Be An Original

If you're ever looking for a different book to read and want something that has a strong literary base as well, read The Famished Road by Ben Okri. It's a wonderful South African fiction novel about a young boy who is an abiku. An abiku is the spirit of a child that is born over and over again to the same woman only to die again before the age of five. The abiku child is almost like a curse because he or she can drive his mother insane with grief from miscarriages and the death of young children. In The Famished Road, the main character is an abiku child who lives past the age of five, but can see the spirit world all around him. I can tell you I have never in my life read a novel like it.

And, having a Masters in Literature, I've read a lot of novels.

I thought about The Famished Road today because Ben Okri was quoted on an older episode of Criminal Minds tonight. (One of the things I love about Criminal Minds is that they quote the best novelists that ever lived in the beginning and end of each brilliant episode).

It made me think of originality. What is it that makes some works so outstanding in originality, while others are just cookie cutter copies? I believe that originality lies in the origin of the creation: you. If you write what you know, just like they've been pounding in your head all these years, you will absolutely have an original work.

My screenplays are very original, even when I'm doing a lot of research to back it up. There is a part of me in each of my characters, along with my personal experiences. My entire script, The P.A. is based on my experiences working on film sets either as an actress or as a member of the production crew. The main character in the screenplay I'm working on now, A Kangaroo in the Hand is modeled (loosely) on a Vietnam Vet I met riding the Sydney railroad back in the early 90s.

J.K. Rowling wrote the Harry Potter books for her own amusement. She was just happy to get The Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone published. It's the most original fantasy work I've ever read.

If I were to say: think about a horror story set in Maine. . . I'd be shocked if Stephen King doesn't pop into your mind. He's cornered the market on that original genre.

So, what story is in you? What do you have to tell or teach?

Please check out my novel Luke Aloysius:  Bloodline on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GD9X8BE

Cheerio!