Hello, darklings.
One of my favorite parts of spring is watching the deadnettle bloom.
For one, metal name.
Two, look how cute these little things are, which their little pink and violet blossoms and their fuzzy leaves.
Three, I like feeding bees.
That’s why my lawn is always a mess in the early spring. I refuse to go out with the riding lawnmower for some time, because I know there are hungry little critters who get a good start by having blossoms and green edibles. I find that beautiful.
So yes, I know some will look at my acre plot with disdain for my lack of manicured grass. They will see ugly chaos where I see a bee’s first pollen meal. I see feed for insects and birds, nibbles for rabbits and squirrels, grazing for box turtles and deer. I see a variety of insects that bring dragonflies, mantises, ladybugs, turkeys, toads, and birds.
Also, I have far better things to spend my money on than grass seed, weed killer, and sprinklers.
Enough on me waxing poetic on nature, though. It gives me a little peace when humanity is being absurd.
Now, on writing original plot…
Recently, someone in my writing group said they wanted to write something, but surely it’s been done before, so they didn’t want to bother.
Look here, my feathery friends. I want your version of that story.
Because, yes, it’s true that everything has been done before. Plotlines can be summed up in a few different types. Your story will get labeled with genres, if it’s hero’s journey, character types, where climax should happen, and all that. You might stress about how to be unique enough.
That’s really simple; you’re writing it, so it’s unique.
During Nanowrimo, I attended a few write-ins, and we talked a bit about book formulas, originality, and story uniqueness. One, a romance writer and reader, noted that they loved cozy mysteries and romances because they wanted that formula. The plot may be the same as hundreds of books, but that’s the charm. We can see clearly that thousands of people agree, because romance novels and cozy mysteries sell.
The plot may be the same and follow a formula, but the characters, scenes, and world build differ, and, most importantly, the author differs. Yes, there is a buttload of pirate romances where the lady falls in love with a roguish captain. Two different authors will go about it differently by giving different nuances to the characters, different progress through the plot points, and different scenery and prose. That’s all that is needed for a romance reader looking for love on the high seas.
That’s easily proven, too. If you give a dozen writers a starting story prompt, scene, and characters, none of them are going to write the same thing. Maybe the same kind of plot, but you’re going to get a different reading experience with each.
So, you do not have to break your brain trying to come up with some sort of new plot type. That’s really not going to happen, and one that goes too far off the rails is not going to leave your reader satisfied. I want to see the way you tell the story. I want to see how richly layered you make those characters. Evoke my emotion. Show me how well you perform your word craft.
Thus, never say “Oh, this has been done, so I better not.” If this is your genre, your niche, your plot playground, and where you heart lands in book-crafting, you are not excluded from that story sandbox. Yes, at this point, we’ve seen many stories where the princess saved the knight or dragon. I’ll happily read a dozen more. Get in that sandbox and get your hands dirty. I want to see what your castle looks like.
Write like you, corvids. That’s what makes your story unique.
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