One somewhat common refrain among queriers is, “This has never been done before!” or a related espousing of the belief that their novel is completely unlike anything that has ever been written.
This is almost never true. And what unfortunately ends up happening is that whenever someone says, “This has never been done before!” I immediately take it as a challenge and start thinking of the times it has been done before.
The queries below are made up, but they’re close to the mark. Here’s how these claims tend to go and what I start thinking:
Query: “There’s never been a bestselling novel written in the second person!!”
Me: Thinking…. thinking… THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST!!
Query: “No one has ever explained the history of philosophy in novel form.”
Me: SOPHIE’S WORLD!
Query: “No one has ever written a novel in Twitter form!”
Me: Just sold!
According to Google Books there have been 168,178,719 books published in the English language. In words (even more impressive) that’s one hundred sixty eight million one hundred seventy eight thousand seven hundred nineteen books published.
In the immortal words of Roger Sterling after Guy Mackendrick’s foot was run over by a riding lawnmower in the office of Sterling Cooper on Sunday’s episode of Mad Men: “Believe me, somewhere in this business, this has happened before.”
Now, I definitely understand that each book is unique: every single one of those 168 million books was different in its own way. Even the plagiarized ones!
And we agents do stress, with good reason, that it’s important to know how your novel will stand out among the books that are already out there. That might mean a fresh take, a unique setting, an interesting character, an original style. There is absolutely a premium on originality, and every once in a generation a new genre is created almost completely from scratch.
But it’s important to recognize the extent to which every novel draws upon traditions that have come before and to be well read enough to know where your novel stands among the popular ones in your genre. Even very unique novels draw upon a rich literary tradition and have their influences and predecessors. When an author immodestly declares “This has never been done before!” it makes it seem as if the author is unaware of the books that have come before that are similar to theirs, and makes the agent wonder why the author doesn’t seem to know about them.
It isn’t important that you write a novel that has never even remotely been done before. What’s important is that you write it well.
My daughter informed me never trust Wikepedia. The info on it can be submitted by anyone and isn't always accurate. Does anyone know if this true?
Originality isn't necessarily a good thing, especially if there's no recognizable audience for it. I'm learning that a writer's energy is better utilized in improving the writing rather than concocting something original.
Nathan,
Let me see if I understand you. You are saying that my completely original novel about a knight in shining armor who saves a princess has been done before?
What about vampires? Surely no one has written about them! 🙂
Thanks for reminding us that it's hard to get our foot in the door of the publishing world when our head gets too big for the jamb.
~Emily
This had never been done before yesterday:
a literary agent said they would represent my work.
Haha, congrats again, Rick. I think we can all get behind that kind of originality.
Oh, by the way… I have a "never been done before" contest on my blog this week. Up for grabs a Barnes and Noble giftcard!
Now I read back and I see that my thunder is merely an echo 😉
Thanks Kristi / Mira / Marilyn. Boy do I have a lot more writing to do!
Congrats Rick!!!!
Hi, Rick,
Will you be posting details anywhere? We want details, man, details. 🙂 Congratulations! I'm so happy this has happened to such a nice person who's been so helpful to other writers with your query site and all!
Being well read is important. At least in your genre, and the more the better.
I remember a fellow writer that came to a workshop with me once. They had written a short story that was as tired as the day is long. We were kind, but they were really embarrassed that it was such a common theme.
And that is one of the tricks of being well read. You know, (or at least have an idea) that your (plot, character, etc) has been used before. Thus you have a chance to either acknowledge the fact, offering homage to the others, or make some edits that set this one apart and distinct.
Now taking the, "Never been done," angle. If nothing like it has ever been done, there might be a reason…
Rick –
Oooops, just found details on one of your websites. Congrats again!
Nathan –
If you do a You Tell Me about whether we need to be well read to be good writers, I'd also like to know what people consider well read.
168 million books. Which ones?
The classics?
The ones in your genre?
The classics in your genre?
Or just the contemporary ones?
A bit of non-fiction thrown in for fun?
There used to be a classic liberal education definition of well read – classics, philosophy – but I'm not even sure that exists anymore.
I think you are more likely to bring fresh, complex ideas to your writing if you are well read, and have a well lived life . But you are only going to improve your writing by . . . writing.
maybe this is a "duh" comment on my part, but one would think that claiming "[anything] has never been done before" would be the mark of an amateur.
your work – and your awesome query – should speak for themselves, yes?
Congratulations, Rick! Can't wait to read the book.
Nathan – re: your 12:52 comment, I'm not sure either, BUT I've know a handful of well-read "writers" who were abysmal writers, but who happened to think they were going to give Dan Brown, Lauren Baratz-Logsted, Jonathan Lethem, Anne Tyler, Shakespeare, you name it, a run for their money.
*whoops* I meant, "I've KNOWN a handful…."
I believe it was Samuel Clemens who said something along the lines of a writer who has no time for reading is like a craftsman who has no time to learn how to use his tools. (maybe someone could help me out here)
Every master was once an apprentice. Did they poses a natural talent, even genuis? Yes, and they could have picked up a brush and went at it on their own, but then they would have been lacking the understanding of the fundamentals. Fundamentals that helped create masterpieces. Reading is like a writer's apreticeship.
Until I discovered Annie Proulx and Cormac McCarthy, I had no idea that anyone else was writing the types of things that I was. I was walking around with all of these stories in my head, unsure how to frame them, or if I should even bother. Like my husband would say, "If you cut the swearing, you could be published by Western Horseman Magazine." (I wirte literary fiction)
After discovering Proulx's Half-Skinned Steer, a whole new world opened up for me. I knew how to tell my stories. I have built from what I have seen her do, and gained a great deal of inspiration. People were already saying that my style was similar, before I was familiar with her work. So, I think I can honestly say I am not immitating her, at all. But I learn from how she pairs deep questions about the human conditions with the kind of stories that spring out of the rocky ground of the West.
I think writers need to be well-read. Any time someone asks me for what piece of advice I would give to people who want to be writers I say read. Then read some more. I've met a couple of people who want to write and when I ask them what they like to read they say nothing. They don't read. I doubt they will ever be writers. How else do you learn the craft? Know what's wrong? Or see things that work and those that don't? That to me is like saying you can be a professional ball player without ever studying the game or knowing the rules. Go out in the middle of Dodger's Stadium and try pitching a game without having ever seen a game played.
An author =must= be well-read. Trying to be an author without reading is like being a painter who doesn't look at painted artwork, a sculptor who refuses to examine sculpture, or a director who doesn't go to movies.
“Read, read, read. Read everything — trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You'll absorb it. Then write. If it is good, you'll find out. If it's not, throw it out the window.” William Faulkner
Kids, it's your quote of the day.
I thought I HAD wrote the original novel in Eden (sci-fi romance), I was even told it as too unusual by some agents.
THEN I had it published, and THEN I saw the genre was by no means original. In fact, there's an entire website dedicated to sci-fi romance!
lol
Is this where we prove our talents, and acknowledge our limitations..?
NO FAIR throwing in a "Mad Men" spolier with no warning! Some of us aren't caught up!
margosita-
48 hour rule!
Or is there a rule? When are you allowed to discuss things that happened?
I should start saying I've deanonized.
Discussions like these make me think of my newly found mantra for myself (and other writers, especially unpublished ones): I'm the rule, not the exception.
I'm sure there are a few exceptions, creative people who did things that have never been done before. Someone did invent novel-twittering. But what about the novel content? Was it that original? (I don't know, I didn't follow.) It's a single part of the novel writing process that was new.
Most of us, if not all, follow a tradition. We'd better have one or the other original idea, but still.
As for myself, I find it safer to assume that I'm the rule, not the exception. There may be exceptions, but the rule is writers have to be well read. (Just as an example.) If I assume that I'm the rule it means I've got to read more. If I assume I'm the exception I may conclude that I'm a genius. But I'll never be able to judge.
While I have no illusion that my novel has "never been done before," I must admit that I've found it difficult to find a novel (in my genre – literary fiction) that compares. Most underground communities are found in fantasy and sci-fi novels, not lit fiction. But, if anyone has a suggestion, I'm all ears!
'Cause some days, I think it would be a LOT easier for me if I could compare my book to another.
Haha, is the 48 hour rule like the ten second rule for food dropped on the floor?
Dangerous world for me, then, when I'm not on top of things… 🙂
(But I think this might be a "your blog, your rules" situation.)
I think Pride, Prejudice and Zombies was a unique idea, but now we're gonna have Wuthering Bites, Sense, Sensibility and Sea Monsters, and god knows how many other classics- meets-monster novels.
Make them stop.
That 168 million figure from GBooks masks a truly staggering statistic: all the books that are POSSIBLE.
Jorge Luis Borges's story (?) "The Library of Babel" describes a library which holds every single book. There's a copy of A Tale of Two Cities as we know it, for example, and there's a copy which begins "Ot was the best if tomes…" Books consisting of nothing but a single letter, over and over… And so on.
I think what people are saying when they assert "this has never been done before" is "this exact sequence of plot elements, characters, and words has never been assembled before."
But, y'know, the exact words, specific plot points and such is the least interesting thing about nearly every book. What really matters is: Does this book do something to this reader's head that no other book s/he's encountered has done? If there are a lot of precedents for the reader in terms of psychological/emotional/funny-bone/thrilling/etc. impact then, sorry: done before.
(Which I think may be the killer argument for why you need to read as much as possible — and the more you read, the better you'll write.)
JohnO- I want to print that quote out and frame it for my desk, that's sage advice from Mr. Faulkner.
I can't wait for the "Do you have to be well read" thread, that's going to be some interesting reading.
Oh, and I'm in total agreement with those who say writers need to read. This is without trying to define 'well-read' at the moment…
Thanks for posting your thoughts on writers who make unsubstantiated claims.
A little modesty might be nice, but don't we have to sell ourselves a bit, too? There is a fine line we walk to catch attention before the story is even read.
BTW – a late congrats on the rice harvest.
I agree with all of what your talking about here, but I mostly had to post a comment regarding the awesomely appropriate Mad Men connection.
Just watched that episode last night and kept finding myself laughing at one dark insight after another.
The one you quoted was almost the best for that episode.
🙂
I think that the market place and social climate also influences when rehashing a familiar storyline with a unique twist will be successful or not. A story could be well written, but it just isn't the most appropriate time for the topic or the topic is currently over done.
Like Marilyn, I use not to read while I was writing. I worried that my voice would change as my reading list changed.
Now that I have developed MY voice, I read all the time. I read several books a week. I read books from all the genres and periods, and I learn.
So I understand a new author's reasoning for limiting their influences when they are trying to develop THEIR voice the first time. I also know that when they’ve found themselves they will be reading again, but with an entirely new perspective.
Congratulations, Rick!
When I write my novels I often find myself coming up on scenes that have been done before – the scene where the bumbling neophyte gets his skill with the sword is a classic. I also make it a point of never doing these scenes in any way in which I've seen them done before. My story is recognizably within the cycle of the Hero with a Thousand Faces, but hopefully not sharing its spot with too many others. If I am unique it is in my style, which one reader described as a third person story that feels like a first-person. I know of no one who writes the way I write, but I don't claim to know everything.
The old cart before the horse makes me dizzy.
1. write a great novel
2. write a great query
3. find a great agent
Your novel will speak for you even if the genre has been done before.
I did this once in a query…"This has never been done before." Where was this post when I needed it back then?
Congrats, Rick!! You know that I'll be buying anything you write.
Congrats, Rick, forgot to add that to my earlier post. It's great to hear of a fellow reader & blogger's success.
You call it a game. What a sport it is to be a writer.
First, we write, then we learn we don't know the rules to the game.
If we take writing seriously, we set out to learn the rules.
Then we learn to not take writing too seriously.
Even King Solomon knew there was nothing new upon the earth. Therefore, we need new angles, new approaches to the old, tried and true.
When telling someone of the stories I am writing, it never fails, "That sounds like…" or "Have you ever seen (or read)…"
Thanks Nathan for another lesson
grasshopper Lucinda
When an author immodestly declares "This has never been done before!" it makes it seem as if the author is unaware of the books that have come before that are similar to theirs, and makes the agent wonder why the author doesn't seem to know about them.
That pretty much sums it up.
All I can add is a "Congrats!" to Rick, and a "Thanks for the awesome Faulkner quote!" to John. 🙂
First comment:
Robert Heinlein once caused a character who made his living writing commercial fiction to say that publishers claim to be looking for originality, but they are not. What they want is "mixture as before". In more than one location he has had a writer-character explain that he "files the serial numbers off" previously published work and resells it. (This implies, of course, sufficient modification that readers, editors and copyright lawyers would recognize it as a "different" story.)
Second comment:
I'm working on a YA novel that I believe actually does have a genuinely unique aspect about it. If anything like this has been done, I'd surely like to know. It would imply the existence of a kindred spirit.
The novel revolves around high school kids starting a band. It's narrated by the young female bass player. Not too unusual so far. But now get this.
Although the novel is secu;ar themed and in no sense "Christian" fiction, our protagonist attends church! Stranger yet, she is not an evangelical! (I think she is probably a Methodist). She doesn't make a big point of being "Christian". I don't think she even wears a WWJD bracelet.
I depicted her that way because I wanted to create a character who reflected the situation of actual young people I have known. And in the real world, lines are not as strictly drawn as in literature.
And, although this is a secular-themed novel, an important subplot revolves around her church life. (She writes and causes to be performed a song probably best described as "Christian punk" called "Blessed Are the Hypocrites". This causes her to be invited to leave the contemporary worship youth band with which she has been playing).
If anybody else has ever featured a church-going teen in a secular YA novel, I'd like to know.
-Steve
I would just like to point out that, especially in non-fiction, there can be firsts and not yet dones. They can apply to pop culture, current events, and even historical ones (as is the case with my book). There was a first (insert celeb's name) biography, a first book about cars, a first book about hip-hop, a first about the Taliban. Yes, authors do get carried away with their claims, but being the first to pen an authorized biography of a private celeb, or an underground tren that is about to explode into the mainstream can be a major selling point.
My novel really is a first though!
Mine is about a futuristic amusement park where dinosaurs are brought to life through advanced cloning techniques. I call it "Billy and the Cloneasaurus."
P.S. For an extra layer, note that I'm quoting someone else's joke about unoriginality
Francy Stoller Nothing is original/and there were poets before printing presses/ I never forget this yet no one wants to read our novel/The Memoirs of an Unknown Artist/no agent will give it a read/I've been trying for a year. My family loves it/ my husband's vision but I wrote it in my language/it's signed John Serpent. I didn't follow rules for the query/I cannot face looking at it or the novel/it's finished. I have never followed rules in my life/so why now/I work hard at writing/not typing/my best friend who is a prominent Boston poet cried when she read it/took her off her feet,(Of course she's in it) and an important rock star collector (We sell my husband's art) read the novel and he loved it but won't show it to Hollywood people he knows/these rules I understand/the way of the world…Do you want to read it
Hey Rick,
Congratulations! I meant to say that earlier but got in a rush when I realized I was running late. I am thrilled for you.
I get what you're saying Nathan, however there are some stories – I'm thinking multicultural – that seem unique in their own right, like "The Kite Runner" the classic "Invisible Man" by Richard Wright, more recently "Say You're One of Them," "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" among others.
I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm hoping more world view stories about other cultures see their way to an agent's desk and wind up getting published. The young boy who wound up in third place in the paper plane contest in Japan, a kid who realized his dream though he's been told he's a citizen of no country, if this kid was from the US, Disney would probalby already own the rights to his story (they may already be negotiating it as I write this, but far too often stories have to follow a certain formula to get attention these days. And maybe that's another reason why everything feels so been there, read that before.
anon-
I don't know, I feel like your argument is a bit self-nullifying. You're citing some tremendously popular books while saying that everything has to be formulaic to be successful.
I agree there was a lot that was original about those books and that's what made them special, but I would also bet that the authors could rattle off a list of the people who influenced them.
Even in this Slate interview, for instance, Junot Diaz cites Rick Moody as someone who influenced the narrative style.
I'm always looking for originality in the novels I take on — but very little that is good is wholly original.
Nathan, I'd have to say you are right. Nothing is completely original, but I still maintain there are firsts left to be explored out there.
I think it's more that there are books that haven't been done in this particular way. Every book is unique and some are more unique than others, but not completely unique.