#write your stories yall
it’s late and I’m still in a bit of a post-book-trance so this is probably rambling but it’s just incredible how no two people will ever tell the same story even given the same subject matter.
When I started writing Runaways, I was afraid that the plot was too predictable, too obvious, too elementary. I’d been writing Storge so long with all it’s complicated plots, and even though fantasy stories about civil war and rebellion are kind of overdone, it’s so inextricably tied to Laoche and my world and my characters that I’ve never been able to find another book that matches it’s vibes. But there’s dozens and dozens of books about fae and changelings out there, and the premise of Runaways always just felt so obviousto me. There was no other way this story could be told.
I picked up a middle grade book the other day in the library called The Last Changeling, which took place in the lands of seelie and unseelie. I was afraid that I’d read it, only to find that my idea was already done. It wasn’t even remotely close. It was such a relief and such a fun, almost goofy, story that took place fully in the faerie world and followed a hostage prince and midwife’s apprentice. Even though it lit up all the same keywords in the synopsis, it was a startlingly different concept.
I picked up a YA book the other day in the library called House of Hollow, which follows three strange sisters trying to protect each other from the supernatural. I was afraid that I’d read it, only to find that my idea was already done. It wasn’t even remotely close. It was such a relief, and such a compelling, dark, intense story that took place bordering two worlds completely unlike mine. Even though it lit up all the same keywords in the synopsis, it was a startlingly different concept.
I had an absolute blast reading both stories - drawing the similarities and feeling slightly smug about coming up with an idea good enough to be published; drawing the differences and feeling slightly smug about coming up with something so original and intrinsically mine that it can also be published. These books will not push each other off the shelves, they will play to different strengths of the genre, different tastes for different readers. A thread of a common trope, but three distinctly colored threads weaving together to create a fascinating tapestry of storytelling.
In that way, aren’t these books kind of like sisters too?
