Hey guys,
I've been struggling with my confidence as a writer lately. There are a lot of factors, but it mainly stems from crippling perfectionism and trying to be as original and authentic as possible.
I'm writing stories and, as I reread and edit, the second I feel I spot something that looks too cliche and unoriginal, I try to rewrite it but all I can think about is how it's not enough not enough not enough.
Recently, I feel like my mind has started to let some of this go as I've done more research into originality and the history and background of famous works. I've started to become more at peace with my writing and thinking that maybe all of this can go somewhere someday.
What are your thoughts on originality and how have you overcome crippling perfectionism?
What is the origin?
>[0,0]
This is terrifying for me. This is why I have so much hard time actually writing. I always think about ideas that I think that are good but every time I think "wait, wasn't that used before?" or "is it really an original idea or I'm copying someone without even knowing?"
it is completely impossible to avoid cliches
in fact, blatant attempts to subvert a cliche have themselves become cliche
when you think about it, by trying to difficultly to work around what seems a natural part of the story you're being less "authentic" to your own vision
>>7861736
I like originality but not every sentence is going to be a completely new sentence tha has never been written before. Dont let originality get in the way of your inspirations i say. Because you wouldnt write if you were not inspired right? Remember every story has been written before and you just make it yours by funneling all your unique inspirations into your version
>>7861772
>Dont let originality get in the way of your inspirations i say. Because you wouldnt write if you were not inspired right? Remember every story has been written before and you just make it yours by funneling all your unique inspirations into your version
This is what I've struggled with. For years.
Part of what opened me up is reading other great writers retelling legends or folk tales in their own way. For example, the German legend of Faust has been told by Marlowe, Goethe, Bulgakov, Thomas Mann, Stephen Vincent Benet, Washington Irving, Gertrude Stein, Paul Valery, Pessoa, Banville, Mamet, etc., etc., etc. Hell, Shakespeare's plays can all be traced to one history book.
Letting go of this obsession with originality and perfection has just felt like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders lately when thinking about my own work.
>>7861779
the origin is the [0,0] point in a coordinate plane
to be original, start from nothing
>>7861827
I'm still not entirely sure what you mean when it comes to originality in literature?
>>7861841
i suggest you look into meditation
>>7861736
I can't believe /lit/ hasn't recommended OP Harold Bloom's The Anxiety of Influence or his lit-adapted version, The Anatomy of Influence. He covers just exactly this issue in those volumes.
