I'm very into Greek mythology. I would Like to write a book for kids and teens about. My problem is I'm stuck on how to do it because the only thing that comes to mind is the Percy Jackson series. Can anyone help me come up with a way to write about Greek mythology and Demi gods without it sounding or ripping off the Percy Jackson series.
Please and thanks
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Thread: Please help
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10-22-2010 #1Junior Member
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Please help
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10-22-2010 #2
Don't rip off of the P.J. characters, plotlines, etc. Make your own story using Greek mythology in your own unique way. It's your own story ; pave new ground.
"I'd rather starve than sit inside this gridlock until it parts.
This tailor made rutiny ain't suitin' me" -Aesop Rock
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10-22-2010 #3
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Yes make your own plot or if you made it into a book. You could get sue by anoitehr writer.
Originally Posted by Mallory
I'm very good at plot, make it where the teenager take over the earth and the "Gods" have to get the teenagers under control. You could make that into a big book...
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10-22-2010 #4
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Or rather, you could make that into a book... Originally Posted by Agent Vatani
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10-23-2010 #5
Go back to the original myths and see what other cool things gods did that wasn't whatever they did in those books. I only saw the trailer for the movie so I can't really comment. :P But you want to be looking back and seeing what other tropes you can pick up on that haven't already been used, and utilising them instead.
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10-23-2010 #6
Invent your own story without using exact incidents from already existing mythology. If you just base it off stuff that already happened (or "happened"), it will be predictable because anyone familiar with the myths will know what's going to happen in the story.
This is almost like asking how to write fantasy without ripping off of LOTR, or how to write about a wizard/witch without ripping off of Harry Potter. Do not think about other authors or other stories -- that applies to myths and history too -- when you write your story. Make it entirely your own."I'd rather starve than sit inside this gridlock until it parts.
This tailor made rutiny ain't suitin' me" -Aesop Rock
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10-23-2010 #7
nit-picker-in-chief
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there are countless ways to do what you want to do... to many to list... if you want to be a writer, you'll have to come up with one on your own... that's what writers do, y'know...
100% free writing help/mentoring: www.saysmom.com
“If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. ... We need not wait to see what others do.” Gandhi
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10-23-2010 #8
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The Percy Jackson books, in essence, are a modern twist on the old hero epics of Greek mythology; Percy and his friends mimic a different adventure (or combine several) but with added twists and a more modern touch.
The stories of Greek and Roman mythology are so many in number that I'm sure you can figure out some way to use them that doesn't relate to the Percy Jackson Series.
However, you have to come up with the idea on your own. Best of luck!"Fiction is the truth inside the lie." - Stephen King
"Laudant illa, sed ista legunt" - Martialis
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10-23-2010 #9
How to avoid sounding like you're imitating or ripping off the Percy Jackson series:
* Step one - read the series in question, so you know what to avoid.
* Give the demi-god characters something to be concerned about that doesn't involve the titans / other monsters coming after them.
* Make sure your demi-god / magic user society is quite different from that portrayed in Riodan's series.
* Give the demi-gods different skills, abilities or magical powers.
* Make the main conflicts entirely different. Perhaps non-magical governments have found out about the demi-gods, and are leaning on them to be "useful" (i.e. pawns) to the government. ("Hey, daughter of Hermes. Either you sneak into the North Korean nuclear labs for us and disarm their weapons, or we blow up one of your father's sacred historical sites.") Perhaps another set of gods -- the Egyptian ones, or Mayan ones, or Inuit spirits / legendary monsters -- have challenged the Greek gods for supremacy and the demi-gods are getting pulled into it.A thought-provoking post on finding time to write. http://whatever.scalzi.com/2010/09/1...-time-or-dont/
Show, don't tell. Don't tell me that you want to be a writer. Show me -- write!
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11-02-2010 #10
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I remember writing a piece about Greek gods for a writer's circle several years ago... I made it funny, and if I remember rightly, laughed my socks off writing it XD Because if it's not fun to write, why bother?
One main thing people tend to forget is that in olden times, Gods were just as damaged, insecure and devious as humans - perhaps even more so. Think of the possibilites of writing a story about insecure, paranoid adults, or a couple going through a rocky patch in their marriage, or a story of theft and revenge... but give the characters all the power that they want, to rip up the earth, change dimensions, command over mythical creatures, with an army of dispensible, willing humans to fight in each of their names..."There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." - Hamlet
http://bethanydean.tumblr.com
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11-06-2010 #11
Type in Ulysses 31 into google it was a great cartoon series about Greek Myths also horrible histories - when writing history for children I find it helps to tell it from the point of view of a child or group of children. Also make it gory - when I was teaching and making up historical stories at the museum the more gore the longer I could keep the attention of a school trip - naughty bits about sewers and boils etc always keep things interesting.
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