Does originality exist anymore?
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- Skillian
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Does originality exist anymore?
Have any of you had similar experiences where you are excited about an idea only to find out it is already out there? Do you abandon the idea? or add a new twist? How do you cope with it?
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However I think originality is all around us.
Every new take on the same old shtick is an example of originality.
And your definition of originality still exists...but it's like a shy unicorn...in order to find it you must be patient and have an open mind...and an over active imagination doesn't hurt either.
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Grief is just love with no place to go.
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So there are two aspects of this argument which are opposing viewsSkillian wrote:I feel like every idea is so overdone that there is surely something out there just like my stories, but I just haven't come across it yet... But then you put something out there are BAM every example of what it is just like surfaces and any originality you had is thus undermined. ...
Have any of you had similar experiences where you are excited about an idea only to find out it is already out there? Do you abandon the idea? or add a new twist? How do you cope with it?
1. Nothing is Original
2. Everything is Original
1. Since humans have been telling stories they have always been the same stories retold with different characters. Love, Tragedy, Comedy, Drama have all been told. These stories of either overcoming adversity, of heroes, or simply of comedy or just plain tragedy have been told over and over again through out millennia (The Odyssey, The Iliad, The Bible, Greek/Roman/Norse Methodology, etc). They were used to teach lessons or understand the world around us or simply to entertain. So in that sense nothing is original (not even the first written account since it had probably been told a million times before it got on paper or stone).
2. Everything is Original - Even if the story has been told before how it is told has an originality about it. The who, the why, the when and the where. Otherwise no one would watch Fast & Furious 7 or James Bond movies since they are the same story (or TV Series).
Regardless of whatever view you subscribe to I believe certain times tend to bring certain types of stories to the forefront. Dystopian stories or post-apocolyptic stories seem to be pretty strong right now (Hunger Games & The Walking Dead) probably because of how most of us feel about the world around us which bring these types of stories to the forefront of writers.
Writers live and experience the world just like everyone one else. When folks feel they lack control of what is going on around them a Dystopian or Post-apocolyptic type of story (in which characters lack control of the world around them or are trying to fight against it) comes to the forefront.
Just before the types of stories that are popular now Vampires and Werewolves were popular (dark characters who either redeem themselves or destroy society) which is how folks felt about government and those that run it. Wow I guess I have a lot to say about this.
Anyway, all this to simply say that as long as you tell your own story and do not plagiarize anyone else's story I think you are fine. Will it be similar to other stories and perhaps even have the same elements? Sure, so what to me how you tell your story and how entertaining it is what matters.
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I once had this super awesome story going (well... at least, I thought it was awesome) with this cool new creature that I had created all by myself... and then I read Harry Potter, and the thing was basically exactly the same as a Dementor! I was so annoyed, so I felt like I had to change it.
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I don't think you needed to change it unless your character was exactly like the dementors. For example the marshes in LOTR that lure you to your death are almost exactly the same as the Inferi in Harry Potter. However, I don't think anyone watching the HP movie thought of the LOTR marshes and if they did it was only in passing.ALynnPowers wrote:I often worry about this when I am writing something!!
I once had this super awesome story going (well... at least, I thought it was awesome) with this cool new creature that I had created all by myself... and then I read Harry Potter, and the thing was basically exactly the same as a Dementor! I was so annoyed, so I felt like I had to change it.
-- 21 Nov 2014, 14:48 --
Also the Wraiths in LOTR are very similar to the Dementors (at least in look and that they do their master's biddin') and they both seem to suck the life out of things.ALynnPowers wrote:I often worry about this when I am writing something!!
I once had this super awesome story going (well... at least, I thought it was awesome) with this cool new creature that I had created all by myself... and then I read Harry Potter, and the thing was basically exactly the same as a Dementor! I was so annoyed, so I felt like I had to change it.
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-- 14 Dec 2014, 13:45 --
I guess what I'm trying to say is: originality is originality. No matter where it comes from.
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I feel you! Back in high school, I "made up" these scary, cloaked monsters on horseback. I thought they were the coolest, creepiest creatures ever...until I read (and watched) The Lord of the Rings. My super-cool evil monsters were, in fact, Ringwraiths!!! Part of me was devastated, but another part thought "Great minds think alike!" However, I don't think most people would see it that wayALynnPowers wrote:I often worry about this when I am writing something!!
I once had this super awesome story going (well... at least, I thought it was awesome) with this cool new creature that I had created all by myself... and then I read Harry Potter, and the thing was basically exactly the same as a Dementor! I was so annoyed, so I felt like I had to change it.