said:
you shouldn't write it unless your main character is named Luke Potter, he has a mentor named Dumblewan, the bad guy's name is Voldevader, and the story takes place on Tatoowarts.

I had Tatoowarts once. Couldn't sit for weeks...

tailstrike · Feb 2, 2009

MelancholyMan said:
Just because your story has elements of Star Wars and HP doesn't mean you shouldn't write it unless your main character is named Luke Potter, he has a mentor named Dumblewan, the bad guy's name is Voldevader, and the story takes place on Tatoowarts. You might want to rethink that one.

HA! Not actually a bad idea for a parody actually!!!

Original ideas??? Do they exist???

Thinking, always thinking!

crushing on fictional characters

Impractical Fantasy Animal

Ciera_

Ciera_

Mobius Lasagna

Court Jester

Wandering worlds

Ah-HA!

crushing on fictional characters

Ah-HA!

Commonsensical Maverick

Company Man

Thinking, always thinking!

Impractical Fantasy Animal

Brony level >9000

Thinking, always thinking!

Company Man

Wear Thick Armor

Company Man

Thinking, always thinking!