A hypothetical question for writers...

[Xicrog]

...If you become published one day, would you rather be remembered for having excellent prose, dialogue, and overall writing skill, but not really bringing anything new to your genre; or for being original, but not necessarily writing that well?

What made me think about this is that a lot of people criticize JK Rowling's actual ability to write, but you can't deny she was incredibly inventive with her books. And then you have the formulaic fantasy writers (some of whom are not all that bad) who also sell quite well.

Personally? I'd much rather be original. It just means so much more to me because I' ve lost all traces of sanity reading cliche fantasy novels. Or maybe that was from being around Zylaa and Katanal too long. I'm not entirely sure.

I know these aren't mutually exclusive traits, but like the title says it's just a hypothetical question. And this is probably not the best place to put this thread. If Zylaa wants me to move it, I can.

[Shadaras]

If I could only choose one, it would be originality. Yes, I'll probably end up with fairly good writing skills, but originality is so much better a thing to be remembered for.

[Zylaa]

Originality all the way.

Of course, one mark of good writing is that it's original in the phrases it uses and such- but I know what you mean. All the excellent writing in the world will only make trite plotlines bearable.

[Elycien]

Originality, like everyone else. XDDDDD But seriously. When I was younger, I was a pretty good writer for my age, but my plots were awful. XD (If you want proof, just look at the Fruits Basket fanfic I have up on my FF.net account... x3; ) I was sooo cliche... but hey, I was really young, and writing all those cliche things helped me improve my writing style, so I'm not complaining ^^

[Zylaa]

Yes, I can't complain that my early writing is awful and agonizing to read, because nobody starts out writing brilliantly.

And if they do, that's no fair. >_>