posted
I just saw the preview for the movie Source Code. Wouldn't you know that I have a story almost exactly along the same lines as this movie. I was at a major writers block with it, and was looking it over to figure out how I wrote myself into a corner. Wouldn't you know, this movie has to come out.
In one of my "how to" books on writing, it was said that this kind of thing happens. Now I know how aggravating that is.
posted
There will always be a story that's similar in plot or tone to yours. Art is imitation. We are either influenced by other works or by events, so all of our art is based on something or other.
Don't get discouraged. Your characters will be unique.
posted
I had a similar issue-- I have been developing a story idea for a few YEARS now, but started writing the story last year. I was putting the final touches on it, when I (foolish me...) picked up an issue of Realms of Fantasy. Found a story, with a different plot but a similar idea... It can be depressing, but once you've been doing this long enough you realize that it happens all the time--there are only so many ideas in the world, and humans are drawn toward certain archetypes, etc. I wouldn't worry too much. It's still your story, your characters. A bit of you always shines through in your stories. THat's what makes them unique.
When I was in highschool, I wrote the beginnings of a modern adaptation for a Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, which began with a scene where a baseball player gets knocked out. I handed it in to my English teacher and two years later a Disney movie came out with the same premise and introductory scene.
Did they steal my idea? I could only be so vain! I read so many new stories and I constantly think, hey, that is like that Asimov story or I saw a stargate episode with that plotline.
I'm sure most people who have been writing for a while could post a similar predicament to what you mention from their own experiences.
posted
As Jane Yolen has pointed out, ideas are not the hard part.
If you've been having writers block with the story, EVOC, consider pulling out some other random idea and plugging it in to the story. It may be just what you need to break that block, and it will certainly make your story different from that movie.
And, as for mrmeadors, and your finding a published
quote:story, with a different plot but a similar idea...
again, the idea is not the hard part. Coming up with a workable plot for an idea is much harder. I hope you went ahead and sent that story out--maybe not to REALMS OF FANTASY, but somewhere.
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posted
There are cases where I'd worry that I'd been scooped, but this isn't one of them. If there's a relatively unique concept that's crazy popular, then you might want to change around to avoid looking like the copycat. I think TV shows are more dangerous than movies in this regard, as they stay around longer. Also, highly unique situations are prone to this. If you were writing a book about a mentally strained young woman trying to prepare for a role in a ballet, told through her unreliable eyes, well... you'd get laughed out of any publishing house for ripping off Black Swan. If, on the other hand, you wrote about a giant alien battle in Los Angeles, I doubt if it would be such a big deal even though Battle: Los Angeles is out right now.
I recall a year or so ago someone in this forum was asking a question about a crime thriller he was writing where the unique twist was that the serial killer was a forensics expert for the police. A good half-dozen or so people on the forum broke the bad news to that poster that this was pretty much the plot of Dexter, a fairly popular Showtime original series. The uniqueness of the character - we haven't seen a bunch of killers that are forensics officers - is what made that work impossible. If he just had a killer that was also a policeman, he'd be safe.
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I can't remember the story or the idea, but I remember working on one thing, then seeing an anime movie that had what struck me as the exact same idea. I think I finished the story...I might've submitted it...but at least now it's completely forgotten, even by me.
Really, it's less about the idea than how it's told---how well you tell it. I can't say any of my ideas are that original...I just pack in plot and character and background and theme and point and moral as best as I can, and hope for the best.
quote:If you've been having writers block with the story, EVOC, consider pulling out some other random idea and plugging it in to the story. It may be just what you need to break that block, and it will certainly make your story different from that movie.
That is a good idea. I have been going back and looking at this story. I wrote myself into a corner on this one. I will break out the notebook and see what works.
posted
One of the things you can do is put each of your ideas onto a separate 3x5 file card and then shuffle the cards. Then draw one at random and see if you can figure out how to incorporate that idea into the story. If you can't, then draw another one, and so on, until you find the one that charges your engine.
You can also try putting random ideas together, at least three of them, and then see what kinds of stories you can generate from making them work together.
Sometimes, all you need to break a block is just one more idea.
posted
Remember the movie "Eagle Eye"? I had that idea two months before the book came out and got 13,000 words into the novel. Of course, the characters are very different, and the circumstances are different. It was discouraging, though, to see my cool tech idea on the big screen and know I wasn't the one to reveal it.
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