Originality

Originality is just about the hardest thing to achieve in writing. I am finding that I am my own worst enemy at comparing my ideas to those that have been done already. There are story ideas that come to me that I quickly get excited about, but then immediately shoot down as "it's been done." Well... yeah... it's been done before. Everything's been done before in some fashion. You can Google search all the known plots and story arcs known to man. There seems to be seven of them. Just like cake is cake and will always be cake. The differences between cakes become apparent in the details. That is what originality is these days.

For instance: I have a story idea. I have not developed it fully because of that annoying nagging voice in the back of my mind keeps telling me it's too much like Marvel Comics' The Incredible Hulk. Well... where did The Incredible Hulk come from? Let's see... how about Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde? Original? Not really since many ancient texts cite events of people being controlled or transforming into supernatural beings. So this story has been told ad nauseum throughout the ages and just cannot be interesting anymore, right? No! Not right! Even though it is the same story, it happens in a different time period to a different person in a different setting. The culture of the era is different. Common perceptions are different. How societies and governments react to the threat is different. There are many ways to decorate that cake. That is where originality is perceived.

So how am I to overcome this feeling of being unoriginal? This entry to my philosophy journal helps. Realizing that originality results from mixing different ingredients together to make the cake helps. It is still a cake... but now it is MY cake!

-7/9/13-