/lit/ - Literature

You probably watch/read too much. Experience more, and you'll find unique people if you're lucky. Not many interesting unique people left. Also archetypes are a thing for a reason, they exist.

>>22826130
What does "original" mean? For me everything original I see or create are mix and match of other things, and if you are lucky you can see something random on lower level that people can randomize. Like there's a fantasy hero character, but we make him like Tony Montana. He is fighting a monster, but monsters are all exhausted and unoriginal, so we randomize it and now it has sixlimbs with mouths on them.

>>22826139
>You probably watch/read too much.
No I don't read much of anything. I haven't consumed a ton of media.

There are two key facts you need to understand, I think: first is that "everything is derivative," and second is "what you consider obvious is not necessarily obvious to other people."

For the first aphorism, don't take it autisticly and try to trace the roots of everything. Rather, understand that what your favorite authors are skilled at is cloaking or twisting their inspiration, or otherwise drawing from lesser known sources. (To some extent, as the other anon says, they base things on their own life experiences). Given your OP image I presume you like Made in Abyss -- it would be completely fine for you to write your own story about an abyss. MiA author is drawing clear inspiration from all sorts of popular concepts when it comes to the abyss (Dante's Inferno would be the most /lit/ core). The question is just how skilled you are at cloaking it. I might recommend reading atl east the first book of the Wheel of Time; if you pay even a bit of attention, you see that the work is all about ideas being recycled endlessly across the fabric of the world, but since each weaving there is different nuance, the ideas remain appealing. In short: "Trying to create a story from 0 is impossibly hard. Draw from what you know, like everyone does, just put your own spin on it and don't take it 1:1."

Second aphorism - it's completely obvious that something you would consider natural/trivial/etc would not necessarily be the case to someone else. For example, you could write the most insipid mystery from your perspective, and completely boggle everyone else's minds. (See: Gene Wolfe's Suzanne Delage.) You have to escape the infinite logic loop of "This is obvious/not creative to me, so it will be obvious / not creative to everyone." In reality, a lot of famous Japanese works of writing (I'll be lowbrow and say Goblin Slayer / The Saga of Tanya the Evil) were originally of all things random web novel shitposts the authors shat out for memes on their respective text boards, as I recall. If you asked them when they started how creative or original they found their works, they would probably say not at all. And yet, they have been enjoyed by millions. Why is that? Because it's only when you put yourself out into the world that you realize how "unique" you really are. (Of course, a degree of raw writing skill is necessary, "gimmicks" to draw and attract attention, but your ideas are likely more surprising to other people than you think).

And finally:
>or really anything original came from the most sheer luck.
Watch this video from David Lynch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2RFMCmfRmc
Ideas always come to people by serendipitous chance. What you need to do is pay close attention to your mind, note when ideas occur by chance, write them down, then elaborate on them later. LITERALLY nobody is an idea factory with constant inspiration.

>>22826130
Bot thread, everyone. This guy posted the exact same prompt and gif 4 days ago

>>22826176
Oh lord, that's bad. The more media consume, the more you have to draw from, and the more your writing improves (since you're seeing new patterns in text and new words/etc). Stephen King says that to be a good writer, you need to read a lot and write a lot. Start reading a lot as soon as you can.

>>22826196
I can't consume moat media either because my attention span is too short, my ADHD doesn't let me, or because most of it is garbage.

>>22826196
I have constant brain fog outside of very few times in which my adderall gives me minor clarity. My mind for the most part is meaningless gobbledygook bullshit and the only things I can think up are usually half-assed. Any good ideas for characters and stories that I might have are either impossible for me to draw or write about.

>>22826130
Stories are boring focus on the tone and mood instead.

>>22826364
I want to make an actual story.

>>22826604
story? or characters? they're different things. same as location and themes.

>>22826607
Both

>>22826615
for characters if you want to create something interesting base them off of you. base your antagonist off of the worst parts of you and sprinkle in the best parts too. make the protagonist based off of someone you don't get along with. that'll force you to be creative.

>>22826191
Wonderfully put. I'd also say that in writing, it's important to be playful. Have fun in writing. Don't be afraid to tackle "silly" writing ideas. If you're not writing out of enjoyment or "intellectual stimulation" or whatever, why do you write then?
Just a personal anecdote, but I find that the stories that I have written anonymously are much better in quality, and much more enjoyable to write than those that I have written under my name.

there’s nothing wrong with a derivative work if you enjoy making it, or someone enjoys consuming it

>>22826643
I feel like I have nothing inside of me to actually express.

Just write!

>>22826666
That doesn't work for me.

>>22826664
that's good theme. write about that.

>>22826334
You don't have ADHD, you're a child of the 21st century and are simply abusing your brain.

>>22826130
Nothing new under the sun, just start writing.

>>22826130
anything you could ever possibly write will fall into the seven basic story plots and will obey the rule of three and there's nothing you can do to change that. just embrace it and lean into it.

>>22826699
>doesn't know about the secret 8th story plot

>>22826130
You focus on 2 things and only 2 things
Theme and character
And in reality these are more like 1 interchangeable thing as you will come to learn
Because story is primarily driven by how characters relate to the themes
Very simple example
The theme is love
One character believes true love is real
The other does not
That is your guaranteed engine for conflict and conflict is your guaranteed engine for story
Now how do you make it original? Just use a theme that has rarely been used recently or combine multiple rarely used themes. But better is to forget that and use a theme that is more familiar or attractive to your own identity. That will make it much easier for you to write it and be motivated to write it and the audience can always sense the authenticity in these things. More complex themes don't necessarily equal a better story.

>>22826334
Symptoms of adhd can wary, I have adhd myself and I can tell you it helps me with coming up with new ideas more than anything. My recommendation is to unironcially overload yourself with information, try to find some sort of hyper fixation and then do the standard practice of attempting to live an interesting life, your constantly racing scatter brain will come up with all sorts of creative things. ADHD is very debilitating for many parts of my life and actually getting myself to write is also a huge struggle, but the ideas I get from it are immense.

>>22826191
best advice out there, also reconciles with everything ive heard other creatives say. specifically psychicpebbles talking about making smiling friends, they have a really interesting process and awareness of their inspirations. would recc listening to the create unknown eps

>>22826130
Everyone is inspired by something and/or someone else, even if they refuse to admit it. We've been copying the same stories over and over again for thousands of years now. The only shame to be found in your copy is having nothing to say, and not having anything to bring along with your perspective on life. If you're worried about whether or not what you're writing is just a copy, then you've already adopted the wrong mindset.

>>22826130
>sing, nothing. Am I just fucked or what? Becaus
You should watch fewer Chinese cartoons and read more classic books.

Bump

>>22826130
Remember, Fifty Shades of Gray was based on Twilight fanfiction and I'll be damned if Twilight wasn't a fanfiction of something else.

Here's an exercise--just write a story that uses other characters, and name them, even if it doesn't make sense for all of them to be in the same universe. Then tweak some personality traits and rename them to the point where it wouldn't be obvious. Congratulations, original work.

>>22826130
Wander-wonder