posted
I recently spent a month writing a (very long) short story that was finished and ready for a rewrite. When I got my first draft back from a reader they had attached a note. It said: "I like this story very much but felt the whole time that I had read it before. When I reached the end I remembered the name of the story. It was called..."
They named a story (which I swear I have never read) and I looked it up online. The story was in fact a Nebula award winner from the sixties. I have not read it, but the plot synopsis on the site did indeed sound a lot like the story that I wrote. The main similarity being the surprise ending that I thought would be oh so original. There are enough differences that plagarism would not be a problem, but it would pale in comparison (I assume),so I changed the ending to make it different and completely lost the feel for the story. The story was 9k words. I hate the wasted time and I have almost zero interest in rewriting the story if it's already been done.
My questions then are: Has this happened to you? Would you read the nebula story to make yours different or just work out a different way to end it? Or would you just chalk it up to experience and put the story in a drawer?
posted
Don't change your story. You should be true to your story. Odds are most reader will not have read that other story, and the same likeable themes, ideas, and even twists seem to survive from story after story for hundreds of years, each new generation discovering old ideas for the first time in newer stories. Think of it as Darwenism applid to ideas, the best story ideas have a propensity to be in more stories and survive.
posted
A plot from the sixties? Stick to your story. You wrote it. write it as it was meant to be written. There aren't many new plots. As long as you are not blatently recycling them, you have no need to feel bad. I often read stories that I feel like I have read before. Because I read alot of sci-fi I have seen recycled plots. Even if the story were very similar, the tech would and can be alot different than forty years ago. I'll serve as a reading opinion if you need. I probably have the story on my shelf. You haven't even read the story. If anything it should be a good sign that your piece reminded the reader of something that he has read. We draw from what we have read and apply it to what we read now, and also how we write. To induce those sort of thoughts in a reader can be good.
I had the same feeling from a piece in F&F on which I commented. At first I felt familiar, then I thought that I had read the story before-word for word. then I realized that it was just an extremely well written piece that I wanted to read more of.
posted
Actually it happened to me with a story I wrote recently. It was critted on Baen and Critters Workshop both. Well, only one person made the comment in this case because the differences were pretty large--the story she said it was similar to was SF and mine was fantasy. So I looked the story up and the plot was similar. It was also a winner of either the Nebula or Hugo. (I don't recall which)
I considered re-writing but it was right as it was and the differences were much larger than any similarities.
As has been mentioned, there really aren't new plots. I'd post it somewhere like Baen's and see what reaction you get.
[This message has been edited by JeanneT (edited March 07, 2008).]
posted
First of all, pat yourself on the back for coming up with a story that's similar to a Nebula award winner!
As for changing the story... if one reader recognized it, chances are an editor will to. I'd consider changing the story, adding a new element, combining a different theme. Especially if much depends on that surprise ending.
posted
I agree with annepin. If you independently came up with a plot so similar to a Nebula award winner, you must be doing something right.
Definitely dig up the original story and read it yourself. You can't tell much from a synopsis. SF (like any genre fiction) is going to follow conventions that make many stories seem similar. Have you read the fantasy story about the farmboy who goes on a quest, discovers he's the chosen one and saves the world from evil? The difference is in the details. I'm sure you can easily differentiate your story by dressing it up in a new set of clothes without having to completely re-write it.
posted
Well, most of my stuff doesn't strike me as terribly original. My latest try, when I look at it coldly, has a big helping of a 1950s sci-fi movie (which I didn't much like), along with a dash of a novelette I read in Analog, oh, twenty or twenty-five years ago (whose title I don't even remember), along with the influence of a more recent animated TV show (not the one I wrote Internet Fan Fiction for). Everybody's already read it before---so why do it?
When I look at it more warmly---I see myself taking my own take on the ideas. There's only so much anyone can say that's absolutely original---how many dragon stories do you see floating around?---so all I can do is provide my unique outlook on it. (Of course, very few people are interested in my outlook as executed---certainly not interested enough to buy.)
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