For as far back as I can remember, the muses have smiled upon me. I've been inspired everywhere and by everything. In recent times, I've tried to focus myself to be more original, try doing things that have never been done before.
Then one day, while I was browsing TV Tropes, I learned the truth. These days, more or less every story can be boiled down into one of seven basic storylines, or else a Frankenstein-plot of two or more combined (much like the plot of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, which is a combination of The Quest and Rebirth plots). Here's a link to the page.
[link]

Now, at first this seemed like a major letdown. What's the purpose in recreating the same story? The thing is, it wouldn't actually be the same story- it would be different from everything else, just in subtle ways. The seven basic plots aren't a hinderance to creating a story any more than a skeleton is a hinderance to an animal (no offense to invertebrates).
In fact, one could look at this as a wonderful thing. We don't have to make up a plot, we just need to pick one. The storymaker's legacy lies in the details, in the unique nuances. We've got a foundation upon which to build something wonderful, and I'm going to take advantage of that.