Originality.......or not

So here's the next post.  As promised, it's the one on originality.  I should point out that, according to lots of people whom I don't know, there is very little left that is original these days, at least in the fantasy genre.  What is there is brilliant authors taking the same basic elements and making something completely new and fresh with them.  Dressing up old ideas in new clothing you might say, so that while the concept of magic wands, dark lords, etc etc have been done before, they haven't quite been done the same way every time.  And that's good.   That's how it should be, if only to avoid a plethora of authors throwing lawsuits at each other for unintentional plagiarism.

However, it does leave new authors who are struggling to break into the market with something of a problem.  How do you come up with new ideas, or new clothing if you will, when everyone is trying to do the same.? How do you avoid unintentionally and unconsciously mirroring books that you've read and loved and which have stayed with you?  I know when I was initially beginning to write my first project, I had to all but stop reading fantasy work and had a family member read over my work to check it for any obvious descent into the Wizarding World inhabited by Harry Potter.  Some days, keeping Harry Potter out of my own work was more difficult than others, but I think overall I managed fairly well.

I think, however, that I've come up with the kernel of an idea.  Something which, according to my fiancé who is much wider read in the world of fantasy than I am, has never been done before, or at least not quite in the fashion I'm proposing.  Now I need to let it sit.  Story ideas are, to me, like a good coffee - sometimes the best ones need to sit in the back of my mind and percolate for a bit while the idea takes full shape.  And the best part?  At least some of those random, disconnected ideas from the last post just might have found a home.

Disconnected and Random Ideas

So today I was at work, on my lunch break and letting my mind wander as I have a tendency to do when not doing much else, and I realised that a story is much easier to put together when you have a clear idea of what you want.  My first serious attempts at writing, discounting my fanfiction stories, began with an idea and evolved into a story over time.  I'm now in the process of rewriting it because my fiancé, much as I love him, ripped holes in it (he maintains that he gently prodded at weak plot points and they gave way creating the aforementioned holes) and together we came up with new ideas for it which I like a lot better.  Time and a certain amount of distance from it apparently lends itself to being more able to critique your own work and see the areas that need improvement. 

The main point I suppose I'm trying to make is that while I have this project, my first serious writing project, on the back burner while I flesh it out again and rewrite it to include the new ideas previously mentioned, I thought I'd let my brain come up with new ideas for other stories, as a way to keep the creative juices flowing.  And all my brain can come up with is disjointed scenes, random characters, random settings, all of which I cannot seem to form into a coherent idea.  Then it posited, today, at 12pm, "can you blend your first project with some of your new ideas?" 

That wasn't what I wanted at all!  I *like* my original story, and with a few modifications, I'm trying to keep it the way it started.  Still, I suppose, if I turn my brain inside out I might find a way.  There's nothing wrong with starting a new story as a way to keep practicing the "craft" of writing while working on your first project, is there?  As long as you have clear ideas of the two storylines, there's no reason to get confused between the two.  And now I need to go and think.  Magical epidemic?  Seen that before.  Magical wars?  Seen those too.  *Sigh*  I think my next post might be on putting a new spin on things that have been done before as originality, apparently, is rather difficult to come by.  As much as I like Harry Potter, it's a very hard act to follow and very difficult to avoid comparison with. 

Until next time

New Beginnings

7th April 2015

As the title says, a new beginning.  A way for me to keep track of all the random things that pop into my head from time to time, along with the fun and frustration of trying to write when new ideas constantly interrupt the train of thought and then trying to write when other things, such as work, get in the way.

So, welcome, come in, sit down and enjoy the random adventure through my occasionally crazy head.