August 10, 2011

Day 10 {answers}

For those of you questioning the silliness of todays challenge. The reason for me posting this question is a combination of:
- curiosity (I want to hear your answers)
- I liked it
- lack of a better subject





Day 10 - Your answer to, "What is the most important thing I should know about writing".

Although I have several answer to this one question I will just pick one.

(I can hear you sighs of relief through the computer. No I'm not offended. ☺)

The most important thing you should know about writing is that what ever you write you should try to make it original. Originality is an extremely important aspect in writing.

I've read a couple books out there that sounded so much like other books I've read, it ruined the book as a whole. The writer may have had amazing writing style but hearing a similar story from someone different ruined the book for me.

But what about you? I'm really excited to hear your answers, ever if it's just a comment.



2 comments:

Elspeth said...

Good point. Originality is important. However, sometimes it's unavoidable- you may not have read the same books your reader has, and therefore have no idea someone beat you to the punch.

But I agree. I've read a few where it's obvious the author read the "other book". I think of a series where every character name was intentionally ripped from an Austen novel. *grumblegrowl*

Be original. Please. :-)

Jenny Freitag said...

As I do not desire to devote an entire blog post to this subject of originality just at this moment, I will sum up my feelings with a quote by C.S. Lewis.

"Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it."

It depends on why you write. Secondarily, I write to tell a story. Primarily, I write to tell the truth. Rarely - if I may say so, never - are they disconnected from each other. But the point of my writing is not foremostly to be original (a man will go mad, trying to be that, and in his madness be like one of thousands who have gone mad already) but to tell a story of truth. Perhaps they are not true stories, but at least they are stories of truth. Truth has many facets, and many have explored the same ones (hence the apparent lack of originality) but the hues of her are so widely different that, quite accidentally, a writer's work seems original when he depicts her.

Originality, I believe, is in many ways the sort of thing you hit somewhat by accident, and see out of the corner of your eye.