As I got ready to write this,I suddenly heard Weird Al’s Dare to be Stupid song in my head!
Publishers and producers are looking for one thing – The same as, but different.
What does that mean?
There’s been a million westerns. If you can produce something like Louis L’Amour, then you’re gold. You’re creating something that’s tried and true.
But you have to be different about it.
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In the 70’s, we began to see people rip off Tolkien. Literally, people were writing books where “let’s see, Chapter seven is Rivendell, so I’ve got to have my characters get to a council meeting in a safe haven in chapter seven.”
That’s essentially plagiarism.
If you want to write some kind of book in that genre, be different. People expect the elves and dwarves and etc. So give them that. Talking and walking trees… sure.
But don’t write an outline of The Two Towers and change names and places. Like one trilogy that sold well in the 80’s did (replacing the “ring of power” with “the sword of truth”).
Be different in it.
Make it guarding a location!
Or protecting a person.
Or guarding a book.
Don’t steal from someone else.
Be different.
Every story starts with, “what if…” or “once upon a time…”
I mean, if you want dwarves and elves, okay. Write that. Dragons? Sure. Some kind of embodiment of evil? Yes.
But create your OWN plot. How can you be different with it?
how can you change it?
Maybe have the dragons help?
Maybe add unicorns? Or Minotaur? Cyclops that guard the kingdom of Faeries?
A talking rock that dispenses secret knowledge?
What if your plot is a special scroll that must be delivered to the place of power, and it will restore the worlds?
The point is – be creative.
Be different.
write your own story within the genre.
Don’t rip off Heinlein, Clarke, Christie, Tolkien, Rowling, L’Amour, Herbert, etc.
Identify your genre.
Then come up with new ideas.
Enjoy it.
Take your time with it.
Embellish it in your own way.
if you found you just stuck your version of weathertop in it, move it to a temp folder in Scrivener where it won’t show up when you print it. That way, if your publisher says, “You need a weathertop in there”, you can produce it on the spot.
But tell your publisher you’re not trying to re-write Lord of the Rings.
You’re trying to write your own book.
