Don’t Worry About Being Original Just Write
Too many of us struggle with this idea.
“What if my story isn’t original and people call me out on it?”
My favorite thoughts on this are vampires. Ever heard of Twilight, Interview with a Vampire, Dracula, Blade, etc?
All of these stories were not original in the sense that they all are stories about vampires.
What makes them interesting is one, they’re about vampires (duh), and two, they have a little bit of their own take on it.
In broad terms, we don’t have to worry so much about originality.
Other thoughts occur, “Elves aren’t original so I can’t put elves in my story.”
This is not true. People like elves. As long as you have new characters going on different adventures it’s not necessarily a bad idea just because it involves creatures that are well-known like elves.
And the point is, it could be any mythical creatures you’re interested in writing about. If Rowling had thought, “there are already too many stories about wizards and witches” that might just have made a bunch of people really sad and Harry Potter-less.
So don’t do that to your potential readers. If you are passionate about it, likely someone else is too.
Interested in starting a blog of your own? Check out Bluehost.
Is anything actually original?
Not really.
Most of our stories, tv shows, movies are all a giant conglomerate of stories that have been passed down in one way or another.
For a time they were passed down orally until we were able to draw and type and then make motion capture.
So we’ve come a long way, but did our stories really get much different? Not really.
It’s perfectly fine for you to write from things that you enjoy and inspire your creativity.
The more things you are able to draw from the more it will feel like it has your own combined spin on it. (Just to preface, we aren’t condoning copying. Inspiration is different.)
In fact, at this point, if you are reading these words it’s almost impossible for you to create something that isn’t inspired by something else. And not because you’re reading my words.
It’s because you most likely have consumed hundreds of stories in books, tv, movies, and real life.
Stories are happening all around us and it would be almost impossible to not be affected by that fact.
Don’t avoid tropes for the sake of originality.
It’s like chasing after the wind. You’ll never truly catch it.
Only avoid a trope if you don’t like that trope and don’t want it in your writing.
If you’re worried about originality and you avoid one trope, you are likely going to fall into the trap of another trope.
It’s an exercise in futility, so our friendly advice is to not waste your time with it.
Now, of course, you’ll want to try to put your own spin on it. And avoid things that are overly cheesy that make the majority of the public roll their eyes.
You can’t please everyone mind you, but you’ll want to aim at entertaining most of them. 🙂 (Not saying it’s easy. “Haters are gonna hate” but trying for it is a good thing.)
Interested in starting a blog of your own? Check out Bluehost.
Original ideas (if there is such a thing) can fail miserably.
We really shouldn’t make originality the end all be all of our stories.
Even an amazingly original idea can crash and burn if not executed well. If we aren’t focused on great character development, dialogue, world-building, etc, even the most original idea in the world will ultimately not succeed.
What we write, even after we are dead and gone will be compared to things that were written like it.
You think the more original one will win out. Nope, it’ll be the better of the two. It won’t be the one that came first just by default.
Focus on executing story elements well and worry less about originality.
Give it your own spin.
The way to be original in our story saturated culture is to give it your own spin. Find ways to write elves in a new way.
Come up with good twists. Make your audience curious at every turn, and give them really satisfying resolutions along the way.
Keep them engaged. Don’t go for lull moments without a plan to suck them back in before too long.
Combine different experiences from your own life to give your story originally that you know was inspired by you.
Find creative ways to bring your favorite tropes to life with fun and interesting stories from your own day to day life.
You work fast food? What would it be like for an elf to work fast food? What would it be like to have an elf live a mundane life?
What if vampires accidentally wiped out all the humans and now they have to go to work and get jobs?
Most of all, look for the unexpected.
Don’t Worry About Being Original Just Write
Enjoying Don’t Worry About Being Original Just Write? Take a moment and consider sharing this social-friendly image to say thanks and feel free to comment with your thoughts below! 🙂
Interested in starting a blog of your own? Check out Bluehost.
Hope this helps!
Happy writing!
Resources:
How to Start a Blog in 11 Simple Easy Steps in 2020
How to Write a Book: 32 Tips | Your MASSIVE Guide How to Write a Book
Make sure your posts are readable. Use this readability score check
Want to check out a writer’s community to test your writing and get feedback?
This post:
Don’t Worry About Being Original Just Write
Check out these FREE trial resources from Amazon for when you work from home (or are stuck at home 🙂 ) As an Amazon associate, if you do sign up or buy anything using Amazon links from our site we make a commission at no extra cost to you.
Free Prime Membership Trial:
Try Amazon Prime 30-Day Free Trial
Try Prime Discounted (Free Trial)
Make your Free Amazon Wedding Registry:
Create an Amazon Wedding Registry
Don’t Worry About Being Original Just Write
Enjoying Don’t Worry About Being Original Just Write? Take a moment and consider sharing this social-friendly image to say thanks and feel free to comment with your thoughts below! 🙂
We hope you enjoyed: Don’t Worry About Being Original Just Write!
Can You Become a Successful Self Publisher Today Without a Website? I’ve seen this question before and thought it could Read more
5 Tips How to Make Editing More Enjoyable Editing can be a very dull process. At times, it can seem Read more
Can I Make My Story Setting in a Place I Have Not Been? You might be feeling trepidation about where Read more
How to Write for Yourself | Is it Odd to Just Write for Yourself? Some people are out there writing Read more
