But how much originality is necessary to make a great story? There are many stories that are popular that aren't new to a large degree. Just look at the different Cinderella and Snow White stories that have come out over the years. And they don't even hide the fact that it was inspired by a common story. They use the same title and characters, but there are changes made to the characters that are obvious if you see a few of them. They are not the same. Are they the most original pieces out? No way. But they had something special, something that made them appeal others beyond the first one.
I will admit I have a few ideas that may not be the most original. For those that have followed this blog a long time, back when it was It's In the Book DE and I took part in blogfests, you might remember I posted scenes for a "Cinderella" story. Well, a modern story inspired by parts of Cinderella with a male main character, but still. The reason I posted from that one is that it's not only not the most original but also one I don't see ever submitting for publication.
However, I have a couple other ideas that are similar in context, but are ones I hope to pursue in the future. Two of which I considered for NaNoWriMo 2012, though I ended up going with a different originality issue for that one (secret royalty main character). Here are the two others I have:
Snow White
Yeah, I have a Snow White idea despite there being recent movies done and possibly books, I don't keep track of all of them to be honest. I did see one of the movies, though I haven't seen all of the recent ones based off the story of Snow White. I have done a couple practice scenes to check out the story and character, both of which were well received on a peer review site. I do follow parts of the story, dwarves and such. But I also do much different than any others that I've seen. Well, like most of my stories, for one... the main character is male. Yep, Snow is male in my world. That and part of what is interesting about the world the story is creating in my head is it's one where the usual heir to the throne is the first born daughter. I also have some magic involved, but the story is still developing. But I like the idea, the character and his little servant love interest. I hope to write it some day.
Red Riding Hood
This one is a little different. It involves the main story line in the beginning of the story but things get all kinds of changed from there. There are some fun ones out there, I will admit. I kind of liked the animated one with the snowboarding grandma. That was amusing. My story, again, has a male character for the main one. The "wolf" isn't actually a wolf but he uses his powers to force Red to join him for a struggle going on in a different world. I have one scene with a little spider that becomes attached to Red too, that was very well liked. This one needs a lot of work but it's still very interesting to me.
So, those are just two of mine. I also have ideas inspired by the matrix(first one, never really cared about two or even bothered with the third), xmen (yeah I have mutant novels), and many others. And I'm okay with that.
What do you think about originality?
Do you have any ideas that might not be the most original that still excites you?
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