Do you worry that your stories might not be original enough to stand out to agents and editors? Are you afraid to retell that fairy tale you love so much, or to write about a certain setting, time period or type of character, because it feels like too many authors have done it already?
If you feel that way, you’re not alone! It’s not just unpublished or novice writers who struggle with this. Sometimes even veteran authors with several books to their credit end up having to shelve a beloved manuscript because their agent or editor thinks it’s just not unique enough to sell.
But it’s also possible to take a concept that seems like it’s been done to death, and give it a twist that will make it fresh and vital again. Here are a few ideas for how to do that.
1. Get out your imaginative blender.
Vampire romance? So fifteen years ago. Victorian fiction? Ho-hum. Dystopians? All played out, or so you’d think. But if you take all three and mix them into a world where the bustle of our heroine’s modest day-dress conceals vials of the stolen blood she needs to keep her true love from spiraling into madness because of the fiendish experiments performed on him by the government, you may have a compelling new story. Throwing in different elements and subgenres can give even the oldest, most familiar ideas new life, as Marissa Meyer proved so successfully with her futuristic sci-fi novels inspired by Cinderella and other popular fairy tales.
The trick is to use the “old” idea as a springboard from which to launch your new tale, rather than getting trapped by the structure and content of the original story. Many novice writers’ work gets rejected because they’ve treated the book or legend that inspired them like an outline that has to be followed beat for beat, or because their characters don’t seem original enough. But the more different sources you draw on, and the more unusual elements you put into your plot and characters, the less predictable your story will seem and the more it will stand out.
So while it was disheartening when I realized that “faery books” as a trend was over and YA editors weren’t clamoring for them anymore, it didn’t keep me from writing and publishing several of them—including my upcoming new release Swift, the first book in a trilogy about the piskeys, spriggans, and other magical folk of Cornwall. Because while I wouldn’t have got far with a story about an ordinary teenaged girl discovering that she is actually a faery and getting caught up in the wonders and dangers of fairyland, I’d created a setting where the main characters were faeries drawn into and threatened by the human world instead. I’d used contemporary England as a backdrop, but kept my faeries largely old-fashioned and isolated, so my heroines would have to tackle the modern world as explorers rather than natives. And that enabled me to tell noticeably different stories from the ones other MG and YA fantasy authors were telling.
2. Take the road less travelled.
At the time I was writing Swift, there were a lot of YA novels featuring faery courts battling for power, inspired by Irish folklore or Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream or both. So I went hunting for folk tales and superstitions about faeries that weren’t so well known, and I found them in the legends of Cornwall, my grandparents’ home country. A few successful authors had mentioned Cornish pixies in passing, but I wanted to put them at the heart of my book—and when I started digging into the lore, I found all kinds of fascinating, largely untapped ideas to enrich my story. I also chose to use the old Cornish variation of piskey instead of the cuter-sounding pixie, so readers would know from the start that I’d be taking a different approach from J.K. Rowling, Eoin Colfer, and other writers.
Another thing I noticed was that Cornwall itself hadn’t got a lot of attention in fantasy compared to other parts of the UK, except in Arthurian stories. And I wasn’t planning to bring King Arthur or any of those characters into my book. So I started looking into Cornish history, and discovered there’d been a massive tin mining boom in the 1800’s (now made famous by the new TV adaptation of Poldark) that left the countryside riddled with thousands of old, abandoned mines. What a perfect place to hide a secret colony of magical folk! We usually associate mining with dwarves, but the old Cornish legends claimed that there was a special group of fairies who lived in and worked the mines. Decades earlier Stephen King had spun that idea into a horror novel, but for me the “knockers” were the perfect way to explain how the piskeys of the Delve could hide, support themselves, and also keep busy.
So even though many reviewers of Swift have said the book has an old-fashioned feel to it, none of them have meant that in a negative way, or said it made the story predictable—in fact, they often praise the plot’s unexpected twists and turns. The legends that inspired the Flight and Flame trilogy may be old, but because they’re largely unfamiliar to readers outside Cornwall, they feel fresh—especially combined with the modern-day settings and characters that provide contrast to my heroine’s sheltered underground life.
3. Dig deep.
Myths, fairytales and legends may look simple at first glance, but they often contain hints of much bigger and more complex issues than who’s going to climb the beanstalk, win the hand of the princess or wear the magic boots. In the past few decades it’s become popular to pick up on the darker elements of those old tales and explore just how horrifying they would be in a more realistic story—as in Robin McKinley’s Deerskin, for instance.
But you don’t have to be gritty or explicit to talk about important subjects like disability acceptance, the dangers of forgetting history, or how ignorance about other ethnic groups can lead to prejudice, xenophobia, and even genocide. In fact, those ideas are all touched on in Swift and its sequels. My heroine Ivy’s gradual realization that she can do much more than people expect of her, and that the stories she’s been told all her life are not the whole truth, form the heart of the trilogy. But because these issues are viewed through a fantasy lens and as part of Ivy’s personal experience, and they’re woven into the fabric of an adventure filled with mystery, action and romance, they don’t derail or bog down the story. So young readers can breeze past the darker implications of certain piskey legends and not be haunted by them, just as they do with old myths and fairy tales. But a few years later, they might find themselves thinking more deeply about the piskeys of the Delve and how their beliefs and attitudes mirror ones we might encounter in our own world.
The trick is to let the story dictate the issues, rather than the other way around. When I sat down at my laptop to write Swift, I wasn’t planning a book full of “topical questions about the nature of threat and protection in a civilized society” as the BookTrust review puts it, or even the “mature social themes” praised by School Library Journal. I only meant to write about a girl with no wings who meets a mysterious stranger and learns to fly. But in the process of asking myself how “Richard” ended up in the piskey queen’s dungeon, and what would keep Ivy from trusting him or setting him free right away, the bigger subject of prejudice came in naturally. And though I wrote the first draft of Swift nearly a decade ago, there couldn’t be a much more timely issue to be talking about right now!
So if there’s a real-life issue you’ve been thinking about or a truth that matters deeply to you, there’s a good chance that at least a glimmer of it will show up in what your writing. Blow on that spark, and you may well find the fire that drives your story—and that will make it a richer experience for readers and more compelling to potential agents and editors, as well.
* * *
If you’re interested in checking out Swift, it comes out in e-book on August 18th and limited edition hardcovers will be shipping the first week of September. The sequel Nomad will be out in November, and the brand-new final book Torch in February 2021—so the whole trilogy will be out in six months! You can preorder through your favorite online bookseller, or visit http://www.rj-anderson.com/books.
What’s your favorite “overdone” idea you’d like to see a fresh take on? What books have you read lately that took an old concept and made it into something brilliantly new? Do you have a story you’re struggling to make more original? Let’s talk about it in comments!
Jill here! To celebrate R. J.’s new release, we are giving away a hardcover copy of Swift with an autographed bookplate (as soon as the book arrives to my house). Enter to win on the Rafflecopter form below. USA entrants only this time, please.
Thanks for this post, Ms. Anderson! This post has really helped me. I’m writing a story about pirates, but with my general storytelling nature and voice I’ve been worried that it won’t be exciting enough, or that my voice is too passive. I know that all of this I can fix in the edits that I’m doing right now, but I still have that prick of worry sometimes. How do you tell if your ideas are original enough to be published?
A great narrative voice can go a long way toward making a story stand out! But it definitely takes time and practice to develop your unique voice as a writer, and also find the voice that’s right for the particular story you’re telling. Part of it is learning to see and describe your world as your MC would see it, and letting their personality and interests dictate the way you tell the story — of course it’s easiest to do this in first person, but it works for third person too.
If you’re worried that your plot isn’t exciting enough or that your voice is too passive, have you tried sharing your work with some smart, honest readers / fellow writers and asking them specifically if they think that’s the case or not? It might just be your anxieties as an author telling you it’s not interesting or dynamic enough — I’m reading a draft for another author right now who keeps fretting that the story drags or wanders or doesn’t make sense, but I keep telling her (honestly) that I don’t find it that way as a reader at all!
But if it isn’t just your insecurity talking, honest feedback can help you identify the spots in the story that need work so you can focus on those, instead of fretting that the whole thing isn’t good enough and feeling like you have to throw it all out. I hope that helps!
Thank you for the advice, Ms. Anderson!
Thank you for the amazing writing advice, Ms. Anderson. In answer to the question: I think I would like to see a fresh take on fairy tale retellings. Or a new look on spies. A book I’ve read recently that took a new look on an old concept would be Not Your Average Fairy Tale by Chantele Sedgwick. It’s about a guy who has to become a “fairy godmother” in order to grant a human girl three wishes. It was really creative, unique, and had some surprising twists.
How about when you’re writing historical fiction? How can you make that more original? There’s a lot you can’t change in historical fiction.
I know how you feel, Lydia! I’m writing historical fiction too, and making it original when you can’t change a ton of the facts is an interesting line to toe. Thanks for phrasing the question in my mind better than I could!
Hi, Lydia and Adi — you’re right that you can’t change historical events themselves, but you can definitely try looking at them from a fresh or unusual perspective that will bring in some less familiar historical elements to the story.
To use just one example, there’s a gazillion historical novels told from the perspective of noble or wealthy men and women, or with main characters who are soldiers. But the same history told through the eyes of a specific kind of skilled tradeperson like a dyer or a stone carver or a weaver could be fascinating, especially if the story incorporates details about their craft and its history that usually don’t make it into other novels. Ultimately it’s the uniqueness of your narrator and their perspective that will make the story fresh and compelling, even if the events themselves are familiar to readers.
That makes sense! Thank you!
I love spies! Never get bored of that element in fiction. And I like the male “fairy godmother” concept as well — that sounds like fun!
Awesome post! I love Marissa Meyer’s ‘Lunar Chronicles’, especially ‘Scarlet.’ F.F.T. (Fractured fairy tales) are definitely my kind of thing.
About a week ago, my friend challenged me to prime a new twist into ‘Snow White’ or ‘Sleeping Beauty.’ It been a little tough, but now I know where to go to make my own F.F.T.
Thanks for the great advice!
Glad you found it helpful, Ally! Best wishes with putting a new twist on your fairy tale!
That sounds really cool! I love fairy tale retellings. I’m currently working on a modern twist to Aladdin.
This was very helpful and encouraging to me as a writer and i hope I can take what i learned here and put it to use with what im writing!!
Thanks, Maggie, I’m so glad to hear it!
Thanks for this post! I love the fantasy genre and folk/fairy tale retellings. I have a couple retelling ideas of my own, and this was great advice.
I do have one question: when I try to research certain legends, creatures, and other magic elements for my stories, only so much comes up on Google. Do you have any books, websites, or other sources that you recommend for more in depth looks at folklore/fairy tales, or any general fantasy research tips?
Also, Swift and its sequels seem really cool! I’ll have to check them out!
Hi, Em! You’re right that a casual Google search often isn’t very helpful. What I’ve found is that more specific you can make your search, the better. Looking up something like “English fairies” is going to bring up a long list of shallow and general websites that won’t tell you anything new, but if you can narrow your interests down to a specific country or region, it’s much easier to get the information you need. When I was researching REBEL and ARROW, for instance, searching for “welsh fairy legends” gave me some rough ideas. But once I came across a brief mention of a kind of fairy I’d never heard about before, narrowed my interest down to the story’s origin in Pembrokeshire and started searching for “Children of Rhys” and “Plant Rhys Ddwfn,” I was really in business. But ultimately, that research was just the spark that lit my idea for the story and gave me a few guidelines to start with — most of the details I put in the books about them are completely made up!
Thanks! I’ll be sure to try this out.
I love Greco-Roman mythology, so that shows up a good deal in my fantasy. I actually have an idea for a fairy story, so I’ll have to read Swift!
I have noticed that some common themes pop up in my writing. Many of my characters share some of my struggles or misbeliefs. I am currently working on one story where the idea “just because someone hurt you doesn’t mean you have the right to hurt them” will pop up, which is something I hear my mom say a lot and I think is quite applicable.
I think that’s a very good point to bring up in a story, Bethany! My WIP deals with that too, as does SWIFT and its sequels to some extent. If you read the book I hope you’ll enjoy it!
I love taking old ideas and twisting them into something unique. My favorite TV show is Monk, who’s based off Sherlock Holmes, but he has OCD, which makes the show very different!
I have an idea for a retelling based off Rumplestiltskin, about if the king and queen didn’t find out Rumplestiltskin’s name. I think probably some themes that would pop up in that would be forgiveness and learning from mistakes.
That sounds interesting, Riley! And Sherlock Holmes is a great example of a character who’s been used countless times but who can still be approached in new ways. Not only in recent contemporary versions like SHERLOCK and ELEMENTARY, but also the upcoming Enola Holmes series on Netflix, which centers around a character who is Sherlock’s younger sister and gives us a very different and interesting perspective on him and Mycroft as a result. I really enjoyed the books when I read them, so I’m excited to watch the series — even though I’m a long-time Sherlockian and have watched more adaptations and read more pastiches than I can count!
I love Monk and Sherlock Holmes! I need to watch the Sherlock show sometime.
Thank you for this post, it was very helpful! It can be so hard to come up with cool new twists to ideas.
I just read a book about sirens and mermaids, but instead of the prince being predictable, he was the siren killer. It was different and I enjoyed it.
I’m happy to hear you found it helpful, Alana! And that does sound like an intriguing twist on the sirens/mermaids concept!
This is so interesting, R.J.! Thank you for sharing about your process. I’ve heard such good things about your books!
Thank you, Stephanie! Your books sound like the kind of things I’d enjoy as well!
This was so interesting! Thank you for the behind the scenes look at Swift!
I’m glad you think so! Thanks for reading, Ashley!
I love reading fairy tales that have been retold in a really nice and fresh way! Retellings are actually one of my favorite things to write 🙂
Me too, Hailey! Thanks for commenting!
Thanks for the great advice. I loved reading this.
Glad you liked it, Lacey! Thanks!
I am so excited! Can’t wait for my preordered copy to arrive!
Thanks so much for preordering, and I hope you’ll find it worth the (slightly longer than anticipated) wait!
Love this article! And can’t wait to check out Swift!
Thanks so much, Adaline!
Thanks for the ideas! I’ve been mulling over various Beauty and the Beast remake ideas lately, and this is helpful! I’ve had a deep-rooted love of faerie and fairy tales, so remaking them and researching them is a lot of fun for me. (Granted, it does bore the rest of my family a lot)
I think right now my favorite retellings have been Beauty or Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley. (I have a Beauty and the Beast thing) But The Lunar Chronicles and The Sisters Grimm have both been really good too! 🙂
I never get tired of Beauty and the Beast retellings. I could read a million, I think. And McKinley’s BEAUTY is one of my all-time favorites! Glad you found the article helpful!
Good! Glad I’m not the only one! 🙂
I love this! And thank you for the chance to win!
Thanks, Abby!
My favorite that’s a retelling is the Lunar Chronicles. And Percy Jackson isn’t really a retelling but I love that too. My love for Greek mythology and Kiera Cass’s version of sirens in The Siren helped inspire a myth retelling of my own. Actually, a lot of my ideas are inspired by myths/stories and history, so this post is great for me, thanks!
Great to hear you found it helpful, Xoe! Best wishes with your latest myth-inspired story!
I loved reading about what went into your story and its background! Right now I’m writing a medieval fantasy novel about a princess who has to save her country, which I feel has really been overdone. But I love the project too much to abandon it. Do you have any suggestions for making it more original and fresh?
The answer could be as simple as the reason your princess has to save her country or the way she goes about it! It may help you to think about things you’ve *not* seen done before in princess-saves-country stories, especially if they’re things you’d really *like* to see, and try to incorporate as many of those into your plot and characterization as possible. And also try to add some other characters and subplots surrounding the princess and her quest that are more unique to your story.
Thank you so much for this post, Ms. Anderson!
How you sewed the myths and folklore into your story is absolutely wonderful! I just added your books to my TBR list! Can’t wait!
Also, thank you, Jill, for doing the giveaway!
Thanks so much, Maria, I’m thrilled to hear it! Hope you’ll enjoy them!
(I think I sent an email instead of adding a comment, sorry! I got mixed up on the mobile site…)
Thank you for this post! It’s really fascinating to read about the process behind the story. 🙂
This is an Amazingly insightful article! Thank you! I have been working meshing a lot of different things together (legends, folklore, and mythology) and trying to make it work. So this article is great encoragement! Thankyou!!!