There are no original ideas – that statement itself is unoriginal. Nothing will take the wind of out a writer’s sails faster than coming up with an idea– an idea that very well could be “the one,” only to discover a book, TV show, and movie with the exact same premise.
While you never want to copy or produce an identical product, there’s nothing wrong with bringing your idea to life and everything right with it. After all, storytelling is an art. Have you ever heard someone say, “Uh, I’ve already seen a painting with that shade of blue”?
Walk the Walk
There’s an improv exercise that goes a little something like this:
You form a line. The first person walks. The second person imitates the first person’s walk. The third person imitates the second person’s walk and so on. By the time you get to the tenth person it’s a completely different walk.
As in life, when we mimic others we look nothing like the person we’re mimicking. So if two writers have the same premise (by accident) their execution will likely be much different in tone, character, theme, and resolution.
Timing
Pick up a book you read ten years ago and see what registers today. Chances are your 35-year-old self absorbs a few things that your 20-year-old self skimmed right by.
Yes, your audience may have heard your message from someone else in some other time in some other place. But there are people who couldn’t process it at that time and their evolved brains are aching for what you have to say. Yes you. They are meant to hear it in the same way you’re meant to say it, which brings us to…
New Ears
Cartoons haven’t changed much – as far as story goes – so why are such unoriginal characters sweeping toy stores across the nation? What seems boring and overdone to is is fresh and hilarious to a child. That goofy monkey slipping over a banana peel is comedy gold!
The fundamentals will never die and they shouldn’t. The world and the people in it are constantly changing so old messages need new settings and new furry characters for new ears – only then can these messages be delivered at an optimal level.
Telephone
Remember the game Telephone? Someone whispers a sentence in their neighbor’s ear, then that neighbor passes it along to their neighbor and off it goes. The last person in the circle tells everyone what was said to them and laughter ensues. Why? What that person says is usually nothing like what the first person said. This leads us toward two conclusions.
- We’re terrible listeners.
- We hear differently.
What we say and what people hear can be totally different. We’ll never completely know how our message is received so let’s stop assuming everyone thinks just like us. Hiding the message we want to say for fear of sounding trite could do our audience a complete disservice. One man’s Goodwill pile is another man’s treasure.
Your Thumbprint
Spiritual differences aside, most will agree that there are things in this world we cannot see, touch or explain. What if our impulses are larger than ourselves? If you have a creative urge and the need to share it, is it possible that it’s not for you? You’ve been hand-delivered a message and if you throw it away, the person it’s meant for will never receive it. What are we here to do again?
If we all spoke with the same voice and thought the same way our ideas would be just that – the same. But the only way your tribe can receive a message is through the very special way you communicate it. So don’t hold back. There are people, right now, who need to hear your unoriginal, original message.
David L. Hancock, Founder
Morgan James Publishing