So yeah, there has been a period of peace and happiness in the land. Life is good and normal. Then things start taking a turn for the worse, the old and ancient evil is returning and it's up to our protagonist to save the day: "You're a wizard, ______!" Slowly but surely the protagonist will progress through the story becoming stronger and wiser, normally with a few encounters with the mysterious enemy and his/her shadowy cohorts. Some people who really should be on the protagonist's side are massive douchebags and refuse to believe that the ancient evil could possibly return. Final battle. The day is saved. Everyone goes about their way again. Is this lacking in imagination? I started writing a scene based around a character, but as I tried to think further ahead this is where my mind was leading me. Should I force myself to come up with something new? Should I try and be a bit more original? Of course there's always the argument "It depends how well you write it." - What would it take to set this apart? Great writing alone, or perhaps some interesting characters? "You're answering your own question here." "Shut up! No I'm not!" "Yes you are." "Don't make me come back there, brain."
I'd like you to take that dialogue to a studio, mate. XD I wonder why good and evil have to be two different sides, even two entities. Why not a story in which the good guy and the bad guy are the same person? You know? EDIT: I guess I wasn't much of help. My point being, yes, you've answered your question yourself, and I have nothing to say in way of that...other than the random prompt above.
...and be original. Don't borrow from other writings in this genre. Blow the lid off convention. And have fun!
Little Tony has been told he is the last of the great wizards, destined to save the young High Empress from the Blight, only the two warriors destined to aid him are insufferable, pompous idiots, who refuse to take their younger peer seriously, get into endless confrontations with each other, make fun of Tony, deflower the High Empress, and wind up destroying the Blight without Tony's help, leaving little Tony in tears.
Why should the Dark Lord "return" instead of simply emerging from the dark? Why Dark Lord, not a wise wizard-king ready to take over new territories? Yes, an overused and overdone plot still can be successful : A young boy is the "choosen one". He is really smart and has high magical powers. He was born as a kid of poor ordinary people and his mother claims that he has no real father. Some higher order magical entity brought the kid into existence. According to the prophecy his fate is to be the one who balances out the evil forces and save the world. No, he is not Jesus, he is Anakin Skywalker
It's the monomyth, quite likely the oldest story there is. Don't let that detract you from writing. It just means you're writing in a tradition. Anakin, Jesus, The Avatar, master of all four elements, etc. They're all the same. That doesn't make them less interesting.
@HelloThere : if you haven't already, read the tvtropes page and Limyaael's rants. It will be a long reading but worth the time. http://tvtropes.org/ http://www.forresterlabs.com/limyaael/titlelistall
You're welcome. She lists many smaller or bigger mistakes writers often do. So many, that you will have a really hard time to write a story that avoids all of them. Of course you don't need to
Reverse the standard plot. The young man knows that he is the chosen one, but no one will take him seriously, not even the Evil One. He is also the local playboy and has a string of outraged fathers and desperate girlfriends chasing after him.
@HelloThere Well, something I found interesting: in Final Fantasy XII you are the antagonist without ever appearing so. Ashe, the lost princess of an overthrown kingdom, is sent on a quest by the gods to kill a defective god who just so happens to be in leagues with the kingdom that overthrew hers. Her quest is about revenge and getting back what is hers and the way to do it is by using forbidden powers that would annihilate the other kingdom basically. If she wins, the gods get to control the fate of humanity once more. If she loses or let's go of her anger, humanity is free to choose their own future rather than be puppeteered by the gods. It's all seen from a side character's PoV, but it makes you think of how truly good your good guys are...
