Originality
It’s an accepted fact today that no story is one hundred percent original. A simple glance at the website Tvtropes.org will give you a long list of literary conventions that find their home in almost all modern literature and films. This begs the question: How much of this can be permitted?
With young writers my answer always is – borrow away. Fan fiction (the ultimate example of borrowing) has always been a good place to start for young writers trying to get the feel of their talents. The joy of it lies in the fact that the writer already has a good idea of the characters and the world the story is set in. As the story progresses, the writer can gradually develop the characters and the plot as he sees fit, until he reaches the point where he is simply using another person’s world and character names to tell his own story.
I’ve always been of the opinion that having good ideas is only half of the very difficult battle to write a story. The writer can have all the ideas in the world, but if he lacks the skill to put them down on paper, they are useless. That’s why young writers should not be worrying so much about the originality of their ideas, as their method of delivery. By practicing like this, the writer will have the skill to put his “original” ideas down on paper, when they come. Basically, young writers should really focus on the quality of his prose, as opposed to the originality of their ideas.
In published books however, the criteria is much, much more stringent. After all, readers are going to be shelling out between ten and twenty Euro for a hardback book. The writer must give them something they have not read before. However, as we demonstrated in the first paragraph, all modern books have similarities between them. I believe that this is a question of scale.
Writers are free to take inspiration from any medium that they wish – whether it be real life, television, films, games or other literature. For example, in Earldust (the novel that I’m writing at the moment), I decided to add a court case to the plot, while watching an episode of Law and Order.
Is this plagiarism? I don’t think so – I’m not calling any of the characters Jack McCoy after all. When you consider the world, characters and circumstances of the case, none of them resemble any of the episodes of Law and Order – apart from the fact that there is a court case involved. In essence, I’m showing the basic idea of a courtroom drama in an entirely new light.
This sums up my view on the matter: take inspiration from whatever you like - just be sure to show the ideas you take, in a new light.
Direct borrowing can actually add an element of humour to a novel. If, for example, a writer was to name a minor villain in his novel ”Ernst,” and have him throw one of the protagonists into a tank of piranha fish – it could be potentially humorous. He would just have to be sure to make to acknowledge that it was taken from James Bond. Comedies include these sort of references to popular culture all the time; therefore, it is safe to say that it is accepted.
As always, the opinions expressed above are my own. While you are free to agree or disagree with them as you wish, they should, however, provide you with some food for thought.
i don’t think there is such a thing as originality. there might have been in the ancient times, but since then everyone borrows ideas from other writers. if you look at any story, you can find roots to the ancient greek writings or other ancient cultures. the same thing in philosophy: all the philosophers take ideas from Plato, Aristotle, Socrates.
I like this.
It’s important for every young writer to not feel disheartened if somebody has used an idea beforehand, that they’re now using themselves.
Trying to be original is good, but if your story happens to share a likeness to something else by accident, don’t sacrifice your idea on the premise of being original – write what you want.
Worry about that stuff when it’s time to publish things.
The novel I’m currently working on draws inspiration from a number of sources, and I’m not shy about admitting that. Taking overused (or even just used) concepts and adapting them in new ways is what makes quality writing.
There are no new ideas. Period.
But that does not stop you re-inventing old ideas, and should your writing be good enough, then it will work, because you are bringing to the table something that has never been done before.