I struggle with imagining my own creations

[UltimaBahamut93]

When I am thinking about characters, places, things, etc. I find it so difficult, if not entirely impossible, to imagine truly original designs. If I am creating a character, my mind goes to whatever character in fiction they would mostly resemble and then that becomes the mental image that gets stuck. This expands to locations, weapons, armor, cozy cottage interiors and everything else. I know every writer at some point faces the dreaded, "Is my story (idea) too similar to X?" but with me I feel fraudulent by basically stealing other designs. I know that nothing is truly original and that we all base things on other created works and use things for inspiration, but I'm not happy with how I do it.

I feel like the best thing to do would be to take the design and tweak it into something more original but for whatever reason that is such a difficult concept to me. It sounds almost silly but I have a hard time imagining the appearances of things mentally. So add on the idea of imagining something original and unique and it feels like trying to imagine a new color. I'm curious if anyone else has this issue?

 

[Queshire]

Yeah, I get that a lot. I mostly try to smash it up with other cool stuff to try and move away from that.

 

[Penpilot]

Everything is base on something else., consciously or unconsciously.

I used to worry about similar things, but after years of fighting it, I eventually said F it and decided to lean right into it with my story. And as things started to unfold on the page, I'd start to think up ways to make those elements my own. This happens every single time.

The key is to get the ball rolling. As the story unfolds, I encounter decision points, where I'll deviate a little or a lot, and by the time I reach the end, things are mine.

At the end of the day, I don't worry about it anymore. I just focus on writing a good story and wherever the chips fall they fall.

 

[Finchbearer]

I don’t think of character as designs. Perhaps I think of the story I want to tell and what character I want to write, then they gradually come to life in my minds eye. Their personality also dictates their physical appearance too. Do I want them to be contrary, or defiant, or shy, or determined etc and I go from there. Obviously that’s a basic overview, because characters need to be complex, especially if you’re writing a character led story.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

Writing is hard. There is really not much about this profession that isn't. It's a long, hard, slog that can take years, for some decades, and can change dramatically over time and with living and experience.

I'm a bit of a Pinterest junkie. I used to be a graphic artist, long enough ago that those college credits can now run for Congress. (Not really. But I do like the line. ) Our Urban Fantasy series is a multigenerational family saga and will be a long-running series. So, as Team Lowan's drafter - there are three of us collaborating - I have over 500 idiots living rent-free in my head. That's just the named characters, and that's what happens when your Urban Fantasy Thriller takes that hard left at Alburquerque and next thing you know there are oh, so many smoochies and babies for days. One can lead to the other, you know.

Looking over your original post and the words you're using - one picks up close reading along the way and it's an important skill to possess - are giving me heavy vibes of, "This is too hard." "It's so difficult." And yes, it is. Writing is hard work, and that's just the creative work. The publishing end is sheer insanity. But, for today it's just writing.

"Can someone make this easier on me?" "There's got to be a easier way." No, there isn't. There is no comfortable, easy path, here. There is only your way. Your process. Why is it hard? Because worthwhile things often are. Because writing reopens wounds so we can bleed words on our screens and pretty notebooks. It's hard because it's supposed to be.

If it were easy, everyone would do it. But, pain heals, chicks dig scars, glory - and such glory! - lasts forever. Words on paper, in files, on the Cloud, offering solace of touch even just in our imaginations, pieces of your soul backed up and waiting for the next Terrible Thing, all of it is immortality.

And that was a very long-winded - but so me! - way to say I usually have the characters in mind, some basic thoughts on appearance, on their personality, upbringing, all that but at this point it's just the notes. Then, I go looking for faces. Rarely, I'll find a picture first. Those tend to get notes like, "WHO THE HECK IS THIS???" And then I wait. They show, eventually. As for everyone else, their character pics now serve to keep my descriptions consistent and avoid continuity errors and name duplications.


This is Judgey Writer Baby. She knows. She has zero sympathy, but she knows.

 

[pmmg]

One of the rare instances where I think more playing an RPG with a face to face group might help.

 

[Mad Swede]

To be quite frank you're worrying about the wrong things. Normally I tell people to read for sheer enjoyment rather than with a critical eye, but here I am going to make an exception.

If you haven't already got it buy a copy of David (and Leigh) Eddings' The Belgariad. If you've never read it, read the story the whole way through for pleasure. Now go back to the beginning and this time read it with a critical eye. Think carefully about what in the story is original and what it is that makes the story so very readable and enjoyable. The answer may surprise you.

Then think about how this applies to your own work. I think you'll find that the key to a good story isn't in some original design (although that can play a part), it lies in characterisation and dialogue. And those things are mostly about your powers of observation - of people.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

One of the rare instances where I think more playing an RPG with a face to face group might help.t

I know it works for us. Team Lowan was birthed by a roll play AU with all of our characters and the character development has just been nothing short of explosive. I totally recommend RP for character and world building, even if just by yourself.

To be quite frank you're worrying about the wrong things. Normally I tell people to read for sheer enjoyment rather than with a critical eye, but here I am going to make an exception.

If you haven't already got it buy a copy of David (and Leigh) Eddings' The Belgariad. If you've never read it, read the story the whole way through for pleasure. Now go back to the beginning and this time read it with a critical eye. Think carefully about what in the story is original and what it is that makes the story so very readable and enjoyable. The answer may surprise you.

Then think about how this applies to your own work. I think you'll find that the key to a good story isn't in some original design (although that can play a part), it lies in characterisation and dialogue. And those things are mostly about your powers of observation - of people.

Excellent advice. Totally second it. This, Literary Criticism, is the big reason it took me so long to leave college. The different ways of examining works is as fascinating for their ideas and interpretations as they are for the intricate, convoluted bullshit they bound and sent to the dissertation committee. Personally, I think a lot of the academic options in Lang and Lit are more than a little masturbatory, papers and articles running through the same hoops in the same circles. But, even with being a very silly place, we're given the gift of depth of thought. Of learning to do more with literature than drool on it on our desks the night before it's due. There will be plenty of drooling in college, no worries. Right now, like Mad Swede said, you've got to learn how to take the stories you read and turn them into textbooks. Your own, personal Creative Writing program. It will make you a stronger writer. Promise.

Oh, and what was it that eventually pushed me toward a different, but weirdly similar, path? I couldn't read like a normal person, anymore. My reading speed slowed dramatically. And my mentor confessed that she'd had that, too. Never got it back.

So I went home.

 

[skip.knox]

You feel fraudulent. Sure. That's pretty common, and not only with artists. So, just accept that as a feeling you're going to feel. The feeling isn't really related to the product.

If you're worried about the product, the first thing I would ask is this: have you shown your writing to other people? What do they have to say about it? Do they notice (and criticize) the same things you are noticing and criticizing about yourself?

Either way, your goal is not to let it stop you or even sidetrack you. If it's your own voice, find ways to silence it or somehow get past it. I have never been able to silence the Voice, but I have learned to let it yammer on, learned to let my heart fail and stammer yet keep on somehow. Your task is to find your own way through. And if it is others who say these things (unoriginal, etc.), then listen carefully and think cautiously. Are they versed in the genre? Do they understand the sort of story you're writing? You don't want a jazz music critic to give you feedback on your EDM mix. And if they are in fact within the family, then pay attention and address the specific issues they raise.

But feelings? Feelings may start books and they may get you through a patch or two, but they are notoriously unable to finish the job.

 

[Incanus]

I struggled with the question of being original for quite a while as well. You are in good company here.

The more I've produced, the more this feeling has faded into the background. But for many years, I couldn't find a plot that I liked for a writing a novel. I had a hard time trying to be enthusiastic about something like - 'group of heroes goes in quest of magical crystals to save the kingdom/world'. It sounds so much like a cheesy video game, or some generic watered-down fantasy novel.

I assume the plot for my current novel may not be exactly new, but I can't think of any direct comparison to any one thing.

I think originality in writing a novel comes more from unique and custom combinations of familiar things, rather than from re-inventing the wheel from scratch.

Hang in there! If you stick it out, chances are good you'll find enough neat ideas to keep you enthralled.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

I struggled with the question of being original for quite a while as well. You are in good company here.

The more I've produced, the more this feeling has faded into the background. But for many years, I couldn't find a plot that I liked for a writing a novel. I had a hard time trying to be enthusiastic about something like - 'group of heroes goes in quest of magical crystals to save the kingdom/world'. It sounds so much like a cheesy video game, or some generic watered-down fantasy novel.

I assume the plot for my current novel may not be exactly new, but I can't think of any direct comparison to any one thing.

I think originality in writing a novel comes more from unique and custom combinations of familiar things, rather than from re-inventing the wheel from scratch.

Hang in there! If you stick it out, chances are good you'll find enough neat ideas to keep you enthralled.

So much yes, here. Contrary to what even I've said many times, it occurred to me just now that I've been wrong. There are original and unique ideas and plots. All of them. And it's for the very same reason that having no original ideas is not a problem: every writer is original and unique. Every writer brings their own voices, their histories, their hopes for the future, and all of it culminates in something truly beautiful.

Your story.