Can You Even Write Anything Original Anymore?

Every author wants to write original stories.  

Surely, at some point, there’s been an idea that sparks in your mind and, when you go to jot down what is running through your mind, you realize that it’s really just a low-rent version of Star Wars.  

You throw your pen down on your desk and rub your temples in frustration. Why can’t I just come up with something genuine? Something on my own?  

I hate to break it to you, but that’s impossible.  

While plagiarism is frowned upon, and I will never suggest you take someone else’s words for your own, I recognize the reality around us. It’s been thousands of years—or millions; I’m not hating on anyone’s belief system—so, of course, all of the good stories have been taken by now.  

The tropes that we love reading—found family, hero saves the princess, dystopian futuristic tragedy, enemies to lovers, etc.—have been done. They’ve been dissected down into plot points and archetypes that writers have used for generations.  

When we use those tropes today, that doesn’t mean that we’re plagiarizing early writers. We take the framework of a story, and we build our own perspectives, nuances, characters, and settings around it.  

We make it our own story.  

It doesn’t make it 100% original, but with 500,000-1,000,000 books published each year (and that’s traditionally published. Don’t forget the independently published books that are taking the publishing industry by storm), you’re not going to be able to find a fully original book anywhere.  

We all take inspiration from our favorite books, characters, movies, and even the people around us. There’s no way to avoid taking inspiration from something, and instead coming up with a fully original story.  

It just isn’t going to happen.  

So, what should we all do in a world surrounded by “unoriginal” content?  

Don’t hold back from writing the story you want to write.  

Take your favorite parts of the stories you love and assemble them in your own unique way.  

Put your heart into the story you’re writing—or have wanted to write for years but haven’t found the time—and put yours out there into the 1 million going to be published this year.  

What is your opinion on originality in publishing? We want to know! 

And keep an eye out for another blog post about how to use the stories you love to improve your own writing. Let me know when I should post it! 

Shelby (she/her)