Secret Ingredients
- monmouthwritersgro
- Jul 12, 2019
- 2 min read
After many years I am still amazed by how different themes, stories, and poems are produced from a single topic. Always original and enhanced by each author's voice. But when I came up with the idea for my short story for the topic of "The Unsent Letter", I felt it was not original. And yet, as we each read aloud our work at the monthly meeting, each piece, as ever, was very different, mine included. As writers, we sometimes need to remember that every tale we tell is unique. We give our own voice to it, our own version of events. Tiny fragments of our emotions and beliefs will often seep through, intentionally or not. Plots and themes may seem the same; the boy may get the girl to fall in love with him or the hero will defeat the villain, however, the events that play out or how the characters react to their story will always be different in some way. It should be comforting to remember that readers are renown for scanning the same section of the bookshop or browsing the net for new books by their favourite author. Quite often they will not deviate into unknown territory, preferring romance or thrillers. So why do writers, such as myself, worry about originality? I guess we all strive to create our own 'Mona Lisa', something that cannot be compared, akin to headline news. Stories have been told since the dawn of time. At first, it was a way of passing on our history to the next generation and then became an art form itself in the form of books, plays, poetry, and music. Always being reinvented along the way. Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' will remain a classic forevermore, but Stephenie Meyer's romanticised version of vampires have inspired a new generation of writers and readers alike. Also, with the rise of Wattpad a new genre of fan fiction has also taken hold of our imagination with people writing their own version of events and scenarios for their favourite fictional characters. So why do I sometimes worry that my work will not seem original enough? It's just who I am and I know I'm not alone in doing so. But, as writers, we need to accept the doubts that creep in and learn to trust our own creativity and voice, for these unique secret ingredients will always shine through in whatever we write.
And just to prove a point, this month we have featured two stories written on the same topic of "The Unsent Letter" which can be found on our 'Writers Showcase' page.
Comments