It seems that a great deal of time and energy is invested by people
who wish either to suggest "new" fanfic ideas and/or those who 
take it upon themselves to point out that such stories have been
done before.  Not to say that these efforts are completely unworthwhile,
but I take issue with the assumption that saying "it's been done"
automatically invalidates an idea.  

It is unnecessary and counterproductive to place such a high premium 
on complete originality.  Many of the finest stories out there were written
after a similar concept had already been explored by another.  And 
what of it?  Was Richard Lawson's work truly the first "Ranma gets 
stuck as a girl" story?  Are RpM's stories really the first "Ryouga and
Ukyou" tales?  Was "A Faint Hope" the first Ranma/Star Wars crossover?
The fact that others had taken a stab at these ideas in no way 
diminishes their value or quality.  

Consider if Takahashi-san had employed this line of thinking.  "What
if Ranma were roped into some esoteric sort of Martial Arts tournament...
oh, wait, it's been done."  "Suppose I introduce another fiancee for
Ranma... oh, hold on, I've done that."  "Let's say that Ryouga learns
a new technique and challenges... darn, I did that too."  Each of her 
"repetitive" storylines had their own richness and distinctiveness.  The
same potential exists for fanfictions which follow the same theme, so 
long as they are crafted with skill and devotion.  

One might argue that it is a bit absurd to get overly hung up on the
principle of originality when one is writing with somebody else's 
characters.  Given the number of Ranma stories out there, it seems
futile to grasp desperately about for ideas which have never been done.  If 
you stretch hard enough, you can assuredly come up with something
unique ("What if Ranma fell in love with a hedgehog?"  "What if
Ryouga was really the Second Coming?"  "What if Akane grew an
extra head and stole a prototype spaceship?").  But can you write a
*good* story about it?  I'll take quality over originality any day.

Grayson Towler
grayson@rigroup.net

http://www.rigroup.com/~grayson/relentless