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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/26282
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

So I am still in the primitive stages of creating my own world and story, if I even do it that is. I am still trying to get a feel for where I want to go with it. The biggest issue would be that, my world would be heavily influenced from novels like Lord of The Rings, Redwall (children's series similar to Lord of the Rings with personification of animals), Shannara series, and so on. These are stories I grew up with and loved. This would also mean that, my story would be very cookie cutter fantasy. You can apply various elements from across literature works, but they will have a familiar feel due to the fact that the story wouldn't be "original" as the influence would be pretty evident.

1) Would having a cookie cutter story be okay? We see this recipe often repeated in anime where the story has a similar feel and an expected outcome with similar character personalities. It seems to work in anime as many of these shows are popular.

2) Because stories and books for that matter seem to be on the decline as more and more visual media becomes available, would I need surprise elements or twists that are otherwise unexpected from the said genre in hopes that the story would be read and not passed over as "another one of these"?

3) Would creating a story that ends with the enemy winning be something interesting to others? Let's face it, if a more realistic version of LOTR was created, chances are, middle earth would be ruled by Sauron right now. I for one, would love to read a follow up novel about a world ruled by orcs. Would a story that ended with the "bad side" winning be a desirable fresh outcome that people would read? The anime Attack on Titan is heavily popular. This story is depressing, hopeless, many main characters die, and humanity is losing the fight.

I hope these questions are not too opinion based as I am more interested to see if such a world would be desirable by an audience. What literature works would fall into a dark fantasy? Game of Thrones would be the closest body of work, however it still isn't quite the tone I am looking for. Would this be too niche?

I wonder if I would alienate the fantasy reader because it would be a different expected outcome. Take Star Wars for example. I personally was kind of put off with Rogue One for deviating too far from the Star Wars theme and plot. Many people do not feel this way, but I personally did.

**EDIT:**"If you yourself aren't going to buy into the world you're creating, you can cast-iron guarantee no-one else will." Let me clarify something that I have been seeing popping up in responses. It isn't that I am not passionate enough about my idea or that I am not 100% sold on the idea, it's that I am writing for others and not myself. You can be 100% passionate about the earth being flat and you believe it to your core, but that doesn't mean I am going to listen to you just because you are passionate.

I just wanted to say WOW. The feedback and offering of help and good research materials (books to read) has been more than I ever hoped to have received. I really appreciate everyone's positive critique that gave me a TON of thoughts to ponder over. It probably is pretty evident that this is my first attempt at writing a non academic piece of work so that is also why I am a bit nervous/hesitant. So thank you to everyone who offered advice and will provide any future insight after this edit. It is greatly appreciated and it gives me more confidence that I should further pursue this.

Original score: 21