I have a brother-in-law who hates the fact that old movies keep being remade. Never mind the fact that we all went to the new Total Recall last weekend. He thinks people should come up with their own brand new ideas instead of redoing old ones.
The thing is... nothing is a new idea, not really. I can't remember which author said, there are no new stories, just new ways of spinning old stories (obviously not a direct quote). No matter what, the thing you're writing or reading has already been done. Say you're writing a spy story. Maybe you have a rogue agent. Or a double agent. Maybe one of your characters appears good but turns out bad or the other way around. Your spy probably has some amazing gadgets. The setting is most likely amazing locations around the world.
Sound familiar? I've described every spy movie or book I've ever read. But they are all different. I wouldn't compare The Gallagher Girls with Mission Impossible. I wouldn't compare Spooks with Get Smart. Even though their bare bones are the SAME, the stories are different, the characters are different, the feel is different.
Of course, then there's the people who actually redo old stories. Like me. Why do we do this? When I first had the idea to do a Persuasion redux I balked. Not just because I was worried if I could pull it off (too close to the story? too way out there away from the original?). I remember thinking to myself that I should write something my own. Like, can't I come up with my own ideas?
I think we redo old favorites because they are just that- favorites. They are stories we LOVE. Stories that evoke major emotions within us. Stories we feel close to, like an old friend. For me, I was fascinated by putting Persuasion into the modern world. How would it change? How would it stay the same? Would the story really be much different nowadays than in Jane Austen's time?
Maybe I just feel the need to defend myself. Especially since my WIP is also a redux, although I'm going much further afield from the original. But I don't see the problem in remaking movies or reduxing books. (Provided the author has already passed on. Don't get me started on publishing fanfic.) When I hear of a redux of a book I loved, guess what? I'm first in line to buy it. Because I know that I will feel a connection to it at the very least, and at most, I will LOVE it like I LOVED the original.
What are your thoughts on reduxes?
The thing is... nothing is a new idea, not really. I can't remember which author said, there are no new stories, just new ways of spinning old stories (obviously not a direct quote). No matter what, the thing you're writing or reading has already been done. Say you're writing a spy story. Maybe you have a rogue agent. Or a double agent. Maybe one of your characters appears good but turns out bad or the other way around. Your spy probably has some amazing gadgets. The setting is most likely amazing locations around the world.
Think these spies are the same?
Sound familiar? I've described every spy movie or book I've ever read. But they are all different. I wouldn't compare The Gallagher Girls with Mission Impossible. I wouldn't compare Spooks with Get Smart. Even though their bare bones are the SAME, the stories are different, the characters are different, the feel is different.
Of course, then there's the people who actually redo old stories. Like me. Why do we do this? When I first had the idea to do a Persuasion redux I balked. Not just because I was worried if I could pull it off (too close to the story? too way out there away from the original?). I remember thinking to myself that I should write something my own. Like, can't I come up with my own ideas?
I think we redo old favorites because they are just that- favorites. They are stories we LOVE. Stories that evoke major emotions within us. Stories we feel close to, like an old friend. For me, I was fascinated by putting Persuasion into the modern world. How would it change? How would it stay the same? Would the story really be much different nowadays than in Jane Austen's time?
Maybe I just feel the need to defend myself. Especially since my WIP is also a redux, although I'm going much further afield from the original. But I don't see the problem in remaking movies or reduxing books. (Provided the author has already passed on. Don't get me started on publishing fanfic.) When I hear of a redux of a book I loved, guess what? I'm first in line to buy it. Because I know that I will feel a connection to it at the very least, and at most, I will LOVE it like I LOVED the original.
What are your thoughts on reduxes?