McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft
Originality--How important is it?
svb1972:
That was Codex Alera.
I meant the OP described a pretty typical Urban Fantasy Romance Novel.
meg_evonne:
I agree that perfection is not something that usually works in a protag. On the other hand, she sounds like Sookie in the True Blood series. LOL Characters need internal change in my opinion, although at Mile Hi last year Jim was the sole decenter on a panel that discussed question. Of course, look how much Harry has changed, so I could devil advocate Jim's own position from one year ago.
Originality isn't needed to write it. The Hero's Journey is retold over and over and over and will never have an expiration date, but to market it you have to have a truly unique angle to get it out of the slush pile. Agree that this isn't going to raise to the surface IMO.
Still in a Sookie-kind-of-way, I like it! So write it anyway and learn what you can in the process. That unique twist or twists may present itself if you are open to seeing it when it flashes by your butterfly net. (Connie Willis used the butterfly net concept for finding ideas at Mile Hi last year too.)
Shecky:
--- Quote from: arianne on June 07, 2010, 03:58:52 PM ---I agree on the Mary Sue front...it's just hard to feel sympathy for a character who always always always makes it okay. They don't lose a single hair even though they've killed monsters, saved the world, and blah blah blah. What's the point in caring about someone who clearly isn't having any problems?
(Of course, with series characters, you pretty much know they're going to survive, but even so, they lose friends, limbs, get depressed etc, so there are still stakes involved.)
Thanks too to everyone who contributed on the originality bit. I think I can rest easy now, knowing that it isn't THAT big an issue as I thought it was. :)
--- End quote ---
Precisely. It's not about originality of theme/plot point/etc. so much as it is about originality of how you put them all together and present them. And not even originality so much as enjoyability.
Kali:
I say just start at the get-go assuming you're going to be unoriginal. These days, people trying to be original usually just end up with a list of bizarre character traits that still don't touch their story, the plot, or the journey. You know, "He's a wizard but um... he's in clown college! And he has one eye. And he always turns left when leaving a room."
Those things aren't the kind of originality people are looking for. They're quirks, but never confuse quirks with character.
Just be unoriginal. No matter what you think of, someone will come up with a book or movie or comic that has already done that same basic story. Originality will come in how you tell the tale, in the specifics, in the reactions of your characters to situations. At least, it ought to.
BobForPresident:
--- Quote from: svb1972 on June 07, 2010, 04:15:04 PM ---Or lets say..
You take two really cliched unoriginal ideas.
Like say:
A lost fighting unit.
Pokemon.
Could you make a book that was marketable?
--- End quote ---
The only thing less-marketable is if the lead character grew up as a farm boy trying to escape the drudgery of farm life, then became a "perfect" general, with "perfect" morals, and was perfectly adorable throughout. That would be a so-called Mary Sue character (because he's without much in the way of character flaws, supposedly) and your book would never sell.
Or it would be called the Codex Alera and it would be a best seller and a fascinating read that would bridge historical fiction and fantasy in a wonderful series, because new perspective was given to a tale that borrows from classical elements!!!!!
Other so-called "too-perfect" characters with few to no personal flaws that impact their stories:
Luke Skywalker
Drizzt Do'Urden
Harry Potter
Sherlock Holmes
Captain Kirk
Don't gimme wrong, I love gritty, flawed heroes. But if you create a story that has a tried and true white knight character, and the story itself is intriguing, then I think you still have a good story.
Otherwise, not a soul in the universe would pick up a Superman comic. EVER.
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