The holidays are on their way. We like to start planning early. This year we’re doing a de-construction menu. What you do is make different dishes from traditional recipes. For instance, you might make a turkey casserole with dressing and cranberries instead of a roasted turkey with stuffing inside. You can find recipes to use or you may make up your own. I think I’ll make pumpkin soup.
It’s the same way with writing. You can take things that have already been written, either your own, or someone else’s, and deconstruct and reconstruct them. Is that cheating. Is it unoriginal? No. The Bible says there’s nothing new under the sun and if anything is true that is! So how do you keep your work fresh and original? You use whatever you have as a launch pad for you’re thinking. I use cookbooks to get ideas for cooking and then change the recipes into something that suits me better. For writing, I use books, magazines, poems, paintings, people, and nature, what else is there…use that too.
Originality is not in saying something that has never been said before. How possible would that be? Originality is saying it the way you see it, understand it, and feel it. Try your best to write well and really communicate and you’ll have all the ideas for creative writing you could ever want.
One thing that’s fun for me is to know what’s supposed to be happening in a certain month. October is National Clock Month, Right Brainers Rule Month, and Dryer Vent Month. What? Dryer Vent, oh yeah, that’s what Jill Badonsky says in The Awe-Manac. Great. I have a story about a critter that got into our dryer vent. See how it works?
Now about the pumpkin soup. I’ve read some recipes and I have eaten about a ton of pumpkin pie in my lifetime, so let’s see, I’ll start with pumpkin. I may have to experiment a bit, toss some mistakes, or eat them in spite of their not being perfect. I’m not sure whether I’ll share the recipe or not. It’s too difficult for other people to follow exactly the way I do things. That’s originality, too.
Happy Writing
Love, DiVoran
I find it very cathartic and inspirational to take some of my favorite writers, read their work (especially something that relates to what I want to write about) and do my best to tell my own story in their voice… THEN I edit and re-edit. Great post!
Dear Lisa,
Better late than never in thanking you for your comment. You have given a very creative suggestion for a way to wake up the muse and get going. Thanks for that.
Always see things from a different perspective. The mountain is still the mountain, but how you see it or how I see is what makes it special and different for all. Great post!
Benjamin, thank you for your comment. What you say is absolutely true. I always wondered what people meant by originality and you’ve got it there in a nutshell.
Nothing is new under the sun. I was watching a movie one day – Clueless – and as the credits scrolled by I was completely caught off-guard. The movie was based on a book by Jane Austen – Emily. Really? As to pumpkin — may I suggest a “cake” with a can of pumpkin, 1 cup applesauce and a 1-step angel food cake mix. Blend all together and bake. Yum.
Dear Bob,
Thanks for your comment and thanks for the pumkin/cake recipe. That sounds so delicious. I haven’t made my pumkin soup yet, still doing research, but I have a can of pumkin, so that when the time is right, it will happen.
I try to switch up my writing all the time. If I’m in the middle of edits and not working on a new WIP, but want to do something new and creative, I try my hand at Flash Fiction. It’s not a lot of time to invest, but it allows me to feel like I’m still creating even though I’m bogged in editing a book. Nice post!
Dear Elyse, Thanks for your comment. I’m just learning how to reply, sorry I’m so late. I’ve heard of Flash Fiction, it sounds like fun, and I will give it a try. I imagine a person would get a real lift from doing something like that, and you’re right, it can’t take long.
Great idea, one thing about writing, the more you do it, the better you get. Thanks for the tip!
I’m just learning how to reply to comments. I want to thank you for yours and apologize for being so slow in answering you.