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From: uq775@freenet.Victoria.BC.CA (Roger Carbol)
Subject: Originality: Overhyped?
Message-ID: <1996Apr2.235417.15001@freenet.victoria.bc.ca>
Sender: news@freenet.victoria.bc.ca (News Manager)
Reply-To: uq775@freenet.Victoria.BC.CA (Roger Carbol)
Organization: The Victoria Freenet Association (VIFA), Victoria, B.C., Canada
Date: Tue, 2 Apr 1996 23:54:17 GMT
Lines: 23


It's interesting that many of the great novels, etc, were not
exactly original works.  "Romeo & Juliet" was based on a previous
play; Homer stole all sorts of things from the mythology of the day.
 
As a thought experiment (I'm not explicitly suggesting this sort
of thing be attempted in reality) a contest could be designed such
that authors were required to include certain compulsory elements.

For example, a contest could be devised such that all entries had
to be solveable within two hours; must contain at least one
riddle puzzle; the protagonist must have a severe phobia of some
sort which impedes his progress at some point; and one of the
NPCs must be a frog.
 
This is not completely foreign from having a roomful of
art students sketch the same model.
 
Anyways, give it a few thoughts.


Roger Carbol // uq775@freenet.Victoria.BC.CA

