This week: Something Old, Something New Edited by: Kitti the Red-Nosed Feline  
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Is there nothing new under the sun when it comes to writing? Or can you create something fresh?
This week's Drama Newsletter is all about the old, and the new.
Kitti the Red-Nosed Feline |
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It’s sometimes said that when it comes to writing stories, there’s nothing new under the sun. Every story that can be told has been told. New stories are just retellings of old tales.
I don’t know how true that is, but I guess that sooner or later you do run out of scenarios. Woman and man meet, things go wrong, fortunately they get (back) together in the end. The world is in trouble, and needs a hero/heroine/bunch of people to take on the forces of evil in order to save it. Human being and animal form a close bond, things go wrong, and the ending can be either happy or unhappy but either way, you’ll need to have a hanky at the ready. And so on, and so forth.
There are quite a few modern novels out there about a regular woman who meets a wealthy, arrogant man. Misunderstandings occur. He turns out to actually be okay, and they end up in a relationship. That’s following the same pattern and theme as Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, which was written over 200 years ago. Likewise, vampires first appeared in the 18th century, in poetic form, before Polidori’s The Vampyre, which was published in 1819.
If there’s really nothing new under the sun, then, what can we do to make our work stand out? To add a touch of difference? One option many writers use is to include modern technology. Laptops, smart phones, tablets... they make a difference in many people’s day-to-day lives, so if you’re writing a contemporary piece, they’re likely to make a difference to your characters as well.
We live in a global, multicultural community, and it’s good to have a diverse set of characters to reflect this. Don’t, however, use characters of a different race or background as a prop. Stay clear of stereotypes. Inclusivity is good; a disrespectful portrayal is definitely not good. We’re all people, we’re all human beings, and nobody wants to read about the latest clichéd interpretation of our lived experience.
That goes for race and nationality as well as romantic preferences, transgender characters, and so on. If your female lead has a gay best friend he doesn’t have to be a flamboyant shopaholic who works either in fashion or as a hairdresser. Also, trans men exist. Sadly, they’re underrepresented in published media.
A third way to freshen up your work is to come up with your own inventions, be they technological, supernatural, or an entirely new universe of your own imagination. For one of my own stories, I invented a new creature and I received positive feedback on it (it was a horror story, and the creature was pretty creepy).
The core of our stories may be based on the old, but each of us is different, and that makes the stories we have to tell different. We all infuse our work with our personalities. We all add our very own creative touch.
Don’t give up. You, and I, and everyone is unique. You never know... our own voices may well influence the writers of the future.
Kitti the Red-Nosed Feline
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Some contests to inspire you:
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Wishing you a week filled with inspiration,
The Drama Newsletter Team
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Drama: October 24, 2018 Issue [#9192]
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