Post History

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/44863
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/44863
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I think for option 2, the problem is if you research the same things _everyone else_ researches, your fantasy will reflect that, and thus have...

> unoriginal/boring settings that have been done to death

Can you research other cultures? For example, in answering someone's question about fire/ice and elements, I found this site [https://fireupwaterdown.com](https://fireupwaterdown.com) , and from there, let's look at this post: [https://fireupwaterdown.com/2015/10/14/dragons-a-force-of-nature/](https://fireupwaterdown.com/2015/10/14/dragons-a-force-of-nature/)

Dragons aren't always fire, some are wind or rain. I think part of what made _The Never Ending Story_ by Michael Ende stand out to me was the Luck Dragon -- instead of a typical European Dragon, Ende brought in a more eastern conception.

A cultural-sensitivity reader/advisor is a good idea -- you want to be careful you're not fetishizing the "exotic" or doing things that are done to death in other places. (Killing your particular superhero's girlfriend may make sense for the story as it is, but DO note that it's part of a larger pattern of killing superhero's girlfriends.)

But picking a few elements from another culture and having them be baseline in your fantasy may allow great new **combinations**. I highlight that word, because I feel that most originality is about mixing the right things together in a new way.

_[Black Panther](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Panther_(film)#design)_, besides being part of the Marvel (fantasy) cinematic universe, also postulated an African nation without a colonialist past. The designers used elements from the real countries of Lesotho (blanket design) and Congo (rare minerals). Each tribe within Wakanda was based on details from real, sub-Saharan nations. Things were mixed, but with thought and specifics, not a random mish-mosh. (I'm white & American, so I may be missing many nuances, of course. I'm an optimist though, and assume that this was all respectfully done.)

So my advice for research is to go farther afield than you expect.

Original score: 3