Every writer knows the crushing feeling that comes after you’ve explained your next writing project only for someone to respond with, “Oh, so it’s like ___!” It makes you defensive, because you know you came up with that idea on your own, right? There’s no way someone else had the exact same idea as you before, right?
Here’s the thing: nothing is original anymore. Every piece of media is inspired by something else, but I’m sure you know that already. There’s no avoiding it, and I’ve been through it countless times before. One of my favorite authors is Tui T. Sutherland, who wrote the Wings of Fire series. There were pieces of her books that greatly inspired the worldbuilding in my novel and the sequels-to-come, but I began to notice something strange. I would be writing a plot point in Escapade and when Tui’s newest Wings of Fire book came out I would read it immediately, only to find that the very plot point I had just been writing days before was present in this new book. And it just kept happening. It was the oddest coincidence, and it helped me see that sometimes, writers just come up with similar storylines. Afterall, those storylines must be good if they get used so often.
Now it doesn’t bother me when someone compares my stories to other pieces of media. They’re not being malicious. They’re just trying to make a connection with you by showing you that they understand what your story is. But that’s not the main reason I’m writing this. I brought this up, dear reader/writer, because I wanted to remind you that it is perfectly okay to draw inspiration from other media. That doesn’t mean you should copy or plagiarize. All I’m saying is inspiration has a funny way of turning something you loved watching/reading/ listening to into something that fits your style.
When people ask me what my book is about, I want them to know about the plot, but also I want them to be aware of the story’s tone and emotional beats. In order to keep from rambling, I end up just saying, “Oh, it’s like if you mixed Robin Hood, Tarzan, and the Swan Princess and set it in a fantasy world where dragons are sapient beings, just like humans!”
<~> And, hint hint, this is also a good marketing strategy, because chances are someone could see what inspired your story and say, “Hey, I like those things, so I’ll probably like this book, too!” <~>
Obviously, I drew inspiration from a lot of other pieces of media for individual characters, settings, storylines, and more, but that would be too much to go into. Just know that Escapade‘s DNA is complex and even I forget everything that inspired its creation. My protagonist, Fendrel, alone was inspired by so many little things that it’s hard to keep track of how I developed him from first draft to the final published work.
Inspiration is such an amazing feeling and I wish I could feel it more often. When I do, it hits like a drug. It makes me want to sit down with my keyboard and write until my stream of consciousness has run out of words. Sometimes it comes on suddenly by watching a certain movie, and other times I can induce the feeling by listening to a particular song.
<~> I’m a huge fan of different genres of music, and making playlists for individual characters or for the story as a whole is a fantastic way to get me excited about writing again! You should try it out, if you haven’t before. <~>
But what do you all do when you need to be inspired? Do you go outside or watch a comfort movie/show? Do you watch video essays of people talking about something that fuels their passion for storytelling? I’m curious to know!
Thank you for staying, dear reader! Happy writing if you write, and happy reading for all (seriously, though, if you’re a writer you NEED to read in order to keep your skills sharp). I hope you all have a great one!
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