The ideas in most stories today, be it, novels, songs or films, are derived from stories from the past. For example, the movieWest Side Story has one main central theme, and that is a forbidden love between two individuals who come from different groups, each of which hating the other. This story is a rework of Shakespeare’s classic Romeo and Juliet. While taking ideas from previous writers may seem unoriginal, as a writer, it might actually benefit you to do so.
When choosing what parts of a story you wish to incorporate in your piece of writing, you should think whether or not to use the full story, or just sections that you have use for. An example that has been used in How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster is that of a novel called A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett which borrowed characteristics from the classic fairytale Cinderella. In Burnett’s novel keeps attributes (perhaps slightly altering them) such as an evil-step mother, spoiled step-sisters, a fairy godmother, and a poor standard of living. However, the author had no need to keep a ball, a glass slipper, or a prince charming.
This is because these stories, such as that of Shakespeare or The Bible are familiar to us. While as readers, we want something new and exciting in our stories, we want familiarity too. Because while we want a story to be unique, we also want it to be similar enough to stories we have read before so as to help us understand the text as fully as possible.
When choosing what parts of a story you wish to incorporate in your piece of writing, you should think whether or not to use the full story, or just sections that you have use for. An example that has been used in How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster is that of a novel called A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett which borrowed characteristics from the classic fairytale Cinderella. In Burnett’s novel keeps attributes (perhaps slightly altering them) such as an evil-step mother, spoiled step-sisters, a fairy godmother, and a poor standard of living. However, the author had no need to keep a ball, a glass slipper, or a prince charming.
This is because these stories, such as that of Shakespeare or The Bible are familiar to us. While as readers, we want something new and exciting in our stories, we want familiarity too. Because while we want a story to be unique, we also want it to be similar enough to stories we have read before so as to help us understand the text as fully as possible.