Pointers for Story Lines

Character Sketch- Stereotypes

This is something we have always seen, not only on wattpad, as well as the publishing market - Stereotypes.

When Gone Girl became a huge book, authors from all over the world began joining the race to writing the next big psycho/thriller. But even before that, once Fifty Shades of Grey became popular, 50 gazillion authors in the world started focusing on BDSM stories. Not to mention the never-ending list of Magic school dramas that came out ( and are still coming out) after Harry Potter.

So such trends are like currents - they come and go. Some genre-trends stick for a longer period of time, while some are short-lived.

Now what are we trying to say? Is that bad?

No.

Do you think there was no BDSM in literature before Fifty Shades Of Grey? Do you think that none of the Gone Girl- inspired psycho thrillers got famous? That Harry Potter was really original?

Think again.

Gone Girl inspired a runaway hit thriller of 2015- The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins, and this book skyrocketed up the bestseller charts like poof.

There were books where certain ideas of Harry Potter had been seen - The human-chess in Through The Looking Glass by Lewis Carol, The Legend Of Rah, Muggles and Larry Potter and his best friend Lily by Nancy Stouffer ( I know. That's a terrible title. I even looked up the cover to see how it even fit there) This book has the word 'muggles', and 'Larry Potter' and some magic, also, it was published in 1980s. Books Of Magic by Neil Gaiman et al- it is where a  tween British schoolboy with black hair and glasses discovers he has magical powers and gets a pet owl.

Similarly, Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card; its blurb reads-

A young kid growing up in an oppressive family situation suddenly learns that he is one of a special class of children with special abilities, who are to be educated in a remote training facility where student life is dominated by an intense game played by teams flying in midair, at which this kid turns out to be exceptionally talented and a natural leader....

See? Stereotypes are very common in the world of literature. You can spend years and years thinking of an original plot, but at the end of it all, someone, somewhere must have already done it before you even began thinking.

So what should you do?

Simple. Do it better than the ones who tried before you.

Look, it doesn't really matter much what you write. What matters, is how you write it.

So next time a critic comes screaming at you saying," This is so stereotypical! blah blah bah" show them a way here ;P

When you go to an ice cream parlor, the guy asks you which flavor you want. Each ice cream is made of the same ingredients- but they have different flavors which play an important role in your decision of which one to buy.

Writing is somewhat like that. You just need to discover your own flavor. The ingredients still remain the same.

And remember, write the plot that you want; and write it well. We are not saying that you have to copy ideas (guys, that's serious theft). We are saying that you can certainly write stories inspired by other stories, but with a flavor of it's own.

And then leave it for the audience to decide if your flavor is something they find worth spending on.

If you have any further queries, you can address them down in the comments. We'd be glad to help :)

Have a great day.

~Feminist_Ideologies