Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-30710533-20180121005050/@comment-30542316-20180121044758

A technique I learned is to take something you like and take something else you like, twist them around and combine them to make it your own. I don't believe in 100% originality, so don't be afraid if your characters seem to similar to another, just slowly develop them and they should start to stand out as their own original character. Same thing for setting, though setting is less strict than characters.

Never focus too much on world building, that leads to world building syndrome which is where you focus so much on world building you forget to write the plot. A lot of people here create these over-the-top cosmologies but then their characters are just meh. Characters > plot > world building. That's my order of priority.

Most importantly is to have fun. Be creative, but being creative doesn't mean force originality, let it come naturally. That's really all I have right now.