Agent Donald Maass Talks Originality and Craft

Donald Maass is one of the most well-known, successful agents out there. He's ghostwritten books, written other books about writing books, and sold a bazillion novels to publishers. He's a wealth of knowledge when it comes to writing and publishing.

That's why I got excited when, several months ago, Therese over at Writer Unboxed mentioned that Don would be a new columnist for them.

Well, Don's first column is up: "What is Originality?" Here is the first paragraph to whet your appetite:

"Is there such a thing as a bad premise for
a story? Without a doubt some story ideas
feel familiar. Bandwagon syndrome pretty
much guarantees that something successful
will soon have imitators. If the imitators are
successful you can count on a trend. If a trend
lasts then you can put money on it: that kind
of story within a few years will be done to death."
Read more!