Comments on: Originality http://www.darcypattison.com/marketing/originality/ Sat, 11 Feb 2012 15:30:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 By: Peter Reece http://www.darcypattison.com/marketing/originality/comment-page-1/#comment-94 Peter Reece Tue, 30 Oct 2007 09:50:26 +0000 http://darcypattison.com/writing-life/originality/#comment-94 Originallity is the hardest thing of all for a novelist to create, and the longer the story the harder it is to be original. There are very few trully original works of fiction out there. I use two techniques: Dreams: I have had some wonderfully original dreams. A large chunk of cheese will often trigger a dream during the night. Only occasionally are they memorable or remembered. When they are I have a notebook and pencil by the bed to record them. Synetics innovation: This is an innovations technique I was taught at work by a consultancy group called syanetics. Basicalyy you think of a theme/random idea, you then expand that idea to the silliest, wildest, most bizare extremity you can imagine (this works well with a group of friends who can all feed off each other). Taking the silly extremity as your goal you throw around ideas that would make this goal possible, again silly is good. From these ideas you pick the most inreaguing (not the most logical, or the most do able, or the least silly, but the most intreaguing). You then repeat the exercize as often as you wish - each reitteration should move you TOWARDS originallity. If you want you can then work forward from your original theme/ideas to work out the barriers that separate your final goal from your original idea (this is particularly relevant for product designs). Originallity is the hardest thing of all for a novelist to create, and the longer the story the harder it is to be original. There are very few trully original works of fiction out there.

I use two techniques:

Dreams: I have had some wonderfully original dreams. A large chunk of cheese will often trigger a dream during the night. Only occasionally are they memorable or remembered. When they are I have a notebook and pencil by the bed to record them.

Synetics innovation: This is an innovations technique I was taught at work by a consultancy group called syanetics. Basicalyy you think of a theme/random idea, you then expand that idea to the silliest, wildest, most bizare extremity you can imagine (this works well with a group of friends who can all feed off each other). Taking the silly extremity as your goal you throw around ideas that would make this goal possible, again silly is good. From these ideas you pick the most inreaguing (not the most logical, or the most do able, or the least silly, but the most intreaguing). You then repeat the exercize as often as you wish – each reitteration should move you TOWARDS originallity. If you want you can then work forward from your original theme/ideas to work out the barriers that separate your final goal from your original idea (this is particularly relevant for product designs).

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