Tag Archive | formula

Author Confessions: It’s All Been Done Before

Jul8
Reading Time: 5 minutes

Author Confessions: It’s All Been Done Before

Ecclesiastes 1:9 famously states: What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun.

This collides horribly with our desire to be unique or feel like we are special or that no one has ever gone through what we have gone through. It’s a tightrope to walk between realizing the truth of that as not minimizing the struggles, challenges, traumas, that we all go through at one time or another on a world cursed by sin. Ouch.

In writing a story we are told to try to be unique, yet when it comes to marketing we are to compare our stories to similar authors or tales, while at the same time explaining why our book is different and the world needs this manuscript to be published. While this is more for non-fiction, it is sometimes applied to fiction as well.

As we learn and grow as humans we have “Aha” moments, right? Moments when we discover a truth or a unique hack that makes life make more sense or better. Often we don’t share those things because it may be foolish to others because “I was today-years-old when I learned….” Have you been there? I sure have!

Like when I found out that the best way to dry out my children’s wet shoes was to stuff them with newspaper. By morning they were dry. Amazing!

Social media has exposed us to so much information, so many “hacks”.  Lots of stories of personal triumph and tragedy. It can be overwhelming. But after a while it all starts to sound familiar, doesn’t it? People get sick. People die. Someone is grieving putting down a pet. Someone has a cancer. Someone is struggling financially. Someone has to move or is looking for a job. The list goes on but if you spend any time on social media you are familiar with pain and struggles. And the sales pitches.

When it comes to writing however, familiarity also rings true. While the exact combination of words and characterizations might be unique, there are similar story lines. The term used for them is plots. The more a readers consumes fiction, the more he or she will understand that there are some overarching plot lines. There is not a definitive list but here are some I’ve come across:

In Romance there are a few, called “tropes” that stand out as well and many overlap with the above plots:

I’ve put as many of my books into some of these categories but as you might be able to tell, there can be overlap and more than one “trope” in a book! This is not an exhaustive list by any means. There is a reason that some people love Hallmark books and movies, because they have a formula for their plots that works and for many that similarity is a comfort.

All that to say, hopefully the writing, in spite of any tropes, is good enough to keep the reader engaged to enjoy the journey even if it is perhaps similar to one someone else has read. As an editor I’ve had to reject books that were too similar to other books I was aware of. One especially was too similar to another by a famous author, and while I can’t accuse her of plagiarizing the work it was too similar for me to be comfortable with, which was sad because the writing was great.

There’s nothing new under the sun, yet as creative people, authors are still trying to create something fresh within the reality that it’s all been done before in some form or fashion. It is gratifying when a reader will tell me how a book surprised them. Even if something’s been done before I hope my readers will find enjoyment and perhaps learn something as they read my stories. If you find that an author has surprised you and you really enjoyed a book, please help them out by writing a review on Amazon so others can enjoy it as well. It really does help!