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Has it all been done?

H

headpodd

New Member
I have written quite a lot, but never anything as big as a novel. I have been thinking about writing one for some time now but am worried about unwittingly chosing a topic, storyline which has already been done but that I may not know about.
Does that sound odd? Does anyone else worry about this?
 
No, I know what you mean...

I've intended to write a novel to, but I only always manage to write the first few chapters. This means I have, like, 5 beginnings to completely different novels lying around somewhere. Anyway, when I explain to fellow booklovers what my books are about, they almost always will be able to name an existing novel that has the same premise.

Everything has been done. The difficulty is in doing something (that already has been done, presumably) in a completely original way.

Cheers, Martin :D
 
done already?

Yes everything has been done and for many of these things, it was done centuries ago. But even the greatest authors only penned something already written. If your way of telling the story is even only slightly different then it's a good achievement.
 
No, everything has not been done, but don't waste your time striving to be original, as that is a sign of a poor writer (in my opinion, anyway, no mean to offend). It's about the story, and whatever it turns into, it turns into. If it's captivating, enjoyable, and overall just a good read, no one is going to come knocking at your door saying, "Hey, asshole! I already read a book like this!"
 
Every topic has been done thousands of times. I can't even begin to think of the ideas that have been reused over and over again. From stories about curses, romances, adventures, the ideas are generally the same. But don't worry: no one is going to really care unless you make the characters engaging. That's what I think, at least.
 
I can assure you (being both a book ed and a mag ed) that NOT all the fresh ideas have been used.

Just when I think I'm never going to see anything new, someone always surprises me.

Keep trying! I get my best ideas while vacuuming...:)
 
Have you done it before?

headpodd said:
I have written quite a lot, but never anything as big as a novel. I have been thinking about writing one for some time now but am worried about unwittingly chosing a topic, storyline which has already been done but that I may not know about.
Does that sound odd? Does anyone else worry about this?
Click to expand...

Unless you're going to quote verbatim something you heard or picked up whatever you do is being done by you and you will do it differently to anyone else who is not you. Publishers keep asking for "fresh voices" which give them what they have published already (hence the publishing 'trends') precisely because it has all been done before, just by different people. Forget about choosing a topic or storyline and write about what burns in your stomach and lights you up!
 
Don't worry! And yes ... it has all been written! But there is more than one way to tell a story. Goodness look at all the variations of the Cinderella story!

If you really, really want to write a novel and don't think you can make it to the end ... try NaNo next year! Every November hundreds of writers compete against themselves (not each other) to finish a 50,000 word manuscript in one month.

I didn't write my first novel this way ... but I did write my fourth one during NaNo, it helped me out of a plot slump I was in.

You can do it! It can be done. And the funny thing? Once you finish your first manuscript, the second one is easier ... at least that was my experience!

Good luck!
 
I will be hundreth person to say that is HAS all been done. There is one story and it is life and how humans deal with life. The difference in everything is how you depict the already done. I mean, think about it. Who wrote "it" the first time to render every single author after him to just repeat the same story?
 
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