Are your book ideas original enough?

I wanted to share something that I’ve shared with my students in classes and workshops and with clients one on one for years whenever this idea that they don’t have original ideas comes up. This will prove that your ideas are in fact original enough!

I’m going to tell you a little story. You’ve probably heard it before because it’s a famous one. Are you ready?

There was an orphaned boy who lived with his aunt and uncle. One day, he receives a message that he doesn’t understand. Because of this message, he leaves his home and goes on wild adventures in worlds he never even knew existed. He even gets training and learns superhuman skills. While he’s on his adventures, he befriends two people who end up falling in love. He also gets help from a variety of fantastical creatures on his journey to take down the dark and evil villain who’s terrorizing the world and everything that our hero holds dear.

Okay, friends, what’s the story? If you guessed Star Wars, you’re right! Winner Winner. But wait! Did some of you guess Harry Potter? You win too!!! It’s the same story.

What’s different? The setting, the time period, and the characters. But other than that, we have two stories of young men who find their power and vanquish the evil villain who wants to rule the world.

While Star Wars came first, would you ever, in a million years, dream of accusing JK Rowling of being unoriginal? Nope.
What this shows is even if you were to write the same story, it would be a completely fresh and new story because you were the one creating it.

Trust your own creative gifts. Follow where they lead you. And know that there is no doubt that your idea has been used in a story somewhere before. But your version of it will be original.

Have fun with it.

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