I'm probably wrong about this, but I don't think it's possible to have a 100% origional story anymore. I mean, how long have people been telling stories? Hundreds of years? Maybe thousands? That doesn't mean it can't be origional, just not full-blown, um, origional. I mean, I've got a screenplay going about a guy who has to live in a boarding school for kids with rare physical deformities. My classmates in screenwriting think it's pretty "out there", but it's still a "normal person living among freaks" story, which's probably been done to death. Um, sorry if that didn't make sense. I'm a little out of it right now.
"You should do some research"? Seriously? That's your argument? That's called an "ad hominem fallacy," my friend. I know what "most" academics say because I live and work in those same academic circles. And what I say is that it's complete crap. It's a generalization--a stereotyping, a pigeonholing, whatever you want to call it--of endings (which is basically all that "tragedy" and "comedy" mean, a death versus a marriage; and a "quest" story means that something is "found" in the ending; so all of these "pre-defined" plots are defined by their ending, yes?). And the truth is that academics have been saying this for about twenty or thirty years, which is not nearly as long as academia has existed. And academics will be saying something different twenty or thirty years from now, or less. If it's true that all plots have been done before, why don't you name some anti-villains for me? Because honestly, I read hundreds of books each year and I watch tons of movies and TV, and I have seen perhaps one anti-villain in my entire life. An anti-villain as a protagonist, I've NEVER seen. An anti-hero versus an anti-villain? I'm waiting for it, with baited breath, seriously.
Truly? Ad hominem fallacy you say? That might have been true were I attacking anything...and had I not supported my claim with examples. Just so you know, this: was my argument. That latter statement was merely a suggestion, and not even one that was meant to be insulting. So far all you have done is say that I am incorrect and try and back it up with character examples. I thought this was about plot. I think I even said something about characters changing but overall plots are redone to death. I don't care about an anti-hero or an anti-villain, but I can guarantee such a story involving those characters would probably fall under one or more of the plots I listed.
Depending on your opponent, that either falls under man vs man [includes any other sentient being] or man vs god [includes a force of nature!]
yup!... cog strikes again... i missed nada, salty!... in 'man vs man'--as with the other two--'man' = 'mankind'... meaning the entire human race!
