Why Authors Are Amazing: 1¢ Stories by Meg

Everyone knows authors are amazing, and honestly, it's not hard to see why. It's not even the fact that they're able to get published by bribing or seducing agents (I'm kidding), or the fact that they're so darn lovely and nice most of the time. Or even their ability to lure you in to read their books. No, I'm going back to before they managed to get an agent. Before they were popular on Twitter. Before they even started writing.

It's called INCEPTION.

Authors are amazing just by coming up with the ideas they do. There're so many books out there that it's hard to find books that are truly original. Most books are unique, but sometimes they do remind you of another book you had read before. However, authors these days are able to twist what may sound like common plots into something totally different. That's amazing. So here, I'm going to explore how some of the stories may have turned out had the author not thought of something great. Just for fun! (Though it is kind of silly, even in my opinion!) Click on the book's link to see the actual plot.

The below plots may contain some spoilers for those who have not read the book.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

PLOT: Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen lives in the ruins of what was once known as North America. Panem, a harsh but shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts, keeps its people in check by forcing one girl and one boy between the ages of twelve to eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a brutal game where there can only be one winner and everyone must fight to the death. 

On the day of the reaping, Katniss heads to the town square with her sister. Effie Trinket reaches into the bowl filled with thousands of names. Everyone holds their breath. Effie pulls out her hand and calls out the name: "Sarah Peters!" The Everdeen family sighs in relief. Another year of safety. 

(Okay, maybe The Hunger Games is really quite original, so this story is for fun!)

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

PLOT: In the future, a restrictive government rules love as a disease that will tear mankind apart. Every human who turns eighteen has to receive a special "government-mandated cure that prevents the delirium of love and leads to a safe, predictable, and happy life." Ninety-five days before her eighteenth birthday, Lena looks forward to being cured. Her best friend Hana doesn't fill her mind with thoughts about love, about rebellion. Lena doesn't meet Alex at all. Lena doesn't fall in love. On her eighteenth birthday, she's wheeled into a room. 

She comes out cured. Another emotionless drone.

(Another original story, but Oliver managed to twist it into something so emotional and heartbreaking. Thoroughly enjoyed Delirium!)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

PLOT: Harry Potter has spent the last ten years of his life living in the Dursleys' house of Number 4, Privet Drive, in misery. He's bullied by his cousin Dudley and his gang, and he finds that strange things happen to him without explanation. He's been living in the cupboard under the stairs for as long as he could remember, being tormented by his aunt and uncle. Harry always knew there was something special, something different about him, but he could never prove it. When Aunt Petunia announces that Harry will be going to the public high school, Stonewall High, Harry can't help but feel a little relieved that he won't be seeing Dudley as often. 

On that fateful day, Uncle Vernon doesn't order Harry to retrieve the mail. He goes and gets it himself instead, and turns beet red and then pale green faster than a set of traffic lights when he sees the thick envelope addressed to "Mr. Potter, the Cupboard Under the Stairs". He tears it up and poor Harry never finds out the truth about himself or even knows that there was a letter for him that day. He goes to Stonewall High, never knowing that there was a magical world that would have accepted him with open arms. 

(THE WORST NIGHTMARE. No words. At all. At least Hagrid came to the rescue in the real book!)

Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris

PLOT: Janelle Tenner is used to having a lot of responsibility. She works part time as a lifeguard while looking out for her younger brother Jared. When Janelle is knocked down by a truck that comes spinning out of nowhere, she stays dead. While Ben tries to save her, another truck comes barreling toward him and knocks him dead. And the Tenner family mourns her death. No one ever finds out about the countdown that's going to destroy Earth and everyone dies in the end.

(Dying and then coming back to life is probably quite common, but I loved what Norris did with her debut novel. Combining what readers would have thought to be magic with science-fiction and parallel universes and this is what you get. A book full of amazingness.) 

Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick

PLOT: While Alex is hiking into the woods to say goodbye to her parents and to some personal demons, an electromagnetic pulse sweeps across the sky. At first glance, nothing seems to have changed. Until she encounters them: two children - no, monsters - feasting on raw human flesh. She turns to run just as the creatures give chase. She manages to get away, only to find Ellie and Tom, two people whom she begins to care for very much. And then one day, they are killed in their beds. Alex never developed a special power. She didn't have a better sense of smell than the average person. If she had, maybe they might still have been alive. 

(Again, zombie books are pretty common, but one thing an average zombie doesn't tell you is how the zombies came about in the first place. Granted, Ashes doesn't REALLY tell you either, but at least you have some idea, right? Plus, did zombie books mention the whatever-it-was-that-created-them creating humans with 'super powers' as well? Nope!)

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Ha! Pretty stupid, right? That's what you get when you hang around with me too much. ;-) Authors are awesome, being able to think of different ways to twist and turn cliche stories into totally original ones! Do you have any stories to tell? Or do you know of some very original stories that you'd totally recommend to anyone? Leave them in the comments below!

- Meg