On writing: Originality
You can check out all my posts on writing through this link.
If you’ve been following my posts up to this point and you’ve done the necessary work, you should have ended up with a killer concept and a promising premise. Congraturation! But this story is still far from its happy end. The following notes, gathered years ago from many books on writing, focus on an isolated aspect of developing a story before you delve into the nitty-gritty of structuring the damn thing.
-No matter what aspect of writing we’re talking about, you need to find a unique take, a unique slant, a different way in that audiences haven’t seen before.
-What is original within the story idea, what makes it unique?
-How is the story different from all the others on the same shelf?
-How can you make this idea more interesting than any other handling of the same concept by another author?
-How does the originality speak for itself in your premise?
-How is this material truly your own, of central importance to you?
-How does it present novelty, challenge and/or aesthetic value?
-What are other stories with a similar concept, and how can you make yours more interesting?
-How do you tweak the norm or expected? How do you bring to that tired old plot idea something unexpected, something intriguing?
-If other stories have touched on your themes before, how will your story offer a clever variation?
-Evaluate how surprising and interesting your character’s quest to achieve his wants and needs is.
-Is this single story line unique enough to appeal a lot of people besides you?
-Describe as many of the story challenges and problems that are unique to your idea as you think of.
-Will your story show us at least one image we haven’t seen before (that can be used to promote the final product)?
-Look for where the idea might go, how it might blossom. Brainstorm the many different paths the idea can take, and choose the best one.
-Ask “what if” about the story idea. It helps you explore your mind as it plays in this make-believe landscape.
-Always go beyond the obvious choice. One of the keys to becoming a professional writer is not settling for the obvious choice, whether that choice be a concept, a character, a scene, or a line of dialogue. Good writers push past the obvious until they find something unique.
-Discount the 1st thing that comes to mind. And the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th – get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself.
-Don’t resort to repeating stories you’ve already seen. Look for opportunities to twist things around and approach the idea from a new angle.
-One of the things a writer must do is surprise the person who can’t be surprised.
-Is anything promised by this idea? Does this idea generate certain expectations, things that must happen to satisfy the audience if this idea were to play out in a full story? Think of the obligatory scenes this premise demands, and concentrate on making them original. Brainstorm plenty of alternatives.
-Ask what is an unexpected thing that could happen. What would be the expectations, and how can you throw them off?
-Does the story contain a surprise that is not obvious from the beginning?
How would you let your characters surprise you, and therefore surprise the audience too?
If you’ve been following my posts up to this point and you’ve done the necessary work, you should have ended up with a killer concept and a promising premise. Congraturation! But this story is still far from its happy end. The following notes, gathered years ago from many books on writing, focus on an isolated aspect of developing a story before you delve into the nitty-gritty of structuring the damn thing.
-No matter what aspect of writing we’re talking about, you need to find a unique take, a unique slant, a different way in that audiences haven’t seen before.
-What is original within the story idea, what makes it unique?
-How is the story different from all the others on the same shelf?
-How can you make this idea more interesting than any other handling of the same concept by another author?
-How does the originality speak for itself in your premise?
-How is this material truly your own, of central importance to you?
-How does it present novelty, challenge and/or aesthetic value?
-What are other stories with a similar concept, and how can you make yours more interesting?
-How do you tweak the norm or expected? How do you bring to that tired old plot idea something unexpected, something intriguing?
-If other stories have touched on your themes before, how will your story offer a clever variation?
-Evaluate how surprising and interesting your character’s quest to achieve his wants and needs is.
-Is this single story line unique enough to appeal a lot of people besides you?
-Describe as many of the story challenges and problems that are unique to your idea as you think of.
-Will your story show us at least one image we haven’t seen before (that can be used to promote the final product)?
-Look for where the idea might go, how it might blossom. Brainstorm the many different paths the idea can take, and choose the best one.
-Ask “what if” about the story idea. It helps you explore your mind as it plays in this make-believe landscape.
-Always go beyond the obvious choice. One of the keys to becoming a professional writer is not settling for the obvious choice, whether that choice be a concept, a character, a scene, or a line of dialogue. Good writers push past the obvious until they find something unique.
-Discount the 1st thing that comes to mind. And the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th – get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself.
-Don’t resort to repeating stories you’ve already seen. Look for opportunities to twist things around and approach the idea from a new angle.
-One of the things a writer must do is surprise the person who can’t be surprised.
-Is anything promised by this idea? Does this idea generate certain expectations, things that must happen to satisfy the audience if this idea were to play out in a full story? Think of the obligatory scenes this premise demands, and concentrate on making them original. Brainstorm plenty of alternatives.
-Ask what is an unexpected thing that could happen. What would be the expectations, and how can you throw them off?
-Does the story contain a surprise that is not obvious from the beginning?
How would you let your characters surprise you, and therefore surprise the audience too?
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