Originality is Dead?

[Tips_of_Fingers]

Having just had a discussion on another forum about original writing, I'd like to see what The Escapist's views are.

Here's the dealio:

Basically, I posted a few tongue-in-cheek "ranting" articles and asked for some feedback. One guy pretty much just said "Well, I haven't heard this before". His sarcasm was palpable (not least because of the inclusion of [/sarcasm]) and I just replied that nothing people write about anymore is original.

In my opinion, no matter what you write about, someone somewhere has also written on the same subject; that's what has happened because of the internet. My argument is that it's the style of the piece that makes it unique; you don't have to be completely original in your topic to be interesting or entertaining, it's the way in which the opinion is presented.

So what do you guys reckon? Am I just some plagiarising gimp or do I have a legitimate point?


TL;DR - It is almost impossible to write about a wholly original topic. What makes it original is the style in which it is written.

EDIT: I guess the plots of films, games and books could also be considered too, if y'all want.

 

[incal11]

You can always research lesser known topic, it takes a bit of work but it's always rewarding.
Style is good, but you'll always be the writing equivalent of Gameloft if you don't use your imagination enough. Concentrating only on style is what kills originality.

 

[gussy1z]

im not sure there ever was origonality

 

[Tips_of_Fingers]

I wouldn't say originality is dead. People get inspiration from other sources and create their own works of art. So no, Originality is not dead.

In terms of "art" I agree with you, but things like literature and film suffers from plots that can be compared to others in their medium. It's how each are delivered that makes them unique.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

I don't think originality is dead, but I do think that people take ideas that they saw in movies, literature, or whatever, take a part that they like and make it their own. I think some people are a little timid to create something original because it has a good chance of it either being called horrible or too weird.

 

[FalloutJack]

People who say originality is dead have lost sight of anything interesting in life, or they're lying. Either prospect is not a pleasant thought, but both cases are still wrong. Life is still worth living, ergo there is something of interest happening in the world. Following that thought, originality must exist.

 

[emeraldrafael]

Well... I once heard that in the first 30 years of photography being capable,everyone photographed everything, and nothing would ever be new. So I dont know.

I will say its harder to be original, cause a lot of things are already done or expressed, even if you just have to paraphrase.

 

[Jaranja]

As time goes on, originality naturally becomes more and more difficult to attain.

Show me a film that's from the point of view of a flower as it gets ravaged by insects and the seasons shift to winter! SHOW ME THAT!

 

[Section Crow]

if killing bugs in my house has taught me anything...

it's that there's always more of the buggers somewhere

 

[Thaluikhain]

Well...even when things are inspired by others, it doesn't stop them from being creative.

For all its faults, Star Trek Voyager was very different from the original star trek. Which was very different from its great influence, Forbidden Planet. Which was very different from its great influence, the Tempest.

[small]And, as we all know, ST:VOY is the reason Obama became President, it is therefore obvious that Shakespeare was part of the communist plot to get a black man in charge of the US. Open your eyes, people![/small]

 

[sheah1]

Well I'm generally under the assumption that no matter what I am doing at the time someone else on the other side of the world is doing exactly the same thing, no matter what I'm doing, so yeah, I agree completely.

 

[badgersprite]

Originality may be dead but creativity isn't. That's what people are really after.

 

[genamp]

Originality isn't dead. Quite the opposite, actually. All things considered, everything has a semblance of originality to itself. Granted, different media in the world may pay homage/reverence or take directly from others, yet they still maintain minutiae and other aspects that grant it originality. Originality doesn't implicitly involve that which hasn't been seen, heard, or respected yet. Originality comes from the single act of a person involving themselves in the creative process, thus bringing new into the world. Even if what they create resembles something else. It has that person's influence.
In short, no. Originality is far from dead. And unless the world becomes a dead hive-mind, it will never die itself.

 

[drbarno]

while anything that is done may have been done before, it would be in how you tell/deliver that would set it apart from the others.

 

[Daaaah Whoosh]

Originality isn't dead. It's just a lot harder to come by nowadays.
For instance, just look at video games. They can tell stories like no other medium, and even though they seldom ever break from the tried and true methods, every so often, we get something unique. Something original.
The idea can't be to make something that's good. If you do that, you'll make something safe, something that's been done before. You have to try things that make no sense, that are impossible, because only then will you even get a glimpse of originality.

 

[Canid117]

People have been saying "Originality is dead" since Sophocles died.

 

[DenSomKastade]

If you long for complete originality check out r9k, just kidding don't. There is no such thing as complete originality, we are all influenced by other's actions.

 

[Marik Bentusi]

I once wrote like 4 pages defying this, but I'll spare you (and I'm too lazy to search for it) and just write you the essence:

No.
No it isn't.
It's an arrogant excuse of people that think for a few hours, nothing comes to mind, and thus they think we've seen everything.
Bullshit I say. Cavemen didn't dream on robots. We don't dream of something other in the future yet. It doesn't even have to do with technology, we advance in more than that one area.
I literally have no reason to think originality has suddenly died of cancer. I don't get why people think like this.

A bear made of chocolate has the goal to balance the largest building on his head because if he doesn't, his heart will explode due to mysterious reasons he may or may not find out during the main plot.
There, that's a lot of shite thrown together, but I haven't heard of a story like this.

The problem is that what gets our attention is highly likely mainstream. That's why it's mainstream. And mainstream sells well because it copies and tries to refine what already worked. Things sell well because they're sold by people after the money, not because they're very creative. With today's graphics standards for big mainstream titles, you often don't have the money to produce it either. It doesn't always happen, but it's enough to let a lot of ideas die unnoticed before they even reached the drawing board.

 

[Delock]

It depends on how you see things. If you view something as the sum of it's parts: Originality can still be alive and well, but it's hard due to the fact that humans have been around for a long time, and most have combined simple ideas together to create new ones during this time. It also doesn't help that you are truly constrained by the past both for the ideas you can put together (you need a language, meanings, methods of conveyance, etc), and for the amount of combinations left that are unique.

IF you view something by breaking it down however, originality has been dead for a long time. Creativity (the combination of tropes/ideas in different ways) is alive and well though.


Look, it doesn't matter what you do, as tropes are definitions of every scenario and idea that can occur, of which you will either fall into the category of playing with it, avoiding it, or using it, and you will not be the first one (thanks to the fact humans have been around so long). This means that someone will always be able to find elements of your idea that occur elsewhere.

Creativity, though, means that the tropes were used with certain other tropes, or that they were presented differently, or that you figured out how to play with/avoid/use them properly/in a different way/make them interesting. It should be noted that this doesn't mean you are the first combine these either. Simply working with them properly is the sign of creativity, not creating something different from the same old thing.