I’ve started work on my new novel, Gone Girl on the Train with the Dragon Tattoo. This is a very personal story for me, and I deeply resent any suggestion that it is derivative of other works. Next they’ll be saying that my autobiography, The Diary of Anne Frank, Part Two, lacks authenticity!
Oxford Dictionary: o·rig·i·nal·i·ty [əˌrijəˈnalədē]
-
Noun: the ability to think independently and creatively:
E.g. “A writer of great originality”
“Sometimes I worry about being a success in a mediocre world.” ~Lily Tomlin
“It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.” ~Herman Melville
“Mistakes are the only universal form of originality.” ~Mason Cooley
(Ergo, the key to success is making original mistakes!)
“If you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.” ~C. S. Lewis
“Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.” ~Oscar Wilde
🙂
Wouldn’t “Fifty Shades of White” be a great title for a romance novel about a wedding dress designer? It just has a ring to it. Get it? A ring? 🙂 It’s a rainy afternoon…
;>)
I love C.S. Lewis quote! And Amen! He created us each in our own design for Him! Intricately precise!
Yep.
Ha! Amen. 🙂
We are really influenced by what we read and the people around us, but we take those influences and make them our own. Somebody smart once said, “plagiarism is the highest form of flattery.”
Love all the quotes but specially Lewis. He is one of my favorites.
Me too! https://mitchteemley.com/2015/08/24/why-i-believe-c-s-lewis-and-me-part-one/
I love it! I may have to have that Melville quote tattooed on the inside of my eyelids.
Um, ow?
This is great. 😊
Of course that book is your very own! It has no resemblance to any other (best-selling) books whatsoever!
Exactly!
mitch what is your favorite keanu reves film
Probably Parenthood, Rudy. Although The Matrix is a fave, too.
bill & ted from the production of 1st blood robocop action films
Knowing you, Gone Girl on the Train with the Dragon Tatoo WOULD be totally original–starting with that train emblazoned with a dragon. It would undoubtedly be able to fly on fold out wings and…well…you can take it from there.
Whoa, and then it could… Hey, can I use that, Nancy?
Of course! 🙂 I’d love to see where that train would take you!
I enjoyed this very much! Good luck with the book. Just by the way you think, I am sure it would be a great read.
Yes! You be you, no one else will.
Thanks for the smiles and encouragement, Mitch. 💕.