This Bestselling Author Has Written The Same Story Twelve Different Times

…And I Bet You Know Them All

An undefeatable superhero. His mission? To save the world from an unknown villain. Danger. Mystery. Tension. And, of course, there is also the girl.

Everybody has seen the movies about the Secret Intelligence Service Agent James Bond, better known by his code number 007. He is a heavy smoker, consumes large amounts of alcohol, and yes, sometimes he is a sexist. Yet, we all know that he is a good guy.

If we break it down to what the story around James Bond is actually about, we can wrap it up in one sentence: An agent is called on an impossible mission. Will he succeed? Of course, he will. Will he get the girl along the well? You know it.

The fictional character that is James Bond has been invented by the bestselling author Ian Fleming. The British author, who died in the 1960s was a spy himself during World War II. He later stated that the characteristics of his fictional hero were inspired by many people that he met in the war.

Ian Fleming was not born to be a writer. He didn’t study literature, or English, or anything that could possibly help him in becoming a novelist. Yet, he had the knowledge, and he definitely had the talent.

Fleming wrote not less than twelve stories about James Bond. He even published short stories about the grumpy but fascinating agent. Hollywood later adapted his stories to more than twenty blockbusters, most of which were huge successes. The role of James Bond was handed from big actors like Sean Connery to even bigger ones like Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig.

The movies were accompanied by the Bond-Girls and later on also a title song which almost always made it to the top of the charts.

So, to sum up my point: James Bond was a huge success. Yet, Ian Fleming did a pretty simple thing: He created a story that people liked to read. And then he rewrote the same story eleven times. The agent James Bond is called on a mission. And in the end, he solves it perfectly and also gets the girl. The way he gets there and the missions themselves may vary.

But the core of the story stays the same — throughout each book, throughout each movie.

So, what can creative writers learn from the success of Fleming and Bond? You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. You don’t need to write a story that is super complex. Your idea doesn’t need to be completely new, your characters don’t need to be super complex.

If you have an idea, plot your characters well. Draw a clear picture of your hero and your villain. Get your readers to follow along with your story. Write in your own style. And if you’re actually done and people liked what they read? Do the same thing over and over again.

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