Why you should stop lollygagging and start writing

Just something I wanted to share with ya'll:

If you don't do it, someone else will.

True story: As a teenager (in about 1995 or so), I came up with an idea for a character whose power was that he could open magic portals from one place to another. I had a story for him and everything. But I sat on it, and never really did anything besides dream up ideas.

Now I kinda want to tell his story, but there's a problem: Valve created a little game called Portal, and I can already tell you that every person in the world will read the character and believe I was inspired by Valve's game (which I have, in fact, never played).

And this in general is a problem. Ideas that seem fresh now will be passe in ten, maybe even five, years. I remember a time when poking fun at cliches and genre conventions was actually clever and unique, but now, it would actually be more original not to do that. So you better hurry up and get your ideas out there before they go stale.

Those of you who are just blandly ripping off your favorite anime or book can take your time, of course, but the rest of you, hustle!

Just thought I'd share that. Ja.

Won't someone "steal your idea" and "take credit for originality" if you don't do something like publish it/put it up as fanfiction/whatever place people will actually bother to see it?

I have the opposite problem. I hate you Alan Moore.

Easier said than done.

Meh. :/

Who cares? You can use the exact same tropes and STILL write it completely differently...

...also, I doubt Portal had the first use of portals.

Everybody's had this before, where they had an idea and then someone else comes out with something similar, and they say to themselves "Shit! That should be me with all the money, and sexy cars and fast women. If only I haven't been sitting on my bum eating cheetos and playing halo." So get writing.

I'd say you should get writing because it's never going to get written otherwise.

Seriously, far too many people seem to think the inspiration fairy is just going to pay them a visit and there'll be a completed copy under their pillow in the morning.

Or at least that they'll just write it all in one day, when inspiration strikes.

Which is equally ridiculous.

My inspiration fairy — or, rather, inspiration goddess — tells me that I have everything I need except sufficient application of effort. I agree.

I had this with an idea. I had a neat magic system for my healers worked out, and then I read some unpublished but awesome writing that had the same sort of mechanic. Oh well.

Magic systems tend to borrow from each other a bit anyways. My main magic system is basically from Mahou Sensei Negima without the activation keys, with some additional magic users based off of Harry Potter and Naruto.

Originality is overrated. The most unoriginal idea can be a great novel if it does it well.

Which is dangerously self-destructive thinking.

"Hey, this other guy had the same idea as me, but he did it far better. So why should I even bother?"

Not to mention, "doing it well" is such a generic goal that its a virtually meaningless one. It's sort of like the old adage "it's not whether you win or lose, its how you play the game." The adage ultimately rings hollow because the only objective merit by which you have to judge "how you play" is your victory stats, so it goes against all rational thinking to believe you can "play well" and still lose the majority of games.

Yes, an idea can still be good even if its been used before, but its hard to see value in a work that doesn't bring something different to the table.

The upswing is that its not really that hard to be different, either. Both Saint Seiya and Ronin Warriors are about guys with magical suits of armor, and have some recognizable similarities right off the bat, but Ronin Warriors quickly evolves into something that has basically nothing in common with Saint Seiya besides the armor concept, thus both are worth watching (by contrast though, there's not much reason to watch Challenge of the Gobots if you've already seen The Transformers.)

edited 23rd Feb '11 2:06:11 AM by MoeDantes

God, I have to start writing somehow. I have all sorts of ideas and a ginormous character sheet longer than at least half the tropes on this wiki (I just counted; about 18,700 words that I wrote). But my plot isn't detailed enough to carry them all.

And before I know it, someone come up with my idea and use it before me.

edited 23rd Feb '11 7:29:35 AM by CrystalGlacia

I write. Slowly but surely, I write. Right now, I have 45 pages completed. That doesn't seem like a lot, but it's a better start than I ever had.

"Seriously, far too many people seem to think the inspiration fairy is just going to pay them a visit and there'll be a completed copy under their pillow in the morning.

Or at least that they'll just write it all in one day, when inspiration strikes."

I've learnt that this is mostly true for me. The flipside? If I'm not inspired, I can't write the thing, even if I have it all planned out. I've done a lot of work to figure out how to set off my inspiration, because that's the only way I can write.

@Moe Dantes: I think you're missing the point, in that much successful fiction isn't all that original in broad concept, especially not in its component parts. Thus, I think, beginning writers are making a mistake in rating originality so high in their priorities, and I think it comes from insecurity — if their fiction isn't like others, it's harder to compare it, and it's an easier metric than others.

The vast majority of readers won't care one bit if your magic system is a bit like others', for instance.

Has anyone thought that maybe great minds think alike? If two people come up with the exact same recipe for cornbread on their own, are they copying each other? Does this mean that they can't use that recipe of cornbread?

Look at it this way. If someone has the same idea you have, but they don't have the time or energy or inspiration to sit down and put it on paper, then that cuts down on your competition.

Or look at it this way. The odds are pretty good that you'll never become a full-time writer, so there's no pressure. Writing is just a hobby for most of us.

Or look at it this way. If someone "stole" your idea, you've still gotten some good practice. You'll be that much more prepared when the next idea strikes.

I think the very site we're on exists to document that fiction largely consists of a shared body of ideas, rather than uniqueness. And that that's OK.

''Traveling'' works exactly like portals and predates both you AND the game. Not that it's a big deal. On the other hand, Brandon Sanderson has written something that I wanted to write (and even included a completely out-of-place monologoue about originality just to taunt me about he I'll NEVR be able to sue him for Telepathy-aided copyright infringement), but I believe that this actually will help mature the idea.

edited 23rd Feb '11 3:35:25 PM by Theram

I have this problem with some people I know the first group is the "I never wrote my idea down, and now X is famous off something I thought of first."

To which I usually reply "You realize someone problem though of it 20 years before you, and finished it and failed to get in anywhere, right?"

The other group is I had an idea but X did it first so I'm going to give up. I had a plot which was very much like Never Where by Neil Gaimen even though I'd never read Never Where ( I still haven't) . To which I replied. "Fuck him, I'll write a better book , and compare stories after I'm finished."

On a side note:

"you've heard of Portal right?" "Isn't that that game where you only have a wand of Dimension Door? "

edited 24th Feb '11 3:24:34 AM by Vyctornian

See, this is all kinda beside the point though.

The point is, I see a lot of people who are asking for criticism, asking questions about their concepts etc. And, I know from experience: This is you making an excuse not to write.

I was hoping to kick a few people out of that, by showing them "look, if you don't do it, someone else will."

Hopefully I've succeeded with at least one reader.

I dunno, if Avatar has shown us anything, no matter how many people have done it, you can too.

The point is, I see a lot of people who are asking for criticism, asking questions about their concepts etc. And, I know from experience: This is you making an excuse not to write. - Moe Dantes

No, this is people asking for assistance so they don't get lost in Sturgeon's Law and try to publish crap they never vented. Seriously if you do nothing but writing you will never build up a good base, good books and stories aren't written over night House Of Leaves took 10 years to write.

It's good to create a base, get critique, maybe get a beta-reader/ pre-reader or two. That way once you do have everything set you'll be able to make sure it isn't crap.

Like I've said before all Portal is, is one Dn D spell given it's own game.

http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Dimension_Door

edited 24th Feb '11 3:43:05 AM by Vyctornian