Originality

Lets be honest with ourselves. Nothing is original in fiction. Every now and then you'd have some work of fiction you'd think is original but someone else would point out its not the case and show that work of fiction was borrowed from another work of fiction. So when you're writing a story, how can you make a story your own?

The simplest answer is flipping a common concept and turn it into something unique. Lets take a look at a couple of examples. Buffy The Vampire Slayer is as close as we could get to not only have an American created Magical Girl series but the closest remake of Sailor Moon the US will ever produce. And Whedon did a couple of things to shake up the common magical girl trope. The Chosen One is a Mean Girl. Yeah, Buffy once started out as a Mean Girl who then evolved into a hero. The Tuxedo Mask character? What if he started out as a villain? And that is what made Buffy stand out amongst other magical girl series.

Then there is my series The Lady Knight which is created from two simple concepts. What if a magical girl series was told from the POV from an supporting character and What if said magical girl is a sociopath? Now this is far beyond just a simple deconstruction of the genre. The series follows two key themes, such as Screw Destiny and True Companions. And the series examines the true meaning behind true companions. So there is a hidden sense of idealism behind the concept.

If you ever have a character or a concept that you find common in your works then tweak them a little till you've got them out of their comfort zone.