On What's Original (and what's derivative)

I was having a conversation with my husband the other day and an interesting point came up... a point that most artists struggle with - the idea of original work vs derivative work.

Specifically, it was about that moment when what you're working on seems like such an awesomely original idea that you furiously write it all down. And as you're working on it, as you're working to revise it, or you're getting it reviewed/critiqued, you realized.... it's been done before. The horror.
But what's wrong with derivative? Can one truly have an idea/theme/story that's never been done? In today's time? I don't think so.

I think writers/artist take their inspiration from the world around them and from other forms of art. That's how ideas generate - when people are exposed to new/foreign ideas or view something from a new perspective. Derivative art is original art.

Imagine if some of our favorite writers didn't write because something's "been done." What if Laurel K Hamilton decided to give up on her Anita Blake books because the whole Vampire-Hunter love-hate thing's "been done" ala Buffy? Or Stephanie Meyer decided to not write her Twilight series because Vampire-Human-Werewolf stories "have been done." Or the creators/writers of Vampire Diaries decided to not do pursue the series since there's so much Vampire-Werewolf-Witch- Supernatural stuff already out there? Or how about where the stories of Vampires, Werewolves, Witches and other supernatural beings originate? Are we not supposed to write about them because Bram Stoker and Mary Shelley got there first? These supernatural beings can be traced back to folktale origins... so when or what constitutes as the line for something that's "been done before?"

A personal experience of when I was confronted with the "It's been done" monster - when I was in college, I was in a creative writing class. For one of my assignments, I'd written an crime story from the POV of the person committing the crime. It was a girl who was bent on revenge, aiming to kill a man that was the leader of a crime group. Twist at the end... he's her father!

One of the guys who critiqued it said I ripped off Star Wars.  Imagine my surprise and distress... since I've not ever seen Star Wars. By this time, all 6 episodes were already out and many many many people had seen it. I was one of the few whose parents were not big movie people, and i didn't have friends who were into the sci-fi/fantasy scene. But that's not the point. The point is... the ONLY commonality between Star Wars and my short story was the "I'm your father" twist.

Umm... the Greeks got there first. Oedipus. Kills his father, marries his mother - all because (surprise!) he didn't know his real parents! It was prophesied. And in Daytime soap operas... the real parent of the baby/child reveal or hidden/lost love child reveal was almost an annual thing. It's a drama trope! I'm pretty sure they did it before Lucas wrote it into Star Wars.

So... if you have an idea, run with it. Someone else did something similar? So what? You may have similar ideas, but your execution of the story will be different. Every writer has his/ her own distinct style and voice and how (s)he treats the theme/idea is just as important as what is told. Don't keep from writing what you want to write because of the idea that someone else wrote about it first.

Did you have an enthusiasm dampening experience where you stopped working on a project because, "It's been done?" What did you do to overcome it and move on?

Death Rituals

I've had this one line that I wrote a long long time ago that I love. It's been the first line of at least 2 works that never got finished (for a myriad of reasons) and I really really really want to use that line. I'm thinking maybe now, with April's Camp NaNo coming up, I'll use it for a project featuring that line, and something revolving around death rituals. One of my favorite stories is that of Antigone. When a person dies, there are just things to do and things you don't do - which varies from culture to culture.

I remember, for my grandfather, my mother and grandmother insisted on a traditional Chinese ritual where we work white and tied cloth to our hair. During any instances of procession, everyone was lined from eldest to youngest. As we passed the casket in the viewing, we'd place ceremonial money and bow three times with incense. He was cremated and his remains were held in an ancestral alter until my grandmother passed, then his remains and portrait were buried with her.

For my grandmother, in addition to the ceremonial money, incense, and bowing, we did a very western thing. At her grave site, each person took a handful of earth and tossed it into the grave after the casket was lowered.

I was recently reading this article about a young girl who has complications during surgery and bled too much. She's been pronounced brain dead and multiple doctors have said that she would not live without the aid of breathing and feeding tubes. The girl's parents insist that the child is still alive due to a heartbeat and used the courts to keep the hospital from removing life support and they were able to get her moved to a facility that would keep the girl on life support indefinitely. Currently, the mother is attending the child - painting her fingernails, brushing her hair, while hospital staff work with the body in a measure of physical therapy. The parents cling to the hope that their child will wake up.

It just made me wonder, what happens to the souls who are in that in-between space of life/death due to things like life support?