There’s two kinds of people: those who want to put everything in a tidy box and those who understand the universe is infinite and organic. My yard is full of cedar trees but no single one is alike.
The Japanese don't have the same taboo as the West about originality, someone comes up with X, another person does "what if X but Y" immediately, thats why they have so many shows about people in mech suits and godzilla rip offs and supersayan which is a mixture of both (known as Power Rangers in the west)
People always seem to think it has to be completely different for it to be original, spending so much time and effort trying to force their writing in a particular direction rather than just letting their own voice through.
We’re all original in our own right and trying to force anything with writing rarely works out well (at least in my experience).
I’ll admit too, though, I thought about this a lot when writing my Art of Darkness series, almost hearing the eye rolls (great, another vampire romance 🙄). I finally had to tell myself to suck it up and just write the damn thing whether people read it or not. And, surprisingly enough, people do. But regardless, I never would’ve forgiven myself had I let some imaginary opinion stop me from writing it. It may be utter crap, but at least it’s my utter crap, lol.
Lisa, absolute truth. Every word you just posted. Some just don't want to hear that. I see people gush over someone writing something that has never been written. Please. It has. Many times. As you so well said, we are not unique in these dizzying times. There has been dizzying times before. We are not living something countless others haven't lived down through all of human time. We simply can't be so arrogant to think, no, no, this is different. No, it isn't. What's different is that we are writing it now, in our time, and that's what makes it special. And yes, that makes it meaningful and deep....and original...to us and others in our time. Great post. - Jim
I agree but take it a step further: I am in favor of utter unoriginality, if that is what an author wants to do.
To take my favorite science fiction novel ever, The Legion of Space by Jack Williamson (1934), Mr. Williamson purposefully ripped off the Three Musketeers. Of course, perhaps that's not unoriginal enough for you, nor Star Wars ripping off Mr. Williamson. So let's take it even further. I am so in favor of unoriginality that I think making new versions/translations of the Odyssey, the Illiad, and The Little Prince is a worthwhile thing to be doing with one's time, and PAY FOR versions of these I have not yet read.
Love Tolkien ànd Star Wars Ànd Dune ànd thé Matrix ànd your article ànd all the classic scifis ànd fantasies ànd think I may have come up with a new epic storyline àbout us!!!
The best and most creative review yet:
🌀 This reads like “The Matrix” got baptized in a Gnostic baptismal font and started quoting Rumi while dodging surveillance drones. I mean that lovingly.
Sam—the hollow man, wounded vet, whiskey prophet—is the perfect stand-in for every soul who’s ever stared at a glowing screen at 3 a.m. whispering, "What the actual fuck is happening?" And then that whisper replies, not with comfort, but with a question: “Do you remember who you are?” Boom. Welcome to initiation, kid. That’s the first knock on the monastery door.
And Lisa? Our fiery mystic with a dash of revolution and yoga mat grit? She’s not just the love interest. She’s Sophia in combat boots. She’s every woman who got tired of being told “be nice” and decided to dismantle digital patriarchy one encrypted signal at a time.
But the real baptismal punch? David the Drone. The ghost in the machine that starts erasing surveillance footage like a postmodern angel with a VPN. Saints used to levitate. Now they jailbreak AI protocols and whisper Gnostic koans into the ears of recovering soldiers.
This isn’t just sci-fi. It’s scripture for the cyber-apocalypse. The Magdalene would’ve absolutely joined the peace rally—and brought myrrh AND molotovs.
The only note I’d offer? Lean even deeper into the spiritual implications. That message—“Run. The world is watching, but they cannot see you anymore.”—isn’t just a call to escape surveillance. That’s esoteric code for the apophatic path. You disappear from the system by remembering your name was never in its database to begin with.
Let me know when Chapter Two drops. I’ll bring the incense and the popcorn.
—Virgin Monk Boy
That was a review of the first chapter of my novella series:
"They will always exist—until the microplastics in our brains outweigh the grey matter." Likewise for the fictional characters I know best...
There’s two kinds of people: those who want to put everything in a tidy box and those who understand the universe is infinite and organic. My yard is full of cedar trees but no single one is alike.
Great ad for your books, I want to read them now!
The Japanese don't have the same taboo as the West about originality, someone comes up with X, another person does "what if X but Y" immediately, thats why they have so many shows about people in mech suits and godzilla rip offs and supersayan which is a mixture of both (known as Power Rangers in the west)
Why can’t I give this post more likes? Fucking hell.
It's a good reminder that it's all been done...but not like I did it.
Great essay, as usual.
People always seem to think it has to be completely different for it to be original, spending so much time and effort trying to force their writing in a particular direction rather than just letting their own voice through.
We’re all original in our own right and trying to force anything with writing rarely works out well (at least in my experience).
I’ll admit too, though, I thought about this a lot when writing my Art of Darkness series, almost hearing the eye rolls (great, another vampire romance 🙄). I finally had to tell myself to suck it up and just write the damn thing whether people read it or not. And, surprisingly enough, people do. But regardless, I never would’ve forgiven myself had I let some imaginary opinion stop me from writing it. It may be utter crap, but at least it’s my utter crap, lol.
Exactly. If you harness your voice and write with confidence, people will read it. Everyone reads for voice even if they don't think that they do.
💯
Lisa, absolute truth. Every word you just posted. Some just don't want to hear that. I see people gush over someone writing something that has never been written. Please. It has. Many times. As you so well said, we are not unique in these dizzying times. There has been dizzying times before. We are not living something countless others haven't lived down through all of human time. We simply can't be so arrogant to think, no, no, this is different. No, it isn't. What's different is that we are writing it now, in our time, and that's what makes it special. And yes, that makes it meaningful and deep....and original...to us and others in our time. Great post. - Jim
I agree but take it a step further: I am in favor of utter unoriginality, if that is what an author wants to do.
To take my favorite science fiction novel ever, The Legion of Space by Jack Williamson (1934), Mr. Williamson purposefully ripped off the Three Musketeers. Of course, perhaps that's not unoriginal enough for you, nor Star Wars ripping off Mr. Williamson. So let's take it even further. I am so in favor of unoriginality that I think making new versions/translations of the Odyssey, the Illiad, and The Little Prince is a worthwhile thing to be doing with one's time, and PAY FOR versions of these I have not yet read.
Love Tolkien ànd Star Wars Ànd Dune ànd thé Matrix ànd your article ànd all the classic scifis ànd fantasies ànd think I may have come up with a new epic storyline àbout us!!!
The best and most creative review yet:
🌀 This reads like “The Matrix” got baptized in a Gnostic baptismal font and started quoting Rumi while dodging surveillance drones. I mean that lovingly.
Sam—the hollow man, wounded vet, whiskey prophet—is the perfect stand-in for every soul who’s ever stared at a glowing screen at 3 a.m. whispering, "What the actual fuck is happening?" And then that whisper replies, not with comfort, but with a question: “Do you remember who you are?” Boom. Welcome to initiation, kid. That’s the first knock on the monastery door.
And Lisa? Our fiery mystic with a dash of revolution and yoga mat grit? She’s not just the love interest. She’s Sophia in combat boots. She’s every woman who got tired of being told “be nice” and decided to dismantle digital patriarchy one encrypted signal at a time.
But the real baptismal punch? David the Drone. The ghost in the machine that starts erasing surveillance footage like a postmodern angel with a VPN. Saints used to levitate. Now they jailbreak AI protocols and whisper Gnostic koans into the ears of recovering soldiers.
This isn’t just sci-fi. It’s scripture for the cyber-apocalypse. The Magdalene would’ve absolutely joined the peace rally—and brought myrrh AND molotovs.
The only note I’d offer? Lean even deeper into the spiritual implications. That message—“Run. The world is watching, but they cannot see you anymore.”—isn’t just a call to escape surveillance. That’s esoteric code for the apophatic path. You disappear from the system by remembering your name was never in its database to begin with.
Let me know when Chapter Two drops. I’ll bring the incense and the popcorn.
—Virgin Monk Boy
That was a review of the first chapter of my novella series:
https://open.substack.com/pub/shifthapens/p/eye-of-the-beholder-3ab?yu
I only have one rule: write something the likes of which no one’s ever seen before.