Notes to Myself (Ideas)

I believe that a novel idea is the basis of good writing. Heck, a novel idea is the basis of a good anything: Twilight, Harry Potter, Goosebumps, Team Fortress 2, Portal, Portal 2, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, countless Disney movies, countless Pixar movies, and many other stories that our generation craves.

Now, I say "Twilight" first because it has no literary merit whatsoever. None. Not-a. Ask any English teacher. They might tell you it has no character development, no theme, no original plot, and many other things. And yet, it sold millions. How?

I think it boils down to two things: Sensuality, and a novel idea. Because sensuality and violence (fat and sugar, in my opinion) are a completely different subject, I will discus the latter.

Now, when I say "novel", I mean an idea that has not been done for either a long time, or an idea that has simply never been done. This "new idea" is what captivates most audiences. It is a new idea that is just new enough to be interesting, but simple enough as not to loose us. Lets take Team Fortress 2 for example; the idea of a multi-player online video game is not new, however the original character types and the game's general cartoon-ish artwork are. These are the ideas that captivated millions of game players world wide, and these ideas make Team Fortress 2 a great game, and, to a lesser extent, a great story.

Are novel ideas the only thing that makes great stories great? No, not by a long shot, but it is a necessarily thing. Without an original idea, not pony will pay attention to you, no matter how well you write.

Always Sincerely,

The Music Man

P.S.

Please, if you think I am full of it, COMMENT! Yes, I will disagree with you at first, but if your arguments are good enough, I will change my mind.