overrated originality

[live broadcast starts about at about 1:18. Feel free to zip to it by dragging the little dot on the video playbar!]

Hey, storytellers!  Today was the start of something really fun: I’ll be broadcasting live on Facebook and YouTube every Wednesday at 1 PM Pacific. Tune in for frank talk about writing, and of course, if you can show up live, you can ask questions, too.  Links appear at the bottom of this post.

Today’s talk was a response to a great question that came in from one of my blog readers. In its essence: 

Why do all my story ideas feel like they’ve been done before?

Awesome question, right? In my answer, I talk about

• why all stories are about the same thing
• the shape, or structure, that all stories share
• the truth about human nature that all stories strive to express

In the follow-up questions, we talk about what happens when other people compare your work to published books.

I also get into the question of self-publishing— is it a good way to start your writing career, or not?

I hope you enjoy this video. What questions would you like me to talk about in future broadcasts? Leave a comment or send an email. I’d love to hear. 

You can join the Facebook group right here.

And subscribe to the YouTube channel here.