Hello and welcome back to my blog. Some tips on writing original stories is what I am going to talk to you about today. Specifically the ones written above.

Tip #1 Nothing New Under The Sun

What this means is that in thousands of years of human story telling there is really few if any original plots left to tell. Note that I said plots as opposed to stories. There is a difference which will be explained in tip #3.

Look at all the cop buddy movies, Lethal Weapon, Rush Hour, Training Day, etc. They are all takes on the cop buddy movie.

There’s lots of books about vampires – Anne Rice books, Twilight.

Think up any plot and there’s probably already at least ten books with that plot. Bryn Donovan writes about that here. What it boils down to is there’s no reason not to write a book that has a similar plot to what’s already out there.

So if you want to write a vampire book, or cop book or anything else, go for it.

Tip #2 Focus On The Characters

What will make your vampire unique? Is he allergic to people with a certain blood type? That could be one take.

For my upcoming novel No Remorse No Regret I wrote about a female contract killer who was the surviving victim of a serial killer. How to make her unique? She’s tiny about five foot zero inches and weighs ninety pounds.

Think up ways to make your character unique, a certain phrase that repeats, the way they walk, perhaps they refuse to use foul language.

Tip #3 Focus On The Story

Remember how I told you that story is different than plot? Well here is where I keep my promise to tell you the difference. A writing mentor of mine once told me this plot is the events of a book or movie. Story is about a person who has a flaw that is challenged by the events of the story and either overcomes it or is destroyed by it.

For Lethal Weapon, the first movie is about a police detective Roger Murtaugh who on the verge of retirement is forced to take on a partner, Martin Riggs, who is on the verge of committing suicide. The plot was like just about every other cop buddy movie  – 2 detectives try to take down a crime ring – but the story itself was totally original.

So for your book about whatever it is your writing, vampires, cops, aliens or anything else. Remember the five W’s of journalism.

Your book is a story about a security guard WHO did WHAT? WHEN did they do it? WHERE did they do it? WHY did they do it? And of course HOW did they do it?

That’s it for today, make your day a great one.