Are there no new stories to tell?

[Brayon]

It's been a common complaint about Hollywood, and rebooting T.V. Shows, Spin-Offs, and Movies. That there is no more stories to tell in the world. I personally feel that there is, and that Author's bring creativity with each new telling, from their P.O.V.

 

However, I ran into an interesting situation the past couple of days. I've been diligently working on my Story The Half-Elven Warlock, even soliciting advice from good friends, on how to approach one aspect, and even outlines. Chapter 4 is almost done, and Chapter 5 has elements that I've already written for it. As they say, "To be a good writer, one must be a good reader," I've been reading from time to time, and have been binge reading a 40+ chapter story here on GA. Imagine my surprise, when I get to chapters in the center of this seven-year-old story, and find a training session for the Lead Character, and it matches 85% of what I had just written. Of course, details, tone, and setting is completely different, along with use of style, but wording and intent is spot on.

 

I'm now rewriting my chapter, as it's not plagiarism, but the concepts are damn near close to being identical.

 

So, has that happened to you? Have you worked on a project, only to find that someone else did it as well, years earlier?

[Myr]

13 minutes ago, BHopper2 said:

Hollywood, and rebooting T.V. Shows, Spin-Offs, and Movies

Hollywood's creativity problem is more a risk aversion thing and frankly a political issue.  Hollywood absolutely loathes half of America... the half of America that likes Micheal Bay explosion movies, guns, and Passion of the Christ (ie the part that makes money).  They keep rehashing old successes because they are banking on nostalgia to get people to come back... and then drive them away again with their whiney, narcissist, obnoxious, snowflake, hairbrained, political bullshit.   No, Hollywood's problem isn't creativity... it is a combination of them not knowing or worse hating their audience, their in-your-face political stupidity, their in-your-face hypocrisy, and an aversion to risking new things.

 

There are plenty of writing books out there that carefully explain that all stories can be boiled down to somewhere between 5-25 plots.  And every story is that at's base.  The creativity comes from mixing and matching and trying new things.  Example:  Little guy goes through training, gets bullied and comes out on top.  This is a key element to Karate Kid (all the movies), Alex Rider: Stormbreaker (and pretty much all the books too), Ranger's Apprentice (first book especially, but a running theme), it's a sub-theme in Harry Potter...  All of these are very different stories in different genres but share some scenes that are functionally identical when at the 20,000 feet view.

[Cia]

Yes. I've had my work compared heavily to M.A. Church's science fiction (which is not that far-fetched and why I beta/edit for her, and her me) as well as some other authors. I wrote blue aliens with somewhat primitive lifestyles right before Avatar came out and that was compared as well, even though the rest of the storyline was completely different. If I come across the plot progression of individual scenes stays the same as well as similar characters and themes, I'm more likely to scream copycat and stop reading. But I tend to try not to judge stories just because they share a few similar aspects simply because it is far too common based on the tons of fiction already written. 

[Krista]

No one can write a completely original story. Where you run into plagiarism is the intent to copy for your own personal gain. As long as that isn't your intention, then similarities in scenes from different stories are just coincidental. Maybe your Character's story arc needs those certain scenes and if you're not adding them to the plot just because, "you've seen it before," then you may actually be hurting your own story. 

 

It is good to challenge yourself to work around creative devices that are overly used, though. Just try not to overly stress originality or the attempt, it may end up getting in the way of a nicely flowing story and make it choppy and unrecognizable to the rest of what is already written. 

 

-- On a side note, I totally agree with Myr's explanation with Hollywood's creativity issues.  

 

 

[Comicality]

 

Well...'business' wise, there's a reason why Hollywood is saturating the market with reboots and remakes and...ugh! Hehehe! Basically, it's just a matter of new markets opening up that weren't there before. Like...imagine if some new MASSIVE gay erotic archive opened up online next week. Would you write a ton of brand 'new' stories...or would you just post your older stuff and get your name out there?

 

I think one of the best explanations of this phenomenon of the past few years can be explained here:

 

 

But that's just business stuff.  We're all artists here, so I'm assuming that kinda falls into second or third place where our priorities are concerned.

 

I agree that there are PLENTY of new stories to tell! I remember having a teacher who used to always tell us that there were no new stories since the Romans. And I can also remember my rebellious side wanting to prove him wrong by coming up with something totally original. I did NOT succeed! LOL! But I was 19, give me a break! I still try. All the time. Even if it's a story that has been done before, it hasn't been done from my perspective. I think if any author is open enough, brave enough, to be honest in their approach to whatever subject or conflict they're looking to tackle with their story...that personal touch will make it just as original as anything else that people could read online. Or anywhere, for that matter.

 

I'm a big fan of horror, myself. But just when I think I've seen every slasher movie, or heard every dream demon, killer doll, haunted house, story that has ever been told...suddenly Slenderman shows up out of nowhere. Or Black Eyed Kids. Or some other urban legend that comes off as something different and creepy that I haven't really seen before. I assume that all creative fiction would be the same way, right? Just a hunch.

[Carlos Hazday]

When I started posting the CJ series, my work was favorably compared to another author's. Someone who's work I'd enjoyed reading. Maybe his style influenced me so after the initial comparison, I tried hard to ensure I wasn't plagiarizing. Our plots are different, but the way our characters related and spoke to each other is similar. I think if we look hard enough, we find our work resembles someone else's no matter how hard we try. Said author and I ended up beta reading for each other. It was a logical development and it helped me avoid some scenes/developments he included in an as of yet unpublished work. I hope he derived a similar benefit while reading my stuff.

[MrM]

Plot formulas may all be the same, but usually they are plots based on archetypical experiences all generations experience and question. The originality comes when you put these plots through your own lens. 

 

When a critic throws 'derivative' at you it's usually because they have no other stone to throw at your work and yet they feel compelled to do so probably due to pressures to seem 'discerning', or 'relevant'. Unfortunately, they just prove their lack of discernment and relevance. 

 

All stories are derived from impressions we've had from other's works. We build on one another's bricks to make pyrimids out of our literary cultures.

[grahamsealby]

I don't believe I've ever used an existing story as a plot guideline; it's why I tend to take time creating a story. Sometimes I reach a point and have to stop because I'm not sure what the next step should be. Whilst I have an ending fixed in my mind, the middle plot can be frustrating. I find that if I chuck my quille away and sleep on it invariably a solution manifests. 

[Laura S. Fox]

On 11/18/2017 at 3:38 PM, BHopper2 said:

 

 

So, has that happened to you? Have you worked on a project, only to find that someone else did it as well, years earlier?

 

 

Well, it definitely did. Someone told me that the story I am currently publishing here on GA is just like Beauty and the Beast, and when I looked, I was like damn, it really does. Also, it did happen to me, while writing a story (that is far from being over, and I'm not sure it will be made public anytime soon) about a group of young men on a deserted island, to read an 18th (or was it 19th?) century novel about a similar situation. And, while the situation of having a group of young men on an island is too vague and it can be repeated without being considered plagiarism, I did read a certain scene in the 18th century book, that rang exactly like a scene I wrote. It was one of the characters saying that he was knowledgeable of certain things on the island because he read a lot and the others' reaction to that was exactly like how I wrote the scene in my little literary endeavor, too. I have to say that I am quite certain I had not read that book before, and it was pretty weird to find the same thing I thought that could not have existed before I wrote it. Yeap, weird, weird, weird. I just don't have an explanation for this kind of things.

[Brayon]

16 minutes ago, Laura S. Fox said:

about a group of young men on a deserted island, to read an 18th (or was it 19th?) century novel about a similar situation.

If you're talking about Lord of the Flies (a great book, btw), they also made it into 2 movies of the same name. One in B&W from the 1960's (or 50's) and the other was in 1990's. The book is better, in my opinion. It was required reading for Senior English here in FL.

[Laura S. Fox]

1 hour ago, BHopper2 said:

If you're talking about Lord of the Flies (a great book, btw), they also made it into 2 movies of the same name. One in B&W from the 1960's (or 50's) and the other was in 1990's. The book is better, in my opinion. It was required reading for Senior English here in FL.

Ah, no, it's not that, although you're not far from the truth, in a way. I read Lord of the Flies (haven't seen any of the movies). It was, however, The Coral Island, which, if I understood correctly, served as the inspiration for Golding's novel. A bit of an upside down inspiration, because the boys in The Coral Island do not go through the same moral deprecation as the protagonists in Lord of the Flies, and, by the comments I read, Golding wanted to prove the exact opposite and reveal the darkness of the human nature, and not sustain the politeness and good manners instilled by the civilization that Ballantyne's  story was built upon. 

[Solus Magus]

Well, logically speaking, we cannot create something out of nothing. Our own creativity still roots to our inputs based on the what we have read. So one way or another, the same idea that another author has might also pop into your mind. It's still due to a certain level of probability, even if it is very very small. In short, we're like making fanfics on what we've read.

 

They said that if you want to write something, then write something that you would enjoy reading. And the ideas that give our wants and preferences in reading are still based on what we have read. Even our eureka moments are results of a certain combination of ideas. It's just some people are just better at mixing and connecting different ideas than others. This results would produce a rare gem in the universe of literature. And yet it was still a result of probability.

 

Sadly, even literature is being used to make profit instead of expressing artistic ideas and things that can stir the imagination of others. I think there are still some people who genuinely want to impart ideas, but it is easily toppled over by those who are in control of the finances to produce it in the first place.

[grahamsealby]

I read somewhere that if you're searching for plot ideas, go to IMDB and select a story synopsis and then make your own story using only the general plot. It was further recommended that you introduce your own twists and conflict to avoid plagiarism. I haven't tried it myself because the concept still reeks of plagiarism.

[comicfan]

Hmm. I'm one of those who will rewrite a tale or start from scratch. I love fairy tales. Cinderella, Snow White, the Little Mermaid, and countless others. I use the tale, but toss in my own takes. What if Sleeping Beauty is a man? Snow White is told by the abandoned magic mirror? What if Rapunzel saved herself? In those cases I am redoing what has come before, but with all new wrinkles.

 

Then there are stories that spring forth into new tales that have no correlation. Yet, readers will me know that something is similar to a,b, or c. So, while not the same, it has similar characters, plots, or world aspects. The best I can say is just keep writing in your author voice and don't change it. That helps to keep your work distinctive. 

[Page Scrawler]

According to Joseph Campbell, every story follows the same formula of the "hero's journey". There's nothing wrong with telling an old story, so long as you put a fresh spin or unique twist on it. Think of Megan Morrison's Tyme trilogy, which starts with a remake of the story of Rapunzel in Grounded, followed by Cinderella in Disenchanted. Writers use classic stories like Frankenstein, Romeo and Juliet, or Greek/ Egyptian/ Norse mythology as a foundation to build upon, but often they don't turn it into anything new.

If you have to retell a story, try making it DIFFERENT from what other people have done. Maybe give Romeo bad breath, or make Juliet's cousin Tybalt into an annoying 10-year-old brat. Romeo could even disguise himself as a new maid, so he can sneak into the Capulets' estate. Or everyone could be afraid of Dr. Frankenstein's monster, because the Dr. grafted a horse's onto the monster's body.