Book Problem

Feanaro said:

Hi folks!

I have an idea for a book. I`ve had it for some time. I like it a lot and I love all the characters but almost everything about it has been done already. I want some originality but I don`t want to completely change the story and characters!!! Can anyone give me some suggestions?
Thanks

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I think you have to write it and put your own stamp on the ideas. It will be different because you wrote it and you will handle the story in a unique way. After all Harry Potter is not that original an idea - it is just done very well. Eragon is far from original.
One of the things I hear often from pro publishing people is that they are looking for that elusive book that is the same but different. Hard to put a finger on, but clearly being too different can be as much a problem as not different enough.

waylander said:

I think you have to write it and put your own stamp on the ideas.

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What waylander said. I've heard again and again that there are no more original ideas or plots; the difference is your writing style, the characters you come up with, that sort of thing.

Writing it all down is the first step.

~Nancy

It's all been done. That doesn't stop us from doing it again.

You should make your story its own, but it should be familiar enough that it doesn't alienate your readers. One of my stories, which I'll probably make into a three-part series is further from the familiar than I think most readers will be comfortable with so I put it on hold for now. I'll probably come back to it in five to ten years after I've established myself as a writer and developed my skills more.

If your style is unique enough, if your take on the characters and their situations is unique enough...it'll work out just fine. Everybody has their own perspective, and if you can work that in, even a "tired" idea can seem fresh.

Idea

Feanaro said:

Hi folks!

I have an idea for a book. I`ve had it for some time. I like it a lot and I love all the characters but almost everything about it has been done already. I want some originality but I don`t want to completely change the story and characters!!! Can anyone give me some suggestions?

P.S I`ve written the plot in the "Fantasy" section of the "Share your Work Forum"It`s called "The Freedom of Adonia".

Thanks

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If you want to be original, then do it better than anyone else ever has. Nothing is as original as anything that's extremely well-written.

When twin siblings are raised in the same house, by the same people, eat the same food and buy clothes at the same stores, do they wind up with identical personalities?

No, of course not.

When you create character backgrounds and your world, you'll bring into it your OWN experiences. Choose something that resonates in you, whether it's having been bullied in grade school, breaking an arm or living a charmed life. Then describe it into one of your characters. It doesn't have to be the MAIN character, but every little uniqueness you give your people makes them people. They'll be no more the same as the characters in other books than twins.

Same with the adventures. If you have characters looking for a holy item, make it something weird--like a candleabra, instead of a chalice or amulet. Make your dragons blind and living in burrows instead of with wings. Breathing fire could be even worse when you KNOW it's going to come at you at crotch level. Etc., etc.

Never worry about being the same. Like the others have said--EVERYTHING'S been used. Roll with it and have fun.

"There is nothing new under the sun" ~Eccl. 1:9

Just tell an old story in a new way. Joseph Campbell believes all stories are variations of the hero myth, but to have a "new" story, we tell the story in a new and interesting way.

Write your story. See what happens.

Remember Watt-Evans Law: There is no idea so trite and hackneyed that a sufficiently talented writer can't make a cracking good story out of it.

I know exactly how you feel. I reject story ideas by the truckload, because I've got this nutty idea in my head that I want to write something no one else has written.

Unfortunately, my feelings are counter-productive. There are hardly any new story ideas around, and there are loads of successful writers who've never had an original plot idea.

Example: Salem's Lot. Not one original concept in the whole book. In fact, the story relies so heavily on "established" vampire story ideas that he has a character who's an "expert" on vampires, because he's watched a zillion vampire movies!

I suggest that instead of looking for another idea, try coming up with a different way of telling the story, like an unusual POV. Someone recently posted a question about telling a story from the antagonist's POV. You could try something like that, or mix it up by having some chapters told by the antagonist, and some by the protagonist, and show how their view of what's happening differs according to their perspective (ala Roshomon or the Alexandria Quartet).

People have been re-telling the same stories forever, which is why you can't copyright a story idea. Just think of a new way of telling the story.

I am so trying to come up with an original idea. All I can think of, which may have been written or not, is "The Congress of Divinity"

A story of how god's angels took over members of Congress to stop the Apocalypse before the second coming of Christ.

Back story: The Devil dispatched his minions to capture the souls of selected members of Congress and the Senate so he could control the end of mankind.

God sends angels to earth and take over the souls of those members of Congress and the Senate who remain good and pure at heart.

---
The battle between good and evil is fought within the houses of freedom to decide if there will be a second coming of Christ or the complete destruction of mankind.

The protagonist, whomever, is charged with swaying a key vote to invade a hostile country (Iran) with nuclear capabilities which could set off a nuclear Jihad against America and it's allies.

---

Or something like that...

The idea of writing innovation stories is to go far beyond the scope of conventional thinking. There are really unique stories out there to write, but it is the imagination of each writer to exploit the black holes.

Cheers,

me

*blinks*

I just wrote that.

Cathy C said:

Make your dragons blind and living in burrows instead of with wings. Breathing fire could be even worse when you KNOW it's going to come at you at crotch level.

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I would totally read a book about mole dragons.

I never worry about how original my ideas are. Plots which were done thousands of times have been done so much for a reason: they're good. Most of the 'original' ideas I hear haven't been done for a good reason too: they suck. I can point to a dozen well-known books and movies with the same basic plot as any given one of my fantasy books.

What I depend on to make my work 'different' are my characters, world building, and voice. My voice and characters are so unusual for the genre I would worry that my books would fall too far outside the 'comfort zone' of editors and readers if I coupled it with an unusual plot. My voice and characters are more like what you'd expect in dark mainstream fiction than high fantasy.

Go ahead with the 'cliché' idea and put your creativity into your characters and world.

(I'm not published, so I might be totally wrong in thinking this works, though)