I swear I'm original!
 

So, I'm having trouble with my writing, Mene. Every time I come up with an idea for a story, I realize shortly thereafter that it's already been done, at least to an extent. It's getting really frustrating because it seems like I can't think up anything orignal and I don't know what to do.

Baaah.

Anyone else have this problem?

I'm one of those people who honestly believes there's really no such thing as an original story. At its basis there's some five or six stories and, throughout time, they've been done again and again. To me, what makes a story good is more about its character, its details, and its presentation.

Personally, I'd not worry about whether its original or not. If you love it and you keep working at it, individual details will emerge from it and it may not be "original" in terms of the entire history of literature, but it will be yours. Which, I think when it comes to "originality", is what's important.

I remember reading once that chliches are cliches because they work. It's all about presentation.

Anyway, I know not everyone subscibes to that thought process. So those are just my two cents.

Guh know hows it feels D: [/puts up hand]

It might be a little easier for me because I'm a discovery writer-- I kind of let the once-cliched story just go where it goes. And by the end it's embellished with so many personal details that it's no longer cliched. So I suppose you could just go with it, if you don't plan!

What kind of original are you going for? I mean, I think China Mieville when I think original, and the best way to imitate him is probably to take a lot of drugs. (Okay that was a joke. ...Mostly.) Nobody will do the same two stories exactly the same way, and the trick is emphasizing the part that's your way. If everyone was always original all the time, there would be no TV Tropes! AND THAT WOULD BE TERRIBLE.

Okay, so that made little sense. But I kind of want to spark a discussion on this, I find it interesting *g*

(LOL WHAT LORI YOU FOLLOW ME WHEREVER I GO D:<)

When I'm writing a unique kind of story I like to do the opposite of what everyone expects. Sure it can get a bit out of hand if you don't reign it in, but it's also very fun.

[Boy is mean to kiss girl] Girl becomes a nun.
[Dog is meant to have surgery] Turns out the dog is a rabbit.

Or kill off your main character and make it turn out that someone ELSE is the main character. Confusing and unexpected!

Everything has already been done, the only way to make it original is to put a new spin on it. From what I have found there are only really 36 plots and you can find them by searching the 36 plots. Although if you can think of something that isn't listed there, well then... the number 36 is surely wrong?

I agree, nothing is original. It's all how about your personal writing stories and how you work with it. There is nothing wrong with a story that has been done to death as long as you know how to keep the audience's attention.

When I'm stuck on an idea I will, if possible, combine it with another, which generally makes a new story. I also think that characters are just as important as plot. Technically, The Lion King is Hamlet but with lions. Nala is definitely not Ophelia though, and Simba only vaguely resembles Hamlet. It's all in how you weave your tale.

I agree, it's hard to come up with something "original" but it's all on how you "spin it" ect. like others have already said.

I have a love/hate thing for fairy tales and there's always being covered in new and different ways so I enjoy reading what boils down to the basically the same stories over and over again only with some minor to major differences here and there. Like so-called sugar coating a story or disney-fying it vs. original dark moral tale or going a little nuts with it and making a steampunk / futuristic version of alice in wonderland for example.

I may or may not ever do steampunk or futuristic "Alice" but I'm definitely going to do something different someday that as far as I know hasn't been done before. Everybody has her in a dress no matter how updated her story is.

For / to me, it is a bit maddening.

It's like....why even bother even putting her in modern or futuristic times if you're going to have her wear a dress?

It's hard to come up with something that's "original". I stopped caring about that a long time ago. As someone else pointed out, there are only so many plots you can come up with. It's all about the characters.

Let me give you a personal example of one of my favorite writers, Joss Wheldon. The reason I love him so much is he takes ideas that have been used to death: vampire hunters/slayers. He made Buffy the Vampire Slayer which turned out to be amazing because yes you cared about the plot and omg the world is ending but you cared more about the people then you did the actual plot.

He made his main character die on purpose and what he did at the end of Angel... I mean, that hurt the audience because we cared about those characters.

Character design is very, very important in my opinion. If people can care about the character, if they can visualize them (if you are writing a novel), if they can connect with them, if they can feel what they are feeling, see what they are seeing, then that right there is a sign of a good story.

I always stress over originality, too. The first idea of my dream book/show/movie (whatever it may be, just a huge idea), was THIS:

Leelee is from another planet. Her parents are the king and queen. The queen sent her to earth to protect her from her evil father. She grew up on Earth with normal parents who adopted her, not knowing of her identity. She then meets a talking fox and becoems...

Yeah, it was a BRUTAL Sailor Moon clone. But then I changed it into some angsty past, about her joining the bad guys. She had made her best friend kill herself because she thought she was weak. Then, she spent her whole past moping, until she joined the villains and crimes. Her parents disowned her, and she was sentenced to death penalty. Then she jumped to earth to kill herself.

Yeah...It was basically Sailor Moon clone, then a tragic past. Ugh. To this day I STILL try to make it different!

Many people are original, even if the basic plot lines are taken. I center my plots around mideival like time frames. This is just my style of writing. My stories are not your typical idea but they are. You can not have a story where everything is completly original but it will have characteristics that are. Names of places, names of characters, and even how your plot develops may be original and that is what make your book stand out from others. Eragon, completly original? No, but Christopher Paolini made it develop as his own. Lord of the Rings, completly original? No but J. R. R. Tolkien turned a time frame and many different races that many people know into a world that stands alone.

Also, characters will almost never all be the same or develop the same throughout books and long series. The way characters progress through the plot will almost never be the same. If you look at certain book series they can be original copies. Also as somebody said we become atatched to the characters. (I will use Warriors parts one and two.... *spoiler alert... spoiler alert*) I look at characters like Firestar, Greystripe, and Bluestar. When Bluestar died I started crying because I became so atatched to her as a character. When Greystripe was captured I started crying then because I thought I would never see him again. When he came back I rejoiced. All of this because I became atatched to the characters....

Anyways enough with me ranting. XP