Is it difficult to write a original story without copying other's idea?

[Kamelingil]

There has been so many stories that exists and it's pretty getting difficult to write a original story without copying one's plot from the other. But is it difficult to write a story that is very original and a story that haven't existed yet?

Because I can't think of any ideas other than the stories that I have read before and thought of making it an inspiration but it's just plain copycat...

 

[RepresentingWrath]

Why do you even need to write an original story? What's the appeal?

 

[Kamelingil]

Why do you even need to write an original story? What's the appeal?

Nothing, I just feel like I'm ripping off someone's work.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

Nothing, I just feel like I'm ripping off someone's work.

So what? Rip off all you want. Make sure your work is good, that's all you need to worry about.

 

[Representing_Tromba]

Everyone rips off someone when writing. Just write as you see fit. So long as it isn't purposeful then it should be fine.

 

[MatchaChocolate69]

There has been so many stories that exists and it's pretty getting difficult to write a original story without copying one's plot from the other. But is it difficult to write a story that is very original and a story that haven't existed yet?

Because I can't think of any ideas other than the stories that I have read before and thought of making it an inspiration but it's just plain copycat...

Even the same story, written by different people, turns out differently. Don't seek originality (a chimera), but aim to express yourself.

 

[Kamelingil]

Everyone rips off someone when writing. Just write as you see fit. So long as it isn't purposeful then it should be fine.

Oh ok then

 

[LilRora]

Virtually any story you'll find has elements copied from other stories. The question is how much. The less you copy from someone else, the more difficult it is to write since you have to come up with all that stuff and make sure it's all believable and consistent.

To some degree, copying is a good thing. Just make sure you're not blatantly ripping off a story, and you're fine.

 

[Lloyd]

You will always be ripping off someone else. You are only human.

 

[CheertheSecond]

I have never thought that it would be difficult to make an original story.

Don't you feel that some stories out there are just too repetitive? Don't you feel that some of the characters' actions were illogical? Don't you feel that there are areas that can be improved? Don't you ever imagine the What-if when certain events unfold in a different way?

For me, I had already been frustrated by how the stories I read unfolded. It was so frustrating the way the events happened or how the characters acted or the personalities of the characters themselves. This irritation is what made me to write my own stories.

Moreover, to have creativity you need to know the in and out of something to be creative. This is why writing fanfics and then inspired fics are so important to the development literature. All in all, you need to write. Then develop a desire to write something. Then grow it into writing something for yourself. There are many stages of development after that but those are the beginnings.

 

[Tempokai]

As some wise men said, "there's nothing new under the sun, only market forces". I may or not accidentally combined three or more wise men sayings in here.

 

[TheKillingAlice]

There has been so many stories that exists and it's pretty getting difficult to write a original story without copying one's plot from the other. But is it difficult to write a story that is very original and a story that haven't existed yet?

Because I can't think of any ideas other than the stories that I have read before and thought of making it an inspiration but it's just plain copycat...

I sure can tell you that there's no particular new wheel to be invented anymore. Almost all stories have been told by now and that is okay. The moment you are the one to write it, with your heart and mind in it, it's going to be different from those before you.
I'm not saying you should proactively plagiarize something, but I, too, had to come to the conclusion that similarities to something that came before will be inevitable, no matter what you write.
Just yesterday, I played an old(ish) game for the first time and had to shockingly realize, that a spin off I had planned for one of my current novels is eerily familiar to the premise of that game. But that's just because my lore changes slightly after the events of the main story's climax. It's all still my "original" lore, with monsters I created myself and a world that I set up. The outcome is still samey. But the story won't be, so I just shrugged and that's it. My story is my story.

 

[LillyWhite]

The more you go into original territory, the more niche your novel becomes.

My novel is very original, and very niche, as an example.

All genre tropes are subverted, not even the story tags tell what the story is about, reading it you will realize the tags are ambiguous.

As one reviewer on royalroad once said:

"Its fantasy but not, its isekai but not, its game of thrones but not, its scifi but not, I don't know what this is."

Its isekai but not = the MC is born there, a native, but they have memories of another person, they are theoretically the same person but with a different soul, what makes you, you? This is further diluted when the mc is told that there exist multiple doppelgangers in the same situation.

Its fantasy but not = low fantasy mixed with scifi pov, the mc explains the supernatural phenomena and the presence of espers.

Its game of thrones but not = it contains the intrigue, but the main character does not play the dumb games.

Its scifi but not = here he refers to it being soft scifi, but when reading the above, you realize its not really fantasy nor scifi.

All fantasy tropes go out the window, the mc is not caught unawares and they do not do dumb shit and take precautions over precautions over precautions, the mc even states once 'I am not dumb enough to run into 100 people even if I can kill them all by myself.', while if you look at most powerfantasy protagonists, they will do just that.

 

[ArchlordZero]

Creating a completely original story is like creating a new color, or discovering a virgin island at this day and age.

 

[Shaelitan]

There has been so many stories that exists and it's pretty getting difficult to write a original story without copying one's plot from the other. But is it difficult to write a story that is very original and a story that haven't existed yet?

Because I can't think of any ideas other than the stories that I have read before and thought of making it an inspiration but it's just plain copycat...

I think it changes vastly from person to person. For example, I always have a lot of different ideas that can be turned into stories ; sure they have similarities with existing works, but they're all independent and 'original'. My own problem is turning those ideas and stories into a coherent story line, cause I tend to skip from one interesting scene to another without enough transition.
Moreover, even in the eventuality that they do are really similar to another story, it's never voluntary so I never have the sentiment to 'copy' someone else's work.
But I think the most important thing to remember is that, you can use tropes and themes, even if you've already seen them a thousand times, even you're world and power system can be somewhat uninspired, the important thing is that your characters are your own and that they react to the events you throw at them in their own way. Even if the overall plot seems similar, as long as the minor events are different and the characters react in different ways, it will still feel, if not novel, at least original. For example, if your character faces exactly the same problem or situation as another, as long as they react differently AND the situation devolves in another direction, it's okay.
And also, when you're creating your characters, you can take inspiration from existing works. Frankly speaking, as long as you don't create a carbon copy of a character and place them in a similar setting, anything goes.

In conclusion, if you have a lot of imagination and a lot of ideas, use them. If not, don't be afraid to take inspiration from existing works, as long as you have multiple inspirations. If you take inspiration from a lot of different places and mesh them well to create your own story, I guarantee you that it will feel original to the readers, even if you know that 'this character comes from here' and 'that plot-line comes from there' ... because it will be original as long as you indeed don't outright copy.

 

[Deleted member 68927]

It is impossible. You can make your own twist, but someone has already had the idea you are currently having.

 

[daight]

There's even famous story/artist who had inspiration taken from another's work.

Bleach's soul weapon or whatever they are called are inspired from Inuyasha's weapon.

Itachi/Sasuke from Naruto are inspired from hiei in Yu Yu Hakusho.

and obviously you have all these magical girl stories which are inspired from sailor moon.

There's also power ranger from super Sentai. And also japanese spiderman with his leopardon if you consider adaptations.

lets not forgot the most common and frequent, trolls, orcs, dragons, phoenixes which were the inspirations of many today.

Inspirations are different from copying blatantly.

 

[Dylanslittlehobbies]

I may be a beginner so take what I say with a grain of salt but I say using them as inspiration and building your story off another idea is fine, so long as you are not straight up stealing another content.
my story is inspired by star wars, classic Disney movies, anime I like, and superheroes, all of which I make a lot of fun references to. but I do think my story is unique at least I hope so lol.

 

[Deleted member 84247]

Don't just copy their ideas. Steal their ideas and use them better.

 

[Mortrexo]

It depends on what you consider an original idea.