Unoriginal to Original

We all want to create something that is wholly our own. Something that is so different from everything out there that it just shouts “pick me!”

Well that’s well and good but there are other options.

Instead of beating yourself up trying over and over to be original try going for the unoriginal.

Go for the vampires and the romeo and juliet. Go for the good vs evil and the damsel in distress. Go for the overused and abused and turn it on its head.

I have found that some of my favorite stories are the ones that take cliche themes and turn them upside down, or go at them from a different angle.

Take Stephanie Myers’ twist on vampires in Twilight. We are all used to vampires not being able to go into the sun. We know that they have heightened senses. But Stephanie took it a step further and gave creative and original reasons as to why these things happen.

She took the inability to be in the sunlight and made it be due to their skin being like diamonds. Therefore they sparkle in the sunlight.

Their heightened senses were twisted into the ability of some to have extra powers.

She took something that has been used many times and she made it her own and people flocked to it.

So below I will ask a few questions about overused and abused topics. Give us your most creative and original answer. They can be comedic, fantastical, scientific, or anything else you can think of. Just make it your own.  

1. What is keeping the star-crossed lovers apart?
2. Why is good and evil fighting?
3. Why can’t the vampires be in the sun?
4. What caused the damsel to be in distress?

My answers:

1. She is a dog person and he is severely allergic to dogs.
2. Evil wants to be good but good wants to be on top and won’t let evil change. Who is really good and who is really evil?
3. The vampires have superhuman powers that are fueled by the rays of the sun. The young vampires who do not know how to control their powers must avoid sunlight to avoid dangerous accidents.
4. The damsel ran into a burning building to save her neighbors daughter. She got the little girl out only to be trapped by falling debris. Now she is helpless and needs to be saved.

10 Prompts to get you in the write mindset

When we have the desire to write, but lack the inspiration to create, we often find ourselves in a pickle.

We find ourselves sitting in our writing space (probably staring into space) just trying to think of something to write about, or a way to continue the WIP we have already begun. No matter how hard we attempt to get the creative juices flowing we can’t find the right mindset. In this situation I have recently found it helpful to stop thinking so hard and just write.

But how do I do this without coming up with a jumping off point?

Well I turn to my best friend: 642 Things To Write About.

So when you find yourselves in this pickle find a pencil, some paper, and a prompt.

 

To start you out here are 10 of my favorites:

      •Your bedroom from the point of view of a stranger forced to occupy it for a week

      •The most troubling phone call you hope you never get

      •You wake up in an open field wearing an astronaut suit and lying on a surf board. What happened?

      •Write a story that ends with the line “And this is the room where it happened.”

      •Alfred Hitchcock said that a mystery is not knowing what will happen to a bunch of guys playing poker; suspense is when only you know there’s a bomb underneath the poker table. write about a banal event, but start by introducing something that will change everything and that only the reader knows is coming.

      •You, a grown adult, are afraid of the dark. Explain why this is a legitimate concern, so friends    won’t laugh at you.

      •You are a fifty-three-year-old woman living in Chicago. Write a letter to Santa.

      •Tenth Anniversary

      •Two paramedics have a patient in the back of the ambulance. The patient has only about 30 minutes to live. It could take twenty minutes or more to get to the hospital. What’s going on in the ambulance?

      •Rewrite a piece of your writing in one-syllable words.

Don't forget to share what get your juices flowing in the comments. We would also love to hear about some of the prompts that got you going.

Find Rae on:

Pinterest

Facebook