So, I had this brilliant idea to write a novella, and I was totally convinced that I had discovered the next great literary frontier: a comical novel about my nose. I mean, think about it—the nose! The unsung hero of our faces, overshadowed by the eye, that diva of the face. But, of course, doubt crept in. So, like any humble writer, I decided to turn to this subreddit for some enlightened feedback. Unfortunately, my posts were swiftly removed—probably because of the sheer genius of the concept.
But here's the kicker: apparently, some guy named Nikolai Gogol had the audacity to steal my idea and write a novella about a nose. It’s called The Nose. Not even a creative title. Really, Nikolai? Just The Nose? Not even a subtitle like "An Introspective Journey of Self-Discovery and Mucus?" Honestly, not very original if you ask me.
Not wanting to churn out something that would be seen as a mere rip-off of a dead Russian guy’s work, I’ve decided to pivot—redefine the body part genre, if you will. I’m thinking of writing my novella about a new part of my anatomy: the elbow. I mean, come on—who’s ever written about the elbow? Exactly. This is territory untouched by literature. The elbow is basically the forgotten middle child of the human body—always there, always bending, yet never getting any love.
But here’s my dilemma: I’m not sure which body parts are totally off-limits for novella writing at this point. Can anyone shed some light on which parts of the body have already been overwritten and should be avoided? I don’t want to end up writing a tale about, like, the armpit or something—someone's probably already done that too.
Also, quick shoutout to the author of The Nose—Nikolai, if you see this, I just want to say: Good job for stealing my idea. I guess I’ll just wait my turn while you rest in peace, collecting dust in the annals of classic Russian literature (oooh annals — maybe I can write about the butthole!).