At the Anvil of the Wordsmith

But what to write about?  What about plot, characters? 

 A lot of people want to be unique, or different. 

A lot of people want to be famous and write a best seller.

A lot of people want to write an epic tale ala Tolkien and Middle Earth.

A lot of people want to be good and, in fulfillment of that desire, they turn to the people they think are good.

There is only one way to be unique people, and that’s by being yourself.  I know, I sound corny, but it is true.

There are only a handful of plots in the world:

• Rags to riches, made every so famous by fair tales and people like Horatio Alger.
• The Epic — usually an attempt at mythology and ecapsulates the Little Man usually a farm boy on a quest to save the World.
• Slice of Life — Anne of Green Gables is an excellent example of this.  Little trials for the little (by little I mean completely ordinary, of course) people of the world.
• The Parody, which makes fun.
• Who done it?

And that’s pretty much all, folks.

So, it’s a daunting question:  how exactly am I to write my own story and still be unique and not a paltry imitator of [insert famous author here].

I won’t lie to you and say, “It’s easy” because it’s not.  Write the story how you think it ought to have gone.  You don’t think Cinderella deserved to become a princess?  Then write that.  You think it should have happened a different way without the convenience of a Godmother?  Write about that.   Where in heck was that Godmother for all those years anyway? 

Look at a plot.  Look at it backwards, sidewards, frontwards, bottomwards.  Look at it in a mirror.  Flip it.  Make it shades of grey instead of black and white.  Tear that thing apart and put it back together again.

Know it completely, because only then can you understand it. 

Once you feel you understand it, think about it.  What do you feel about it?  How does it make you feel?  And write from those feelings. 

A lot of people today read a book and say, “Oh I liked it.”  Ask them why, and wait how long it takes for them to reply.  

As I said previously — write about you, even if it is obliquely. 

You are unique.  Plots are not.