It's been said that there are no new ideas, just ideas that are new to you, or old things done in new ways. This in fact may be true, but that doesn't mean that you can't come up with something that is fresh and "cool" and at least mostly unique to you.
Case in point, if you watch Dances with Wolves, The Last Samurai, and Avatar (the James Cameron one), you will see that they are essentially the same story set in different times, locations and with different characters. The same can be said about the first Fast and Furious movie which is essentially Point Break but with street racing cars instead of surfing and skydiving. These movies took something old and did it in a new way (lets not even touch reboots, which is an entirely different monster).
So now you ask "Okay Crash I understand about the the nothing new thing, but what does this have to do with Legos?" Let me explain.
There are hundreds if not thousands of Lego sets out there, just like there are hundreds of thousands of stories, and just like those stories, many of the Lego sets are established (aka copyrighted) properties such as Star Wars and Harry Potter. If you build one of those sets by the instructions then you have what is on the box and you can be proud of the accomplishment (some of them are feats indeed!) but is it your creation? No, it's the same thing that is one the box, the same thing that was in the movie, and the same thing that license owner still owns. However if you were to use the pieces from that Harry Potter set and that Star Wars set, and say, throw in some pieces from a couple other sets to create this new space pirate ship crewed by cool aliens who could use magic, well now you have something that is your own.
Writing is much like this process. Harry Potter could inspire you to write your own epic tale of young wizards. However if your character is an orphan who lives with his aunt and uncle and is whisked off to a school of magic after learning he is the chosen one....well you get my drift. One you're not going to get published, and two, if you do make any money or gain any fame your going to get a nice cease and desist order from J.K. Rowling's lawyer. However if you take the base idea, a kid going to school to become a wizard, then mix in different elements, like say the fact that humans learn magic from dragons, and perhaps the school isn't on Earth, maybe it's in a fairy realm on a cloud, and there are sky pirates that threaten the school from time to time. Well then you have something new and different and like the Legos, some one could say that they can see where your inspiration came from, well being inspired is far different from plagiarism. Artists (that includes writers) inspire each other all the time.
So when you're thinking about writing a story like _________________. Take a moment to break it down like you would a lego set and play around with the pieces, you might be surprised what you can build.
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