Try thinking of creativity as a skill that has to be learned. You aren’t born knowing how to speak or walk, those are things you have to learn. The only difference is you’re having to learn an abstract concept instead of a language or motor skills. You already show us you can think creatively:
You just have to put the work into developing your creativity. Go on a hike and take a notebook with you, go to the library and read biographies or books on philosophy, experiment, try cooking something without a recipe, be curious, observe the world around you as much as you can, etc. Take a pocket notebook with you everywhere.
I know it’s easier said than done, but try not to think that way. What would be better is to think of said thing as an x meets y, A Song of Ice and Fire meets Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street for example.
If anything I typed above wasn’t somewhat useful, I hope the link below is.
By experience I usually advice against blogs and books etc ‘teaching’ how to be more creative, as many, unfortunately are complete bollocks.
And @Shoelip as others said, dont worry about “but people will think i’m ripping off etc”
Unless you do make a carbon copy of an existing character and just slap a name on them, you should be fine.
And yeah, your train of though with madame vicd isnt wrong: how could such a character work out elsewhere? How does the society view such character? What are her limitations in a setting, and why. Etc
Nothing you ever write will seem that original in your own eyes, because you know what inspired you, and how it came about. Nobody but you know that, they only see the end result. Your brain will always tell you that you are a copycat.
Hey, there’s nothing wrong with, ‘this thing, but different’. Some really great stories have come out of people going, “this thing, but deconstructed/focusing on different character types/IN SPACE.”
Really, motivation and confidence plays a big part.
I didn’t see many CYOA stories that had protagonists or plots that I really wanted to read about (or read too many time about already), so I went ahead and made them myself and didn’t stop until they were complete and I was satisfied with the result. I still do that to this day when I can.
As far as originality is concerned, I know I’ve been inspired by several different things I’ve read or seen, so it’s going to seep in somehow. (Sometimes intentionally, if I think its a cool line from a movie or something similar) I believe though all of my stories have enough to separate themselves from whatever outside influence may have inspired me and the rest of it is my own creativity at work to make something unique.
Personally I don’t worry about if something is completely original, it just has to be something I’m going to enjoy.
I mean to give an example, Rodger Coreman’s Battle From Beyond the Star is basically Seven Samurai IN SPACE.
So what? I liked the original concept and having a scifi version seems like a cool idea to me.
You can tell me the same story with just a few differences and as long as it was made entertaining enough, I’ll enjoy it.
In any case, story ideas have never been the problem, it’s always been the increasing lack of free time to write and work on the ideas!
Don’t worry about originality. Once you strip a plot down to the bare bones there’s only a handful of them out there. It all comes down to the details and your skill with prose and characters in making it entertaining.
I can’t say I’ve ever struggled with ideas, my problem is usually more the opposite. But when trying to filter out the white noise and pin down an actual concrete plot I tend to start with a setting and decide on a tone and conflict and then assign major character roles before I start thinking of them as characters in and of themselves. It’s a little backwards maybe but I think of it as building the skeleton before adding the flesh and it’s helped me be a lot more productive and organized.
Writing normal linear short stories is great practice too, giving yourself a word limit and trying to fit a complete plot in there forces you to think of a story in terms of its parts. Setting/characters/conflict/climax/denouement all have to be put together like a puzzle.
Read On Writing by Stephen King. His “method” is not for everyone (there’s a reason he’s a multimillionaire and we’re not), but you will definitely be inspired to just sit down and write something, which is the only possible first step. You just gotta let some words come out, see what they are, and go from there. All the technique, planning, and honing the craft can come after that first step, or in later projects.
The big takeaway from that book does apply to everyone:
“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.”
If you don’t know how people come up with ideas, you probably just haven’t given yourself a fair shot at it. Everyone has ideas. Sit down, open up Word, and see what happens.
If you still have a lot of trouble, try a writing prompt.
https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/ - I don’t think these are as good because too many of them try to railroad you into a story the prompter has already thought of.
Others above have said this but not in this simple four-word sentence. We all have different preferences when it comes to learning and mastering something but one constant is that you must practice.
When you first begin, don’t worry about mastering creativity right away, just worry about doing. Once you are constantly “doing” creativity and consistently achieving complete projects (short stories, fan-fictions, personal mods of games, etc) you will find ways of improving your projects and you will pass more milestones.
Don’t be afraid to look at guides and blogs and such but don’t believe they are gospel truth that fits everyone and every circumstance. If something that a more experienced writer/developer says makes sense to you, take that and try to incorporate what you found into your next effort … if it doesn’t work for you, move on from what they said as “not for you” …
My very first effort here led to my contest entry which has led to both a short story and contributions in another work. These last two things are leading me to my next efforts.
Each time I do these things, I am full of self-doubt, worry, anxiety, and self-criticism yet as I continue forward I get more and more comfortable with my creativity and I see it grow as I learn from each thing I finish.
