What’s unique about your book?
What makes a story unique?
Apparently, the statement about snowflakes that no two are alike, is a myth. The fingerprints from identical twins are often similar, but not exactly the same. Some say, to the naked eye, they could be confused. Same for DNA … only the DNA of identical twins is so close it might be mixed up (but only might).
When it comes to books, the sky’s the limit, right?
Well, there are only ‘x’ number of genres:
- Fantasy
- History
- Literary
- Mystery
- Romance
- Thriller
And, yeah, a bunch of others, too, probably, but let’s say there are a dozen ‘classifications’ for a book. Inside those are some sub-classifications.
Then, some say there are only ever twenty different plot lines, too.
If all this is true, how do we make a unique story? How can we create a unique hook to an age-old, simply classified story? How can mine be anything new and different than the last person who wrote paranormal romance?
Good question! I’m so glad you asked. 🙂
Here’s my take.
Just like every photographer brings a unique style to his/her work, so to, do authors. As a photographer, I use the same equipment as about 50% of the industry (Canon). So shouldn’t that mean we all create the same thing? No! Not at all. It’s how we pose people. How we make them react to our antics in an effort to catch the right expression. The equipment captures. The photographer makes the moment.
Same goes for writing. Take on genre. One plotline and a dozen authors …. we’ll all write something completely different. Some of it will be awesome. Some of it will be a copy. Some of it will be so startling and new no one will understand it.
All the stories will reflect something within us.
Since we humans are all unique enough to have our own DNA and our own fingerprints, we’ll create a story that is unique, too.
What’s so unique about my stories?
Well … just like in photography, I follow a few simple rules, but I do things my way. Remember, now … I’ve already written 7 novels (yes, 7 and numbers 8, 9, 10 and 11 are all planned).
So, today, here is a sneak peek into my world of writing and what I see as the unique aspect to my stories.
- All my stories are set in Rune, NC. Huh? Where’s that? Well, it’s a fictitious town that is a combination of my current town, the town I lived in 25 years ago and a few key places around the state that I’ve squished together. It’s my made up world taking the best of the beach, mountains, plains, my town, the big city closest to me and some other elements I shall keep secret until the book comes out, and morphing them into one.
- Every one of my books shares at least one character. The main characters change in almost every story, but I pull in someone from another story, somewhere along the line. That character might have a minor mention or a full part.
- I share, but build upon the world. Since my books revolve around the same area, I am slowly but surely building a picture of that entire town. Road by road. Tree by tree. Business by business. Keeping track of who does what, where and when has been a challenge, but a fund one.
Is this completely unique to other authors? Maybe. Maybe not. I love to find an author I can read every book of because it feel familiar … I have some sort of connection with them. So when I began writing, that internal element bled into my stories and I now have all 7 connected in some way — be it by the town, a location in the book, the cross over from youth to adult and/or the characters themselves.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this little tidbit of insight. 🙂 Now, tell me … what’s unique about your writing?
What’s unique about my writing?
Um … let me think on this.
Okay, I thought about it. My stories are unique because my entire world and characters are based on a series of dreams, they are a figment of MY imagination–not a bit of it is based on something I’ve read somewhere else … Sean Holloway’s voice in my head was just too dominating for me to not let him 100% have his say.
Like yourself, although mine are a more closely linked series than yours, my characters do carry through from one novel to the next, but with the third novel in the series, I switched up the MC and brought someone different into the limelight–just as I intend to do for the fourth novel in the series … but I made 100% certain all the potential future MC’s are introduced in earlier works … just like prominent characters in book number 3 were introduced (however briefly) in book 2. If you’re creating a bigger picture, you gotta learn to weave all the right wool (which makes no sense at all, but I’m sure you all get the idea) 😉
Finding those uniquenesses are hard, I think, but worth it to know how your story can stand out, don’t ya think? 🙂
I think what makes my works unique are my attempts to include unlikely combinations of elements–vampires who live in sunny, sunny New Mexico, a naive American tourist mistaken for an IRA terrorist twenty five years later when the IRA isn’t even that much of a pervasive threat anymore, a CPA who’s anything but mild-mannered and numbers-oriented, a hunter of supernatural creatures who’s not only Native American but who use nuclear physics, a subterranean boy and an aerial girl who plot to overthrow the dystopian airborne government with bees (no I won’t explain this…not yet anyway). LOL
Interesting post, Aimee!
You’ve got each one outlined! 😉 And no far throwing in potential spoilers and not explaining! 😛
Heh…might not be a spoiler when I finally write or even outline the darned thing. That’s just what happens in the short story I’ve already written and that’s posted on the web that I’d planned to build the novel upon.
I like to do cameo appearances. Nora Tech (Eric’s company from Shadow Cat) and Gretel’s (a fictional restaurant in New York) are mentioned here and there. For the most part, my characters share the same world, even if they never meet, though sometimes they do.
I LOVE cameo appearances. 🙂
For me, I think it’s that most of my MCs have some degree of my smart-ass mouth and the same desire to understand why the world is the way it is. My novels are always an exploration of human behavior, and most include something from my Canadian farmer’s-daughter roots. They also have the same basic theme, that we choose our own destinies and we all have the potential for good and evil.
I love the Canadian farmer’s-daughter roots aspect. I see that in The Glass Man (since I got such an early sneaky-peek!!). 🙂
I’m scratching my head. I’ve not finished writing my first novel, so I’m unsure what makes my writing unique. I do showcase parts of London most people don’t know about 🙂 My next project is a YA fantasy set in the Cotswolds, featuring secret locations I discovered as a child. So perhaps I’m unique because I reveal hidden areas in Britain 🙂 Pretty lame, huh?
Nah, not lame! Fun! And when will that first one be DONE and in my hands to read?? 🙂