I often run into the issue of one of my ideas coming off as too much like the thing that inspired it. For example, I have this one story that was inspired by a video game. I haven't written the story yet, but I worry that when I do, people who know the video game will read my story and cry knock-off.
And I hate knock-offs, I really do. I get tired of the same ideas being rehashed over and over again *cough*SyFy movies!*cough* That said I know that some of my ideas will probably smack a little of being like other ideas that already exist. That can't be helped since we don't know everything that's been done. But an effort should be made to at least try to do things as differently as possible. That is, if you have a scene 9or character, or setting) in your head that you know has been done and done a lot in other stories or media, and the plot allows it, it may be a scene you want to rethink.
It also helps to do the opposite of what's been done. I like to avoid the "chosen one" trope if at all possible. I've never been a fan of "the chosen one" as I feel it takes too much agency away from the character, and I can't stand stories where the protagonist is little more than a tool for the greater good, never allowed to make decisions on his or her own, to learn on his or her own, bossed around by their mentor/care-taker/teacher who always knows better and never makes mistakes.
But that said, that doesn't mean I will never use the chosen one trope, because by toying with the possibilities I can come up with something that steers away from what I dislike about the trope (the character never knew they were "chosen" but when they find out they become overwhelmed by the stress of responsibility and falter. Even better, the character wasn't meant to know they were the chosen one for this very reason. But the villain finds out and uses it against them, or a jealous friend finds out, or someone who only meant well). In fact I love taking cliche tropes, picking them apart and putting them together as something else.
For example, instead of monster terrorizing space explorers, the space explorers have to save the monsters. And I'll keep picking until I come up with a working plot - the humans save the creature, the creature helps them survive the alien planet.
Instead of the barbarian saving the day, it's the street beggar. The dragon slayers aren't the good guys, they're the bad guys. Instead of a kid finding the cute, fluffy mythical creature, an adult finds it. The butler didn't do it, the victim's personal masseuse did. And so on. I think the majority of my stories started off with me pondering B instead of A or C instead of B and going from there.
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Date: 2011-09-22 12:15 am (UTC)From:And I hate knock-offs, I really do. I get tired of the same ideas being rehashed over and over again *cough*SyFy movies!*cough* That said I know that some of my ideas will probably smack a little of being like other ideas that already exist. That can't be helped since we don't know everything that's been done. But an effort should be made to at least try to do things as differently as possible. That is, if you have a scene 9or character, or setting) in your head that you know has been done and done a lot in other stories or media, and the plot allows it, it may be a scene you want to rethink.
It also helps to do the opposite of what's been done. I like to avoid the "chosen one" trope if at all possible. I've never been a fan of "the chosen one" as I feel it takes too much agency away from the character, and I can't stand stories where the protagonist is little more than a tool for the greater good, never allowed to make decisions on his or her own, to learn on his or her own, bossed around by their mentor/care-taker/teacher who always knows better and never makes mistakes.
But that said, that doesn't mean I will never use the chosen one trope, because by toying with the possibilities I can come up with something that steers away from what I dislike about the trope (the character never knew they were "chosen" but when they find out they become overwhelmed by the stress of responsibility and falter. Even better, the character wasn't meant to know they were the chosen one for this very reason. But the villain finds out and uses it against them, or a jealous friend finds out, or someone who only meant well). In fact I love taking cliche tropes, picking them apart and putting them together as something else.
For example, instead of monster terrorizing space explorers, the space explorers have to save the monsters. And I'll keep picking until I come up with a working plot - the humans save the creature, the creature helps them survive the alien planet.
Instead of the barbarian saving the day, it's the street beggar. The dragon slayers aren't the good guys, they're the bad guys. Instead of a kid finding the cute, fluffy mythical creature, an adult finds it. The butler didn't do it, the victim's personal masseuse did. And so on. I think the majority of my stories started off with me pondering B instead of A or C instead of B and going from there.