What is Originality?
April 1st, 2009 by Donald Maass
Please welcome agent and new contributor Donald Maass to Writer Unboxed. This is his first post.
Is there such a thing as a bad premise for a story? Without a doubt some story ideas feel familiar. Bandwagon syndrome pretty much guarantees that something successful will soon have imitators. If the imitators are successful you can count on a trend. If a trend lasts then you can put money on it: that kind of story within a few years will be done to death.
Then again, can we say that whodunits have been done to death? Love conquers all? Save the world? No, these story patterns are durable. They are durable because they are flexible. There are thousands of ways to figure out whodunit. True love has infinite obstacles. The world always needs saving, too, and in different ways in every new decade.
Originality comes not from your genre, setting, plot, characters, voice or any other element on which we can work. It cannot. It isn’t possible. Originality can come only from what you bring of yourself to your story. In other words, originality is not a function of your novel; it is a quality in you.
Where so many manuscripts go wrong is that if they do not outright imitate, they at least do not go far enough in mining the author’s experience for what is distinctive and personal. So many manuscripts feel safe. They do not force me to see the world through a different lens. They enact the author’s concept of what their novel should feel like to read rather than what their inner storyteller urgently needs to say.
Finding the power buried in your novel is not about finding its theme. I would say, rather, that it is about finding you: your eyes, experience, understanding and compassion. Ignore yourself and your story will be weak. Embrace the importance of what you have to share with the rest of us and you have the beginning of what makes novels great.
Excerpt from The Fire in Fiction: Passion, Purpose and Techniques to Make Your Novel Great by Donald Maass (Writers Digest Books, May 2009).
17 Responses to “What is Originality?”
Mr. Maass, welcome to WU. Looking forward to hearing from you often. Your books are on the shelf above my computer. They’re the ones without dust on the covers.
You’ve given me something new to obsess over as I return to my WIP. Hmmm. Methinks I need to dig deeper. Thank you!
Great post and all very true. The great authors are like great directors: auteurs.
Wow, that brings a whole another element to the writing process.
But, my motto has always been, ‘make them laugh, make them cry, make them think.’
Since I have your other books, I’ll be adding your new one to my bookshelf.
Great excerpt! I’ll be adding this to my bookshelf, too.
I am digging deeper and bringing more of myself into my books. I think it’s making a big difference.
Welcome, Mr. Maass! I confess I have your books too and can’t wait to get my hands on the new one.
Can I say it again?–I love WriterUnboxed!
Oooooh. Now that’s a fearful and exciting challenge to lay before an author!
I’m off to find myself in my WIP….
Wow, thank you and welcome to WU!
This reminds me of a few questions I formulated for myself last week:
Am I writing “the story I want to tell” or “the story people want to read”? Which should I be writing? (Isn’t there a middle ground?)
Without intending to, I think you’ve given me some answers. Thanks!
Welcome Donald! I’m so excited that we’ll get to read your wisdom on a regular basis.
Welcome Donald!
What a great post. I think we’ll all be pondering our WIP’s tonight.
C.S. You can never say it enough for us. :-)
Welcome! And a wonderful post that definitely gives us all something to think about. I’ve had the good fortune of attending a number of your workshops over the years at the Surrey International Writers Conference, so if your latest book is as insightful as your seminars, it’ll definitely be worth picking up!
Looking forward to reading future posts from you. Thank you!
Okay, I remember sitting in one of your workshops and you told us to throw up a bunch of pages from our manuscript and pick one off the floor at random to see if there was conflict. Do I have to do this again?? I ended up throwing OUT 125 pages. I have to admit, it did make it stronger.
Seriously, like the other commentators, I will have to definitely dig deeper. And like them, I will add this new book to my craft shelf.
Thanks for sharing your expertise.
What an inspiring post! Thank you for this, you’ve given me so much to ponder… what other depths can I embed into my manscript? Hm. Thank you.
We’re all peddling what we hope will the Next Big Thing-whether we’re the writers or the agents. Unfortunately, for the break-out novelists, being orignial is tantamount to risk.
Agents have told me they don’t know enough about the subject I’ve written about, or don’t think my novel is a “good fit” or “match” for them. As a writer, I find the crippling conservatism with respect to Literary Agents disheartening.
True and succinct.
To the poster above. Some of us are not peddling what we hope will be the next big thing. Tell the story that means the most to you and tell it as well as you can. Get right down into it. Then polish and refine it.
Cheers!
I’m very happy that you have joined Writer Unboxed! I attended one of your workshops and it gave me everything I needed at that moment to progress in my writing. Reading your post was exactly what I needed now–to trust myself that I have something to give. I was struggling with my main character as she was written; I was afraid to come “out of the box” with her yet I knew within myself she needed to to be stronger. Writer Unboxed is a terrific source, as those interviewed are generous with their tips and stories. Your addition to the site is fantastic, as your guidance rouses my muse.
Donald Maass possesses the extraordinary ability to communicate exactly what writers need to know. Now if I can just hone my ability to apply what he conveys…. :)