I know exactly what you mean, Meela. I find it hard not to be inspired by other works, especially Tolkien (and Lucas, to a slightly lesser extent). I've done (or started) a lot of the things he did, like create languages (still working on that part [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img] ), draw maps, and write up a timeline. I worried that this would seem like I was trying too hard to be like the good Professor, but then I remembered why I did all those things in the first place - I needed them for the story. I needed at the very least a basic vocabulary for two languages because it simply wouldn't have made sense for everything to be one language (for my little story, anyway). I needed the maps to get the basic idea of where towns and countries were, and how far they were from each other. And the timeline started as a fun way for me to write out histories for the world, but quickly turned into a nice method for keeping all the events in the storyline in order.
As for plot and characters, well, the way I see it, every writer is different. And unless that writer practices blatant plagerism, there are going to be many differences in each fantasy novel. Now as it is with any genre, there are going to be clichés and random similarities. But that's where the challenge of being creative comes in. Also, I think a lot of it comes down to the characters - if the reader feels for these people, sees them as individuals with their own strengths and flaws, wants very much for them to succeed (or in the case of most bad guys, fail miserably), then I think that will really make your story stand out.
Just as long as one of your main characters isn't Daragorn, King of Bondor, then I'm pretty sure you'll be all right. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]
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Remember, Tolkien invented modern fantasy, so you're bound to overlap in some areas.
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So very true. He pretty much laid the path for all fantasy writers in the 20th century and beyond, so it would take a lot
not to draw a bit from him.
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Just remember that if you write from the heart, you'll have a very unique piece of work.
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Very well put. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]