Originality is an illusion

You might have heard that there’s only 7 basic plots, and that every type of story has been told, every type of character is just a rehash of another, and every fantasy world is just a rip-off of Lord of the Rings, and every story about spaceships is just a rip-off of Star Trek. Essentially…

Nothing is original any more

We recently posted an article by Steven Savage discussing the worries of originality, and essentially there’s only one thing to do about it…

Don’t worry

That’s right don’t worry. Worry might put a stop to your amazing idea, which is going to blossom into a brilliant and complex creative story. Don’t let that happen, just enjoy yourself!

Everything IS original in its own way

So you’ve created a game set in a Fantasy world. There’s elements that are similar to Lord of the Rings, sure. But there’s always one thing that’ll make it unique. You are writing the story. Sure, it might have some parallels with another story, but you’ve got chance to affect the story yourself and write unique stuff about your own character’s actions.

So you’ve created a game about people living on a spaceship visiting different planets, and you’re worried it’s too similar to Star Trek. You’re already making it original by writing it from the point of view of your character. Even if you match every plot in every Star Trek episode it’ll still be different because you’re in control, bringing your own originality through your own characters.

Top image is by Rudy Rucker.