It's All Been Done

"Unto Persephone" is closing in on 50,000 words, and should be wrapped up in about five or six weeks. Thinking over my progress and what I wanted to discuss today, I felt it important to touch on something that I think stymies a lot of potential writers: originality.

Naturally, writers are creative. Not only that, but they want to express that creativity publicly. In many cases, including my own, this need to showcase something is at direct odds with a sense of perfectionism, which can lead to many abandoned projects or difficulty accepting criticism, even when it is legitimate. One of the hangups for the perfectionist writer (or writer to be) is the concept of originality; in trying to create something, we want to be innovative, we want to be ahead of the curve, we want to be recognized for bringing something new to the table that draws people in.

Now, to shoot down that train of thought, I will say that you shouldn't bother getting stuck on this issue. The fact of the matter is that humans have been telling stories since the dawn of the species. Your new book isn't going to be able to change the fact that the story elements, the character types, the plot devices, etc., have all been used before. Someone somewhere has said what you have said, and may have even said it better. But you know what? That's okay. People will always return to these stories because they like them, and they want to hear variances on a tune. You won't change the acts in the play, but you can introduce new language or a new setting. Your tone of voice, which is unique to you, is something only you can provide, and that's where you can find your originality.

Nothing exists in a vacuum. Whether you realize it or not, your writing is influenced by those that came before you, and what you create will influence people in the future. It's the shared string of storytelling that ties us together as humans throughout time. Source material is important. Drawing on content will give your story a platform to stand on, providing it a solid base from which to grow. Take "Unto Persephone," for example. The book draws on historical events in warfare, including Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia. It channels many of the themes of movies such as Apocalypse Now, Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, and Black Hawk Down. And yet it takes place one hundred years in the future with a squad of soldiers in advanced power armor suits. The story is the same, the setting is changed