posted
I have an idea for a sci-fi story, but I think there's a good chance that it may have been done before. Should I find out if it's already been done? I'd like to submit it somewhere, and I don't want it rejected on the basis that it's been done. I'm not very well read in sci-fi, just Asimov mostly.
Posts: 150 | Registered: May 2005
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posted
What is it? People here are reasonably well-read. We could probably help you out with that if you're comfortable with sharing your idea.
Posts: 1041 | Registered: Aug 2004
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posted
why don't you post an outline here (somewhere, F&F?) and ask? i wouldn't count myself as an 'expert', but I've been reading scifi/fantasy for 40 years, and might be able to answer. i bet there are others here who have read even more than i.
Posts: 2710 | Registered: Jul 2004
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posted
We were talking about this over in the "quote from OSC" thread by meenie. I lean to the side of just writing it. I'm not aware of a reference guide that would tell you where to find different themes in sci fi books. There is such a thing for movies, I think it is called the movie hound guide. There is a section on movies about trains, movies about whales, stuff like that.
Or you could give us a general picture and some of the well read people here could let you know.
posted
Okay, thanks. It's only an idea, as yet no plot, really. Basically, sometime in the future psychology will be advanced enough to "cure" people of their personality flaws merely by hooking them up to a virtual reality machine that takes them through a special personality altering program.
I thought I could have a couple who had previously agreed that after a year of marriage each one would "change" something in his/her personality for the other's benefit. The procedure is expensive so they can only afford to change one of them (Oo! I just thought of that just now while I was typing. Cool.)
posted
There was a tv show (Night Gallery?) that had an elderly couple who had pooled their life savings to put one of them through a rejuvenation machine, only to find that if they both couldn't go through it, that they preferred to end their lives together as an old couple.
posted
Seeing as how it's VR related, I'm sure it's been done to some degree. However, if the focus of the story is on the couple, rather than the technology, I wouldn't worry about it. Also, I'm imagining some great backfire potential following the procedure. Sounds like a fun idea. I'd just go with it.
Posts: 270 | Registered: Jan 2005
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posted
It couldn't be on the technology because I don't know enough to make it sound real if I really had to explain it. Is that what you call soft sci-fi? So yes, it would be focused on the couple.
Posts: 150 | Registered: May 2005
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posted
I've seen a few outer limits like this. One was a VR machine that rehabilitated prison inmates. (I think it accidently fried the guy so he was trapped in the VR and he turned it into a criminal maker.) The other one had a psychiatrist that went into the patient's mind (I think it was through VR) and actually fought their deamons. (they did a pretty good job with the deamons.)
Posts: 1895 | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
I think the important thing is not to copy ideas. You have come up with this idea on your own, so whether or not it has been done before you are likely to have a different perspective on it. And remember, if it's interesting to you, it should be interesting to others.
Posts: 575 | Registered: Dec 2003
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posted
There's actually a Victorian story, which I've forgotten the name of, with a similar plot except that it's mesmerism that changes the personalities.
My point being that there are no new ideas under the sun. What's new is the way you tell it.
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I've seen similar concepts used, usually a prisoner who has to get a mind wipe, etc. I don't think it has been overdone though, so you should be good.
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Your idea reminds me of "A Clockwork Orange." I wouldn't let that worry you though, there's an infinite number of possible stories in a single idea.
Posts: 103 | Registered: Jun 2004
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You know, I never did see that movie since the subject matter repulsed me. However, I do remember reading a MAD Magazine parody of it way back when.
Posts: 150 | Registered: May 2005
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posted
I read the book and I must admit, when people started talking about prisoner rehabilitation that was my first thought. I wouldn't worry about your story following those lines. I say go for it.
By the way, that is one hard read, I struggled through the entire thing, but I think it was worth it in the end.
posted
Didn't they use negative reinforcement to change the prisoners behavior, though? My method would be quite different, having more to do with rewriting brain patterns (and don't ask me to explain that, it just sounded good). Using the virtually reality program would be like experiencing an intense dream. The client or patient would have the choice of being able to remember the dream or not.
Posts: 150 | Registered: May 2005
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posted
The key-word is probably "psychotronics". It had some popularity in a number of stories written in the seventies, I think. As MR mentions, "mesmerism" has been around since the dawn of SF.
The concept of a synthesized experience that alters the subject's subsequent behavior has more recently been done horribly in Total Recall and pathetically in The Bumblebee Flys Anyway. Having it implanted as a suppressed memory which the subject doesn't consciously remember has been done too, but almost always as a secondary device, almost a throwaway. I think that's because usually by the time writers get to that point in evolving the idea they look around and realize just how much it's been done before.
That doesn't mean that you can't do it. But if you're thinking that this "hot new concept" is going to sell the story, think again. I'm a little worried that you haven't read Asimov long enough if you haven't seen this in one of their stories yet. Still, it's a perfectly good concept. That's why it keeps getting used.
posted
Thanks for the word. Now I know what to call it, and how to search for it.
My experience with Asimov has been the singular Isaac, and most of that was the Foundation series, first 3 books. I've read some short stories from various authors, but they have mostly been few and far between. Oh, and I read Ender's Game and most of the related novels. I've lately dipped into War of the Worlds by grandpappy Wells.
The aim is not to sell a hot new concept, but to not beat an old dead one. I don't see any point in writing something so hashed and rehashed that an editor gets nauseated by looking at it.
[This message has been edited by Void (edited June 17, 2005).]
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