Last night, Lustbunny had one of the most brilliant ideas I've heard in a while. We should write a story together. Just a simple, two main character deal.
I instantly went into "Estatic English" mode. Ranting on about character development, plot, p.o.v., nuances. Everything imaginable. My mind was in overdrive trying to keep up with the flurry of thoughts.
So, today, I start on the introductary narrative. Something I can usually do in my sleep. Which, I started to do last night but forced myself to wait until morning.
It was just your average run-of-the-mill narrative. I'd done them hundreds of times before. Yet, this one happend to become even more banal than usual. Over and over and over again. Now, on my fifth try, I seem to be coming up with some substance. It's still transient though.
One second I have the greatest idea for what I should do, then a minute later I end up scrapping it because it sounds just like everything I've read before.
No wonder the literary world is so empty now...There isn't much to write about that hasn't been done a thousand times before.
Just to get some perspective on things, I asked The English Major to help me. She's bluntly honest when it comes to the syntax of a piece. Considering she isn't much for the genre I'm usually mucking around in, she sat down and read the page and half that composed my third attempt. The only thoughts she had to give were, "Try replacing a few of your adjectives with some from the thesaurus. You seem a bit repetitive in places, but it's not that bad. It's likely because you didn't have the resources when you sat down."
To me, it just seems that not only am I repetitive in the prose, but I'm repetitive in the logistics. Thousands of books are being, or have been, written using the same words I'm using and with pretty much the same intent. There are only so many ways to write a vampire fic that doesn't scream "VAMPIRE!!!". Especially when all you want is for it to peep. I think that The Strumpet's boyfriend made the most sense when we talked about it.
Ewwie:What you're trying to do is deny that there is an elephant in the room, only to wait three hours and say "My dear, there seems to be an elephant in the room."
When it comes to my writing style and why I think I'm a talentless schmoe, English Major enlightened me as to why.
English Major: You only think it is that way because you've sat down and written this a few times. To you, it is the same thing that you've seen thousands of times beofre. To others, it's something new and mildly entertaining.