Beginner writers always ask: how can I write about something that’s already been written?
What do you do when you want to write about a magical school, but Harry Potter already exists? Or a tournament where kids kill kids but Hunger Games already exists?
The answer is easy. It all lies in the twist.
During the last stream, at the request of several viewers, we did an exercise where we talked about how you can write a story that similar to one that’s already been done.
You can see what we did here,
or scroll down for the quick outline.
#1. It’s important to keep in mind that all stories borrow from stories that came before. If you try to write a truly original story, you will likely end up with weird garbage that no one will like.
#2. Even stories that people compare new books to had predecessors of their own.
- Harry Potter has a school for magical/supernatural kids… but so does X-Men (first published in 1960s), and A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin (published 1968)
- Hunger Games is about government-supported kids-killing-kids… but so is Battle Royale by Koshun Takami (published 1999), and The Lottery by Shirley Jackson (published 1948).
#3. In order to write a story that’s similar to one that’s been done before, you have to twist it.
- For example, here’s some twists on magical schools:
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
– A hard magic system, a magic university, also college loans.
The Magicians by Lev Grossman
– A more “adult” magical school.
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
– Lots of little differences add up to a very different story
- Some easy knobs to twist:
– Twist the audience (Middle Grade, Young Adult, Adult)
– Twist the genre (Fantasy, Sci-fi, Romance, Mystery, Thriller)
– Uncovering what the story is REALLY about, not just surface stuff
What I mean by the last one is make a list of all the elements that make up a story you like, and then find out what parts you want to incorporate into your own.
For example, we had chat vote on a story that we would twist into our own version, and they voted on Batman. There are a lot of elements that go into making Batman, ranging from “vigilante crime fighter” to “a superhero without superpowers” to “iconic villains with sympathetic backstories.”
We took three different elements from Batman and twisted them into our own, completely different stories:
Vigilante crime fighter
A hero who does justice in ways that people don’t want it to be done, essentially the Microsoft Paperclip of superheroes. Such as… somebody trying to get a jar open, then the hero arrives, but the person opens it anyway, the hero says, “I loosened it for you!” They desperately just want to help someone.Iconic villains with sympathetic backstories
The superhero is a unicorn who comes to a dark city because some people in the city have stolen unicorn magic and are using it for their own gain. But as it turns out, the bad guys are all trying to better themselves and/or help their families (just like most criminals IRL). We hear their backstories and feel for them. The unicorn feels conflicted about what to do.Batman joins the criminal underground to reform it from the inside?
A cop who is disillusioned with how their side has been dispensing justice joins the criminals to try and help turn them into a benefit for the society (a “noble mafia” like the traditional Japanese Yakuza).
You can see how each of these stories is quite different from Batman, the original source of the idea, though there are a few lingering elements in each. So if you want to make your own story based on something you like, follow these steps and you’ll be on the right track!
If you want to join us and help write a story by trolling in chat, or share your own writing for feedback, then we’d love to have you. We stream on Twitch every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday at 6:30pm-10:30pm (U.S. Eastern Standard Time).
And you missed the stream, you can still watch them on the YouTube channel or watch the full stream reruns.
Hope to see you next time, friend!
Scott Wilson is the author of the novel Metl: The ANGEL Weapon,
forthcoming March 2019.