Achieving Originality

It is a writer’s most frustrating dilemma—you come up with a splendid idea for a novel, but you later find out that your idea has already been taken and published. One solution is to scrap the old idea, and come up with a new one. Another is to take the idea in a totally different direction to be considered original. The latter is often more preferred than the former.



Redoing an idea that has already been taken is no easy task. Research becomes the writer’s tool to formulate and develop new thoughts on the subject. Browsing through works from similar genres will be quite helpful. Checking up on literary trends, narrative techniques, and other literary devices will also provide solutions.



An aspiring novelist complains that her idea for a protagonist as a demigod in Greek mythology has been taken and is already popular without her knowledge. A helpful correspondent suggests giving the story a new twist. What if the hero is not a demigod but the child of a monster who swears to fight the gods for slaying his clan? What if the culture is not even Greek but Norse, or Native American?



"What-if" questions prove to be useful. They establish situations and possible outcomes that will develop the future plot. What if a girl falls in love with a boy she met on one of the holland america cruises or similar travel trips? What if they decide they are just meant to be friends in the end? What if there is something else—supernatural, social, or political—that moves the story forward?



Some knowledge on literary and narrative trends is useful too. There are some things that work in storytelling, and there are others that do not. Sometimes, however, twisting an existing idea is a risk worth taking. The girl who falls in love with a boy in one of the holland america cruises might have already met this boy prior to the cruise.



Changing the setting can develop the plot successfully, as well as introduce new elements to the story. If the girl and boy meet instead on a royal caribbean cruises liner, the conditions might be different, having significant impact on the plot. By continuously asking yourself questions and letting the ideas flow, you will get the original story you want.