Has this idea been overused?

[Pantheon]

A fantasy novel about dragons and magic, and their journeys to dispose of an antagonist summoner...

i know, it seems completely unoriginal, but with the times how they are now, it's impossible to write something, without it seeming to come from some other book, even if completely unintentional.

As far as I'm concerned it's the story that matters, not the setting.

Please give me your opinions, and I will when i can be bothered, write a synopsis of the story I have started for you to mull over.

 

[Culhwch]

Well, it's not blindingly original, of course, but it truly is what you do with it. It's not the idea, it's the executon. Add your own touches, your own voice and style, and see how it comes out.

 

[Lenny]

Haha. I've got a story somewhere set on a world with magic, that sees a group setting out to destroy a summoner who has a dragon.

If you can write it well, and in an original way, then you could get away with re-writing Lord of the Rings.

 

[Pantheon]

well, my idea is basically like a video game, it has all the elemental magics being used in quick, exciting combat (still haven't perfected that as it's hard to write in a fast style) like flying through the air and throwing fireballs etc. In my story the summoner doesnt have a dragon, but all the protagonists group have their own corresponding to element. Maybe i'm making my first book a little too complicated, but it'll work out eventually

 

[Lenny]

A book can never be too complicated.

And to me, that sounds like an original idea.

The problem with ideas, is that at basic level, they can sound very similar - a group of people, dragons, a summoner to get rid of - but then, when you get to the actual story, it can be a lot different.

 

[Culhwch]

Just be careful regarding the game-style magic. That kind of thing does work in that medium, but can fall very flat when attempted in literature. But as an inspiration... should be fine. Just stay away from such exposition as, Betuk cast a level twelve icefyre spell, but Wosta deflected it with a simple level two shield charm.

 

[Pantheon]

well, yes im hoping my story to have a lot of little quirks, as i have a few ideas yet to be written down floating in my head. It's not going to be usual in the sense of, farm boy with no special heritage, finds a sword/jewel/dragon, flies off and saves the world.

It will actually start off in present day real world, and go back into the past, to the time of the Ancients. The reason why we have no knowledge of magic is because it is all but lost. The main character, a boy of 14, loses his mother to a mysterious illness, which eventually sends his father mad and he ends up up in a coma, this on top of relentless dreams he can make no sense of, almost tip him over the edge, and he ends up turning into a dragonling (half man, half dragon) he sprouts wings from his back, in a very painful way, and scales appear over half of his body, etc. So the beginning as you can see, will be real world mixed with a lot of pain, and some surreal bits throuwn in to make the main character feel even more insane. Sound original so far?

lol Culhwch, amusing. I could even put that in as a joke, i'm sure it would get a lot of laughs, maybe as a dream sequence...

 

[Sapphire]

Nothing you make can be entirely new. Your idea sounds very good though. It is good that you are trying to keep your work original, something I have a hard time doing.

 

[Virtual_Space]

As long as you make it your own, use any plot you like. Within reason of course. Change up the characters and the world. Change the dynamics between characters. Change how the whole conflict plays out. No plot is completely original anymore, so you shouldn't try and be completely original because you cant do it. But you can try and make the book feel different from all those that came before it.

 

[Frank menser]

It could be worse...like a vampire hoplessly enraptured by a beautiful woman who reminds him of his long lost bride.

Try it and see how it goes.

When you wrote summoner, I was thinking Bail Bondsman...

~Frank

 

[Birol]

A group of writers and I conducted an experiment once. We all wrote something based on the exact same idea. Not one of us wrote anything that remotely resembled what anyone else had written.

What I'm getting at is, it's not the idea. They're cheap and easy to come by. What matters is what you do with it, how you have it play out.

 

[shaman sun]

A fantasy novel about dragons and magic, and their journeys to dispose of an antagonist summoner...

i know, it seems completely unoriginal, but with the times how they are now, it's impossible to write something, without it seeming to come from some other book, even if completely unintentional.

As far as I'm concerned it's the story that matters, not the setting.

Please give me your opinions, and I will when i can be bothered, write a synopsis of the story I have started for you to mull over.

I agree with you there. The story is what counts, that and one more absolute essential: the storytelling. That is what makes one's writing unique. Not only the details of the story, the characters, the uniqueness of the setting, but the way the story is written. That's where creativity is very important. Artwork is a conduit for free flowing creativity, and it must reach the reader as a painting does its viewer. It must capture you in a unique way. This is the wonderful and mysterious nature of storytelling. To express it is to tap into ancient man's disposition to weave a story like a painting. That's the joy of it. This is of course, my opinion.

 

[Anastasia]

I believe creative writing experts will say that all stories are just variations of archetypes, like for instance, a quest, a messianic mission, an exodus... Actually, even if you're not religious, have a look in the Bible for some inspiration!

So don't worry too much if its already been done, just try to tell an engaging story that makes your reader want to find out what happens. It sounds a very interesting idea.