Art Inspires Art

Something I say a lot when I go to the movies and sit through the trailers I decided to show up early for is “Can they come up with anything that’s not a sequel or a remake? We’ve seen this before.” That last bit, we’ve seen this before, is the nail in the coffin for a lot of creators. It is the base of imposter syndrome. Every story has already been told…only, no one can tell your story but you. 

The thing is, we have to read before we can write. As people, we absorb that which came before us in order to produce that which will remain when we’re gone. Just consider the evolution of the Romeo and Juliet story, which doesn’t even start with the famous Shakespeare version but the Italian tale by Matteo Bandello that was shifted into verse by Arthur Brooke (The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet) and then into prose by William Painter (Palace of Paradise). Later, we get West Side Story and Warm Bodies, all the greatest forbidden love stories that should make you say “I’ve read that before,” but you can’t seem to defend that it is way different from the others.

Look beyond theater (and film), and think about all of the other kind of art that has developed from the same story. How many songs reference the star-crossed lovers? How many paintings have captured a scene of the fatal tale? Too many to count. So many that you may not even recognize that it is an ode to the story right away. 

We are writers. We read to write and we are told to write what we know. What we know are the stories we’ve read and the lives we’ve lived, so the two come together to make our own tale that is a mix of the familiar and the unique. 

My favorite version of art inspiring art is fanfiction. Fanfiction is where so many of us start, creating Y/N adventures that take an ordinary person into the extraordinary worlds of their favorite movies, shows, books, bands, and celebrities. In 2013, we were being whisked away to L.A. by the members of One Direction because Harry saw you in the crowd at his concert and simply had to get to know you. Right around that time or a little later, we found out we were needed at Hogwarts where we caught the eye of Draco Malfoy and let him into our chambers. 

I myself was writing myself into the creepypasta world with my best friend, throwing myself into the dark and violent. From there, a real series I am working on sprouted (Just) and that is another aspect of art inspiring art. Sure, I may be using the term “art” loosely here, but you get the idea. We are working off of what already exists and adding our voice to the conversation. 

So, the next time you are looking at your own writing and think to yourself, “I’ve read this before,” don’t let that stop you. You know something so deeply that it is resonating with you, which means it will resonate with others. Trust me, your story has not already been written.