The Ungettable Get

"Remember it is all about the get. We cannot make a splash if we only get the gets that everybody has already got. I need the ungettable. Got it?" - Diane Roberts in Someone Like You

I watch quite a few agents on Twitter, and I devour any post or comment on their query statistics. I find them enlightening and a bit depressing. One thing that I see commented on is related to originality (or lack thereof). That's what agents are looking for; the original idea that can spark the imagination of millions of readers. They are looking for the ungettable get.

I take this concept to heart. I want to be fresh and original. Often I think I'm original, and I realize that I'm not the only writer out there that thinks that (based on the query critiques that I see posted).

Here's a true story from my own experience. I signed up for Writer's Digest Online course a couple of years ago. (The Fundamentals of Fiction Writing in case you are curious, and I know you are...) There were perhaps ten of us in the class, all at varying stages of wanting to write, polish, or perfect our fiction technique. I had decided that I wanted to write some kind of historical fiction thriller with a dash of romance. I researched historical anomalies and after careful consideration, I decided to focus one of the main character's life long quest on the Voynich manuscript. I had never heard of the Voynich manuscript prior to researching it, and it was well down the list of "ancient mysteries" that I uncovered. I was sure I had found something fresh and original. Imagine my surprise and chagrin when another student in my class posted a response to my story telling me that HIS story was focused on the Voynich manuscript as well!

That was the first blow to my writer's ego, but it taught me a valuable lesson. I am forced to constantly ask myself the question am I truly writing that "ungettable get", or am I just tweaking a well-trodden story?

What do you think? Do you think there is such a think as an original idea in fiction anymore?