“A group of underdogs are united through unusual circumstances and are forced to work together using their individual strengths to beat a dominating force.”
Sounds like a familiar storyline, doesn’t it? In fact one could argue that there are no new stories left to be written. Shakespeare took care of covering all the basics a long time ago. So why are stories still interesting to the world if there’s nothing truly ‘new under the sun’? Ultimately, what sets your story apart from others is what you’ve done to make it different.
The basic foundation of your story may be familiar but the setting could be a mix between futuristic Sci-Fi and old-school Fantasy. Or maybe it’s your main character that adds interest—the antagonist is a vampire while the heroine is a Civil War Southern Belle. The possibilities of how to make your story different are endless.
A great example of this is Joss Whedon’s cult-favorite TV show, Firefly. Although it only lasted a single season on-air, the fan-base made it possible for a movie to be made a few years later, and the call for a resurrection of the series has continued since its original airing fifteen years ago.
The year is 2517. The story follows the adventures of a crew of nine on the spaceship Serenity. They run a covert smuggling operation with great success—as long as the ‘evil’ Alliance doesn’t catch up with them. It may sound like every other Space Opera storyline you’ve run across, however, there is one major difference: It’s also a Western Drama.
Whedon was able to meld the two worlds of futuristic space and old-time West, flawlessly. Everything about the world-building is set in the future—an entire star system of planets colonized, boasting futuristic weapons and every form of space travel imaginable. However, much of the culture is stuck in the ‘wild-west’ of the past. Characters dress and speak like you’d expect in a traditional Western and much of the interactions on the planets are western-based—from saloons with bar-fights, to debutante balls with hoop-style skirts.
This difference is what draws the reader into a story that has otherwise already been told. There are plenty of books about Science Fiction available, many of them specifically in the Space Opera genre. And there are even more stories that tell about a rat-tag group of outsiders that come together and use their skills to evade the bad guy. However, the Firefly series was successful not only because it had a great cast and well developed characters, but because Whedon set it apart from anything that had ever been done before.
What sets your story apart? How can you recycle a story that has already been done before and make it better? Sometimes reusing what you already know can make for an unforgettable tale.
Bio: Laura L. Zimmerman is a homeschooling mom to three daughters, and a doting wife to one husband. Besides writing, she is passionate about loving Jesus, singing, drinking coffee and anything Star Wars. You can connect with her through Facebook and Twitter and at her website, www.lauralzimmerman.com
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