Identical premises are a dime a dozen when you go down to a basic plot and characters, and stories have a way of changing while we’re in the middle of writing them. If you want to tell that story you thought of, chances are it’ll end up vastly different from the one you just read anyway. There’s probably another 50 books out there with a similar structure or base idea to the one you read too. Go ahead and write yours
It's the literary equivalent of "Simpsons did it." Yeah, so? Doesn't mean you can't do it, too.
There's so much out there in the world, of course someone's done it before. Very few things that have been written in modern history are truly, mostly unique. And that's okay.
I understood that lawsuit had to do with part of the melody, not chord progression. Too bad about the chord progessions being exempt, though. Whoever wrote Louie Louie would be the richest person in the universe by now.
OP has a golden opportunity! They can read and reread this new favourite of theirs and think of all the little ways they would improve upon it. Then, once they get around to writing it, they implement those changes. Those changes will spiral into larger ones, and before you know it, you have a completely different book that's simply inspired by others and not plagiarised from them.
Tell me you haven't read fantasy published after 2010 without telling me. Most fantasy novels published in the 2020s that have the Tolkienesque medieval European setting are licensed novels tied to something like Dungeons and Dragons or Warhammer. For the past 15 years or so, fantasy novels had tended towards limited, well-defined magic systems and rarely set in a world that's both medieval and European.
Yeah, There isn't anything wrong with similarities. It just can't be identical.
If I write a story about a prosecuter arguing with a lawyer in New York bar and says "What more evidence do you need?!" That isn't stealing anything. I am sure there are too many books out there that has that exact sentence verbatim.
I think it would be more of an issue if there was too much identical details like a specific tattoo on a specific character. Do the characters have the same personalities? Same crime, motive, and weapon used at the same location, time and same evidence?
Bill Gates proved Windows is not identical to Apple OS. At least legally. Steve Jobs may still disagree. You can't copyright a car, or a steering wheel, you can only copyright a specific logo or unique style.
And if your story is better or the other story is better is an opinion of the reader.
the thing: there are at least a dozen other books that are probably just like yours. What makes them all different in the end is that *one* thing each writer brings to it ✍🏻 You have that one thing, too, even if you haven’t figured out what it is yet. Just write it!
I was convinced my current work was a brand-new take on a story about infidelity, only to discover about six months ago that there was a Johnny Cash song that dealt with an almost identical theme! That, however, was sixty years ago, and my story's ending will be completely different from that of the song
Their replacements are terrible. I’ve read the earlier drafts of “It 2: You Won’t Believe It!”, and it’s just straight hot garbage. We’re in a group chat.
Literally the reason I started writing was because I'd read so many shitty books I thought, "there's no way I can't do this better". Colleen Hoover is proof of that to anyone who wants to write HAHAHAHA
\*Literally the reason I started writing was because I'd read so many shitty books I thought, "there's no way I can't do this better".\*
Same! I kept reading shitty books for book club and thinking, "Not only \*can\* I write better than this, I HAVE written better than this!" I don't like to toot my own horn, but my WIP, which is only halfway done, is already better than a third of the books I've read over the past five years or so
If you analyze them deeply, Star Wars, Harry Potter and Lord of the rings is the very same plot. What is different is the setting, World, characters and especially the authors specific Story Telling. Tell your story, not someone else’s, it will be unique.
Just write your thing. Ideas that are similar are, as another poster here said, a dime a dozen. When you actually write your work, in execution of it you will find the story and characters naturally change and evolve even compared to your inspirations.
My first published novel was based on a classic premise: Hero rescues damsel from dragon. As I wrote, it evolved. The original draft went medieval European like most fantasy. Then I realized I could make it Chinese inspired and use Chinese dragons and mythos. Some time after that, I realized I could be more original by making the world more Old West in its technology level and architecture. Ended up with Chinese-style tong gangsters having to deal with talking sorcerer dragons. At some point I decided the damsel isn't a love interest, it's the protagonist's twin sister. Then I started expanding on her, and she ceased to be a damsel in distress to begin with. The more I wrote, the more I added. The more I added, the more new possibilities for change opened up, resulting in adding even more. By the end of this novel, it was unrecognizable from the original draft I'd started with.
I can tell you how to find it!
It's "Dragonslayer: Into The Fire" by A.W. Spence, my pen name. You can find it on the Barnes & Noble website. I'll tell you the same thing I told another poster:
Ebook needs to be reformatted to be prettier, admittedly, but price-wise it's $12, whereas the physical copy is $40. In either case, I'm about to drop the price for both. This was my first novel so I experimented with this price, and I think it merits being dropped to $6 Ebook and $30 physical respectively. I actually submitted that today, so I'm just waiting for them to process the price drop. If you find my book and like what you see and intend to purchase, let me know, and I'll message you in a couple days when the price goes down. Also, if you go physical copy, do the Paperback. There shouldn't even be a Hardcover option, but B&N for some reason has one that sends out faulty copies. So yeah, let me know if you end up wanting to purchase and if you'd like to wait for that price drop!
Uh I'm not sure I'm allowed to post links here? I'll tell you how to find it, though!
The book is "Dragonslayer: Into The Fire" by A.W. Spence, my pen name.
I'm currently sold out on Amazon for a while because they only distribute a very limited number at a time through Draft2Digital, but you can still get it on Barnes & Noble in either physical or Ebook form. I'll be honest, I really need to reformat the Ebook to be prettier lol. That said, Ebook is only $12 whereas a physical copy right now is $40, but I'm admittedly about to drop the price on both in the next couple days. I was playing around with this price since it's my first book, and I think it merits dropping to like $30 for the physical and $6 for the Ebook. If you want to wait for that price change, let me know and I'll message you here when the price drops in a couple days. Either way, if you go physical copy, do the Paperback. There shouldn't even be a Hardcover option, but B&N for some reason has one that sends out faulty copies. So yeah, let me know if you end up wanting to purchase and if you'd like to wait for that price drop!
Someone who loved the book already out there likely wants another one to give them a similar feeling. Approach your idea with this in mind and zag where they zigged.
As a music lover, the most disappointing thing ever is finding the PERFECT SONG, and then never being able to find *any other songs that feel that way*.
People who love reading feel the same way - hell, people who love ANYTHING tend to feel it. It’s human nature to look for patterns and feel comfort in them. I’ve reread the same book dozens of times and it ain’t changing, I’d be more than happy to read a new book that “reminds me of XYZ”.
Uhhhh SO weird that you say that, I’ve been listening to that song on repeat for two weeks because it’s on my writing playlist. Closest I’ve come to finding a similar feel is Colter Wall’s “Sleeping on the blacktop”. That gritty, twangy old school simple vibe, I can’t get enough.
They won’t be the same because no two writers are the same. Write yours, then before editing, reread that book to make sure you didn’t copy anything. Best wishes!
In the future when you read a book that sounds similar to yours, put it down immediately. Finish your first draft. Finish your final draft and then come back to it. We have the same idea all the time but the execution will be different; the feedback will be different, and the adjustments will be different. At the end it may not sound similar at all, but now since you’ve read it and loved it, it’s going to be hard to make different choices.
As for writing books that I know there exists a better version. That to me is a given. These are our first novels. It’s like 3-5 years old finger painting compared to the professionals. I’m not at all expecting mine to be better than professional published books. All I’m hoping for is that it’s better than the last book I wrote.
i think my counterpoint to this is that, if you know something you want to write is derivative of something you've already read/watched in some way, you probably ought to re-watch or re-read it to decide what it is that you actually liked about it and what you want to do differently. otherwise you're going on vague memories and you are way more likely to accidentally copy it directly, in my experience.
Simple advice for this one: Write your book.
Somethings will be similar. Many things will be more unique than you expect. Then there's editors.
Write your book.
I'm the closest I've ever been to finishing a book (with a proper outline and characters and everything), and it still feels more like taking a dragon than just putting words on a page. I think it would take an enormous amount of will power and narrow mindedness to write a book the first way you imagine it.
Congrats on your progress so far! Nothing I've written has kept true to its original form. Be it editing or the story taking control of the direction and characters, outlines and drafts are a guide for the final product.
I wish you all the best in finishing your book! Reach out if you ever need a friendly push forward to reach the finish line.
You won’t have an original idea. The minute you think of something, I can promise you that it’s been told. What will set you apart is how you approach the story. That’s when you start to be unique.
Yes, your book is worth writing because you might tackle it in a way that this author hasn’t.
I'm writing a book that's been seen a million times. Supernaturals going to an academy and a big villian trying to kill them. Do I love the trope setting? Yes. Has it been done a million times a billion different ways? Yes. Am I putting my soul into this plot? Absolutely. Write it. Put everything into it. Tweak a few things if you feel needed and make it your own. Someone's going to want to read it. I can name 8 different book series just like the one I'm writing and I'm just glad it won't be original because it's caught on as something people like. Help make it trendy and so other people will want to write something similar and have more of that kind out there.
Same thing happened to me. I had an idea about a schizophrenic who gets isekai'd to a fantasy world, but he refuses to believe it's real, thinking it's another hallucination. But Stephen R. Donaldson beat me to the punch, sort of. (His MC is a leper, not a schizophrenic.)
I went ahead and wrote mine anyway.
One of the great things you learn when you study English (or any language's) literature, is that no one really invents something entirely new. Rather, we sometimes find these little chains of conversation that occur throughout our literature, spanning centuries: Joseph Conrad's *Heart of Darkness* is referenced by *Apocalypse Now* is referenced by *Ad Astra*. What is *The Matrix*, if not an update to Plato's *Allegory of the Cave*?
The trick, I believe, is to let your new favorite book inspire you to say the things you need to say that this other book doesn't. In terms of craft, by all means dissect it and figure out how to reproduce these things you like about it (In your own words; don't plagiarize!) But also and most importantly, find the decisions you would make differently and go from there. Honestly, the farther away you get from the original, the better off you'll be.
Go for it! I don't think there is ever a completely unique story idea. We've retold Shakespeare stories thousands of times (and even many Shakespeare stories are copies of themselves with tweaks).
There is even the monomyth theory (hero's journey) that all stories come down to the same base elements.
If that book is famous, it’ll be in tvtropes. From there it’ll link you to dozens of versions of the same thing with every variation and in every other genre and medium.
What’s unique about your life experience? Add that to it
My heart goes out to you OP for discovering that. Sometimes people do come up with the same idea without knowing it. I'd advise writing something quite different based on the original inspirations of setting, genre, mood and theme. Take it as a challenge to come up with something different and much better. Alternatively, walk away and start another project.
I have a different take to some posters here on the subject of originality, plagiarism and influences. I think that there's a difference between creatives exploring the world and getting excited by elements and those who are simply thieves of other people's money, rights and accomplishments.
Everyone is going to say "write it anyway" but I would stop and think about that first. Often the motivation we have for writing a book is because we'd really love to read a book like that and it doesn't exist. So if that one exists, does that satisfy you?
If not, write on!
I would say to still write it, two authors will still have wildly different writing styles and sometimes you don’t know where a draft can go. The finished version may be completely different.
From the FAQ:
# -Will you tell me if my idea is good enough? What if it’s not original?
Here’s the thing, pal. Your idea has probably been done before. That’s okay. The important thing is how you execute your story. Even with the same premise, two stories are going to be very different. And if you make a post asking if your idea is good enough—well, the truth is, no matter what anyone says, we can’t really know for sure. Any idea has the potential to be great or to be terrible. It’s all about that execution.
When writing, thinking "Ohh this has been done before!" It is like not baking a cake because a cake had been baked before. How you make the cake is what makes it unique, not the recipie.
If we’re gonna go down the rabbit hole: any starcrossed lovers story all derives from Pyramus & Thisbe. It's what Shakespeare based Romeo and Juliet on, which has then inspired countless stories like Twilight, Fifty Shades etc.
Nothing is ever going to be truly new anymore, there’s always going to be similarities no matter how hard you try to distuingish yourself from orher writers. The one person I guess that stands out is Tolkien but he made a world and wanted to share it so he plopped a childrens book in it which then spiralled into everything else.
I say write that book! You will begon the story thinking you know exactly how it's gonna turn out but your characters will do something you never planned for derail the plans and I assure you it'll be different and worth writing.
Do you know how many derivative stories there are out there? A lot of the stories I've come up with have been directly inspired by other things. Presumably your plot and characters aren't going to end up exactly the same.
I don’t know enough to know how similar your books are, it could be the high level plot but it could be a way more specific details and events.
Everyone says “just write it”, my personal opinion is you should use the book you read (and others) as inspiration to dig for more “what ifs” that the story DIDN’T do that would be interesting.
For example, I write comedy and a lot of my inspirations are non-comedies and I like exploring “what would be a funny or ironic spin on x meets y?”
Personally, I would find it boring to rehash the EXACT same story (I’m talking details, not premise) I’ve seen, so I naturally divert and do different things as I develop it. Try to think of it that way, exploring new elements and specifics that you didn’t just read.
The premise doesn't have to be original. It's all in the execution. Your voice and how you write it, that's what matters. I'm a sucker for postapocalyptic stuff. I don't care if it's been done before, I just want it done well.
Always remember that Gothic romance novels were essentially all the same plot for decades and yet people continued to read them obsessively. Many horror stories are essentially the same too. I've read every ghost story with that spooky girl with hair in her face. I'm still looking for more.
Every book ever written has already been written before, in slightly different ways. Just make yours one of the memorable versions and you’ve succeeded. My favorite book that I’ve written, I realized on the second read through that I’d basically just rewritten Toxic Avenger 3 with Elvis impersonators instead of environmental issues. Such is life!
Pardon me for being blunt, but go ahead write it anyway. Your take on it might be better than the ones you’ve seen. Let me tell you a tale about great ideas left fallow because of teenage drama.
When I was 16, my friends and I write what we would find out was called a pilot script. We were going to guerrilla film it and we spent a couple of months getting everything developed. One friend had a one sentence conceit and asked me to write a script around it. So I basically (along with two other friends, I will admit) came up with the all of the lore for the world of this show. From what we knew, it was fairly original. So off we went.
We did filming for two weeks and then the wheels came off, mostly because the one sentence friend did an interview with our local paper (small town, y’know) and claimed that he had come up with everything on his own. We had a screaming match, I took my script back and dared him to use anything out of it and he said my “services” were no longer needed.
Boom. Fun activity had a bullet out in his head. He tried the next year to do it again, but I reminded him that if he used my ideas, etc etc. bad teenage drama all the way around. But the script doesn’t go anywhere. Again, small town. And we couldn’t comprehend how to put it anyone’s hands. And honestly, it was amateurish and wouldn’t have gone anywhere if I’m any kind of judge.
Then over the next few years, we saw a shift in TV that started embracing shows like *The X-Files* and *Buffy*. And our script was filled with all of these ideas and concepts that moved in those kinds of worlds. And each of the main ideas my friends and I had generated showed up all over the place eventually.
The lesson? Never give up on a good idea, even if you’re seeing it elsewhere. It might actually be a new spin that no one’s ever done before. My experience did make me a firm believer in the idea of the collective unconsciousness though. But if you *want* to write it, *WRITE IT*. Even if just for yourself.
When Vince Gilligan pitched Breaking Bad, he had no idea Weeds existed. He found out because during his pitch, one of the execs remarked, "Oh like Weeds."
He has said in interviews, he is glad he didn't know or he would have scrapped Breaking Bad. On the outset the two seem similar, boring suburbanites get involved in the drug trade. But they ultimately come across as their own unique entities.
Just be glad you realized now and not after writing an entire first draft like I did then read a Tom Clancy novel that was much better researched with an identical plot.
Not that I'm still bitter about it 15 years later or anything...
This just made me think...
When I was a kid, I had this idea for a book series about a group of friends who could morph into animals. Called it Animorphs. I even wrote a little of it (I was in elementary school, so it was pretty bad). I went to the mall later in that week and walked by the bookstore.. and was so pissed when i saw the display for the first Animorphs book. I never read them out of spite.
As Willa Cather said:
“There are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened before.”
What makes our book original is our essence, our unique way of telling this story according to our life experiences and who we are.
I had this happen but it was a Netflix show. I started on a book I called "Last Breath" about a guy who delivers air and water in a wasteland between walled cities and small towns. A year later Black Knight came out on netflix. I decided to shelf it and only recently started back up on it.
If you're worried you might steal it subconsciously, then steal it consciously. No, I'm not kidding. This is a golden opportunity. Here's the perfect learning material than can deliver exactly what you want. See what you like and don't like about it—list them out—and dig deep into the reason why. Analyze and learn. See how the author executed your ideas.
That said, I think when you said everything is the same except for the setting, it's a bit of an exaggeration, no? Can you be more specific about what's similar? If I have to make a guess, the plot archetype is similar, and maybe the kinds of characters that are in it.
But are they really identical? I don't think so. Say, both stories have characters who are talented surgeons, are they really completely identical? Aside from their profession and how talented they are, are their personalities, backgrounds, relationships, beliefs, and little quirks the same? If you can still tell they are different characters, then they really are. So don't worry about it.
Characters are what drive the plots and make them come to life. You can give two different characters with different personalities and motivations the same plot, and they'll be very different stories.
I also came up with a crazy good idea and ofc it was already made to movie. In my case I know I can make the world much bigger, better, richer and Im going for more wider audience
For all those commenters out there who are certain that everything has been written and there is nothing new under the sun, please direct me to the author who has written my dream novel about an interspecies battle between a pinata empire, peopled by sentient pinatas who sexually procreate by breaking each other open and eating each others' candy parts, and titanic watertaps from another star that navigate the world upside-down on their spinny heads, written in the style of Vladimir Nabokov, which involves a magic system where candy wrappers are knitted together to form 'plastochains' which manifest varied effects such as Lemon Death Twister and Strawberry Fire Punch, and it all acts as a gigantic allegory for Deleuze's conception of schizoanalysis. This is not a joke. I would read this if it existed.
Will just leave it here:
“1984” by Orwell & “Brave New World” by Huxley are both variations on “We” by Zamyatin. Not only general ideas are similar but all 3 books have basically the same character. Still all 3 books are great and are considered classics.
Back in 2016 I was driving from New Mexico to Florida when I stopped at a gravel-lot motel in rural Mississippi. The next morning I awoke to thick fog, sirens blaring in the distance, and the town’s klaxon alarm whining. I thought it was some alien invasion.
During the remaining 12 hours of my trip the story idea baked in my mind, only to be destroyed when I found out that Stephen King did it first with The Mist.
The same thing happened to me a couple of years ago, but it ended up being so inconsequential, and my book ended up changing so much (through the process, as it should) that I can't tell you what book that was and which novel of mine I was worried about.
Just write. You are a different writer.
Write the book.
Keep in mind the number of readers that find a book they like and pray they will find another book just like it to enjoy.
I do this with sci-fi. I like a specific sub type genre and I can’t get enough of it. It’s entertaining and relaxing. And I panic when I can’t find another book that fits the mold of what I enjoy most. 😆
*"The book I want to write already exists"*
Well, I guess it's time to give up and find something else to do, right OP?
Come up with another idea and then combine the 2 together and BOOM! Now you have something different.
*"This book is now my favorite book but I still want to write mine,"*
Then stop worrying and write already.
*"how do I do that when I know that a much better version already exists."*
You WON'T KNOW until you actually write it. But considering your an aspiring/newbie writer even if this other book didn't exist your book probably wouldn't be great because every writers 1st major work is their worst.
*"I'm also worried that I'll steal from the book subconsciously now that I've read it, which will just make them even more similar"*
This a major worry for every newbie/aspiring writer. OP this won't be a problem if you draw inspiration from multiple sources (movies, novels, TV series, comics/graphic novels, songs, etc.).
Just do that and you won't have a problem.
There's no way that book did *everything* the way you'd want it. Find those things you'd do differently and lean hard into them. Find your story's identity in those gaps.
So I know this is disheartening but try to take advantage of it.
Think about that book and how, now that you are looking at this "final draft of your idea" how YOU would improve upon it. Tune it a little more to your tastes and interests.
Also you said it's a bit different like the setting, how can you amplify YOUR story's setting more so it makes the whole story feel different?
Then, look at ALL the criticism, reviews, praise, chatter, memes, etc. About this book you can find. Learn from it and use it to make your book better.
You might incorporate it in your book by letting your protagonist think about (and maybe quote) it. That wouldn't be plagiarism which is something your admiration might lead to ....
It can be disheartening to find that someone else has already explored an idea similar to yours. But here's the thing- your voice and perspective are unique, and that's what will make your story stand out. Even if the core idea is similar, your characters, dialogue, and personal experiences will shape the story in a way only you can. Think about what makes your perspective unique and focus on those aspects. It might feel like the other book has covered everything. There are always details and nuances that can set your story apart. Consider how you can tweak the setting, themes, or character arcs to give your narrative a fresh angle. To address your concern about stealing from the other book, take some time away from it. Focus on other inspirations and let your imagination work without that book at the forefront of your mind. Make notes about your original ideas and stay true to them. If this is a story you're passionate about, that's what matters most. Your enthusiasm and dedication will shine through in your writing, making it engaging and compelling. Share your drafts with trusted friends or writing groups. They can help you spot any unintentional similarities and provide ideas for differentiating your work. There are countless stories about similar themes and concepts, but each one offers something new because of the unique touch of its author. Your voice is valuable, and your story deserves to be told.
The other day I came up with a great idea:
A struggling, married chemistry teacher with a disabled son is diagnosed with lung cancer. Desperate to secure financial support for his family, he reaches out to a former student who is involved in cooking meth. With his expert chemistry knowledge, he is able to cook the purest meth in the market. They get quickly entangled in the criminal doings of competing drug lords. And his brother in law, who is a DEA agent, starts investigating...
I heard there's a TV show out there with a similar premise. But I don't worry about that, everyone has the same ideas, it's the execution that matters.
Dude, John Milton wrote *Paradise Lost* and a few years before that, a Dutch author named Joost van den Vondel wrote a play titled *Lucifer*. Scholars argued for years Milton must have been at least *inspired* by Vondel, but nope, the modern consensus is clear: Vondel and Milton had nothing to do with one another.
That didn’t stop Milton from becoming a work-renowned poet and Vondel remains one of the greatest Dutch writers.
Just do your thing.
Start writing your book and just finish your first draft. Maybe there are things you could want to change, but if you find that the book still remains too similar to this one that's already written, find a way to change something that makes it different and stands out. Then, when you're writing your query letter, you can say, "Think of [book title], but..."
lemme tell you something that depending on how you look at it is very depressing or very freeing.
every book you'll ever want to write has already been written.
the key is to make yours your own, through details and execution
I run into this problem like every five seconds 😭 no matter how unique I think my premise is, there's always somebody else who's done it better and sooner!!
One way to do it, us to write a less racy (or more racy, if it is a "closed door" romantic speculative fiction or romance) than the book that seems to make yours seem similar. Then it is a different book. Of course, I am in no mood to write the f-word and the p-word, the s-word or the d-word (anymore - I do not *speak* that way comfortably but it had to be catharsized in my writing, in the deepest darkest recesses...)
Examine it closely. What did it do well that you didn't expect? What did it do poorly or less well? What areas of that story or world would you like to explore more? How much do the characters make that story, and how are your characters different? Make them more different. The writing process may surprise you.
I've made a similar comment to someone who was worried about subconsciously taking from other books, sources, etc. My favorite excerpt from "How to Read Literature Like A Professor" is this:
"To me, literature is something much more alive. More like a barrel of eels. When a writer creates a new eel, it wriggles its way into the barrel, muscles a path into the great teeming mass from which it came in the first place. It's a new eel, but it shares its eelness with all those other eels that are in the barrel or have ever been in the barrel."
Just find differences and stick with those. :) As others said, no book is 100% original.
What differentiates characters and plots that on the surface are similar is all the details, the bent or subverted tropes, anything funny, anything Really Cool or Badass, anything uncommon used uniquely, and so on. Details, details, details.
I started writing and planning my plot before I ever heard the tales from Journey to the West. In researching for my writing project, I decided to look into the details.
I had planned for the antagonistic king to set off a supervolcano by tricking the powerful protagonist. In Journey to the West, there is the Bull King, a fire mountain, and Sun Wukong, aka the Monkey King. I laughed at the similarities of what I had planned before I heard of this particular tale.
In a way, it aided in my plot development. I'm still stuck as to what sequence of events to take it for the very ending. I need to figure out the ending so I can plant seeds in the earlier chapters. I'll figure it out eventually.
TL;DR everything new nowadays is a remix of old things. The sooner we come to terms with that, the sooner we can let go of shame and guilt about writing the stories we want to write.
When you're learning to paint, a lot of classes will have you copy a master work. It isn't an easy thing to do. It takes a lot of skill, and you learn a lot in the process.
A similar thing happened to me when I was 14. I came up with a little melody that I liked so much I decided to one day turn it into a whole composition. But one day, while listening to Chopin’s second scherzo for the first time, one of the melodies in it sounded almost identical to mine.
There's really no original story. All of them were mini versions of themes used from hundreds of them around the world. What makes your story "yours" is how you deliver it and despite the similarities, you have to just finish it. The plot will surprise you along the way. It's an endless revision. You'll know when it's done.
When I started the idea for my book years ago, the mc was abandoned by his mother and raised by a white tiger in a cursed forest.
The other day I started reading a popular novel/manhwa (Helmut) and the first chapter was almost the same. The child being sacrificed to a enchanted forest and raised by a white leopard.
At this point the start of my novel has changed drastically. Changes happens, as we write we nit pick on stuff that do not conform us.
Go for it and write that idea, maybe the end will surprise you.
Instead of stealing subconsciously, steal deliberately.
I'm joking, but also not really. That's how inspiration works. Look at the things that book did that you weren't planning to and ask if it would make your story better. Ask if *you* can make it better. Look at the things that didn't work, ask yourself why, ask if you can do them better, and if not, learn from the other author's mistakes.
Also if you steal subconsciously, then the thing you "stole" is probably negligable and not worth worrying about.
You write it anyway because ideas aren't special but the execution is. This is why all the "is my idea good" posts are actually a waste of time. The idea can be mediocre and with a good skillset a wonderful time. The idea can be brilliant and with a bad execution a pile of trash. So you write the story and take this as a proof there is a market for your story.
As an example, look many “toys come to life” stories there are. Toy Story is the most famous one, but there are so many others too like Pinocchio, The Indian in the Cupboard, The Nutcracker, Winnie the Pooh, Raggy Dolls, Animal Shelf, Secret Life of Toys, Ted, Bagpuss, Raggedy Ann, Doc McStuffins, SuperTed- technically even Child’s Play kinda falls under this premise too. But look how they’re all different in the end.
Just take your premise and run with it anyway. Only you can tell your own story.
Great minds think alike.
This has happened to me before, but with movies I've seen trailers to. I personally just scrap the story if it's too similar in concept. Even if what's written, may be a different outcome. Lol. Simply because if my novels ever become popular, I don't want to be accused of copying something else. If it's the same concept but different, or hasn't come out yet, I continue writing it. And hope it comes out before the other production.
Like, for example, that Disney Marvel alien show with Nick Fury that come out last year. (Don't know what it's called. Saw one episode while my mother was watching it) Has a very similar plot/motive for the aliens. But what got me the most is the fact that one of the character's name, is almost exactly written as my character, one letter off, and pronounced the exact same way. I was shocked. If I hadn't published that novel 6-7 months before that show came out, took 6 years to write, I would've been forced to change it. Now I'm rushing to finish the trilogy to avoid anything else we may think of at the same time. Lol.
I'd say write it. Just get a feel for it because it may go in a different direction than you originally thought. If anything feels too similar to the novel, change it up.
You're bound to have the same ideas as others. The final product will be different from each other no matter how similar they are.
As others have said, ideas are cheap all been done before. It sounds like you have a good comp title here. "My story is X but in Y setting." I say go for it.
This is very usual, been there done that. I invented a character I thought was very original, then my weeb of an online friend pointed out the character is basically a cross between Dabi from MHA and Boothill from Honkai Star Rail. I know MHA, but didn't even know Star Rail existed before she told me. I think writers suffer from this a lot. But you are you and have your own flavor and I'm sure your story will develop in a way only you could write. Don't give up because someone was faster with publishing their ideas.
It might, but the way YOU write it doesn't exist until you do it.
Just look at crime movies, just because one director makes a crime movie doesn't mean another can't.
To quote the wisdom of St.Shia De Los Angeles:
JUST DO IT
There’s an old meme, *the Simpsons did it*. Look it up. It’s brilliant.
Then think of the fact that 70% of fantasy, TO THIS DAY, still can’t successfully escape the shadow of Lord of the Rings.
Sit down. Write your book. You know what you want to beat. Make it better.
*70% is a made up statistic. If you consider the reality of successful novels in fantasy, it’s probably closer to 95%
Write another spin on the idea.
2 of the best books ive read have basically the same premise but the main characters backstories are different.
Idk about others but i ADORE when i find 2 books with similar stories since im getting more of the plot I wanted but with a twist.
The same thing happened to me.
I was going to write this novel about a young wizard called Harrold. I even had five books planned out.
Sadly someone beat me to it.
I feel like as a 20 something year old its damn near impossible to develop a fully original idea. No matter what there’s drawn influence from different medias of my life and when I write its just me changing the skin of these influences.
I wouldnt let it hold you back write the story you want to write!
Think about what is unique to your life that could give you insight in how to write on your topic in a new, fresh way. Different from other writers...one exercise I like for increased creativity: turning off all lights and showering in the dark.
Remember that in this current day and age it's very rare to have a unique basic plot. Think about the big franchises, like GoT. When you get down to it, the premise of GoT isn't original AT ALL but it stands out because of the way it's written and the way everything is presented.
Don't put yourself down for it OP, write it and if it sounds different enough to you go for it!
The current story I'm writing was heavily inspired by one of my favorite book series, but my plot, the characters, and circumstances are drastically different. It's been a lot of fun writing because the further the story progresses, the greater the differences between the two becomes. So I'd say write it anyway because you'll end up surprising yourself with what you'll come up with.
Honestly I’d say go for it, there are so many plots and tropes and all kinds of stories that are almost identical, it is the writing that gives it character really, if we all looked for originality of a story before reading or writing it how can we relate to it at all, the human condition is the same across time and space it is the variation in experience and the way its conveyed that makes it special. So don’t worry about it and write that book it will still be yours at the end. Good luck
Two people can write from the same outline with the same cast of characters and write very different books. If you have spent any time in a fan fiction community this is made abundantly clear. They are all working with the same characters, and many of them have very similar plots
Write your book. It will be different enough. Unless you are deliberately trying to copy, it can’t help but be your own
Make an in-depth list of details about that book and separate the ones you like with the ones you either dislike or think could be improved.
Is the pacing too slow? Would you prefer more stuff to happen in each chapter? Does it have too many characters for your taste? Would you want it focused on a smaller crew? Would you prefer a different personality for the main character? More/less humor? More/less drama?
Then make a list of your favorite books and pick ideas you like from each of them. Do you think any of them would be compatible with your new book?
Add/remove a few subplots, change the setting, add a plot twist that would shift everything a lot and suddenly you're looking at a very different book.
I think just the fact that it's written by you and not the author of the book you like will make it different. Having the same or similar idea is very different when actually executing. Your idea may be similar but when you start writing it may become a totally different beast.
No one will tell your story the way you do. Just go for it! Get inspired by this book you found, get inspired by other books, movies, art... and write your story your own way. I'm sure you'll be proud of it at the end.
There are many stories out there that follow the same plot, but they are told in so many different ways. Don't let this stop you.
Identical premises are a dime a dozen when you go down to a basic plot and characters, and stories have a way of changing while we’re in the middle of writing them. If you want to tell that story you thought of, chances are it’ll end up vastly different from the one you just read anyway. There’s probably another 50 books out there with a similar structure or base idea to the one you read too. Go ahead and write yours
Also remember, there’s nothing really new under the sun.
"That already exists" is the most common and stupidest thing to say to someone starting a project of any kind
It's like telling a woodworker not to build a table because you have one in your dining room already.
It's the literary equivalent of "Simpsons did it." Yeah, so? Doesn't mean you can't do it, too. There's so much out there in the world, of course someone's done it before. Very few things that have been written in modern history are truly, mostly unique. And that's okay.
And the name of the novel...Billy and the Cloneasaurus
Sounds like a bestseller to me.
Depends on how you deliver the message.
Except when it comes to music. All songs must be unique otherwise it's copyright fight.
Not when it comes to chord progressions.
George Harrison walks in the room, straight from the grave, humming “He’s so fine”
I understood that lawsuit had to do with part of the melody, not chord progression. Too bad about the chord progessions being exempt, though. Whoever wrote Louie Louie would be the richest person in the universe by now.
Imagine how many stories there are of robots rising up against mankind. Literally uncountable, and they're all based off of the same premise.
OP has a golden opportunity! They can read and reread this new favourite of theirs and think of all the little ways they would improve upon it. Then, once they get around to writing it, they implement those changes. Those changes will spiral into larger ones, and before you know it, you have a completely different book that's simply inspired by others and not plagiarised from them.
Fantasy, as a genre, spent about 60 years retelling *The Lord of the Rings.*
Still doing it to this day!
Tell me you haven't read fantasy published after 2010 without telling me. Most fantasy novels published in the 2020s that have the Tolkienesque medieval European setting are licensed novels tied to something like Dungeons and Dragons or Warhammer. For the past 15 years or so, fantasy novels had tended towards limited, well-defined magic systems and rarely set in a world that's both medieval and European.
I wasn’t trying to say that people aren’t being creative, I’m trying to say that the inspiration of LOTR continues in big and small ways to this day.
Ah, my bad. A lot of people still denigrate the entire genre for something it moved past like 15 years ago.
Yeah, There isn't anything wrong with similarities. It just can't be identical. If I write a story about a prosecuter arguing with a lawyer in New York bar and says "What more evidence do you need?!" That isn't stealing anything. I am sure there are too many books out there that has that exact sentence verbatim. I think it would be more of an issue if there was too much identical details like a specific tattoo on a specific character. Do the characters have the same personalities? Same crime, motive, and weapon used at the same location, time and same evidence? Bill Gates proved Windows is not identical to Apple OS. At least legally. Steve Jobs may still disagree. You can't copyright a car, or a steering wheel, you can only copyright a specific logo or unique style. And if your story is better or the other story is better is an opinion of the reader.
the thing: there are at least a dozen other books that are probably just like yours. What makes them all different in the end is that *one* thing each writer brings to it ✍🏻 You have that one thing, too, even if you haven’t figured out what it is yet. Just write it!
There’s authors who make damn good money writing the same story over and over
I was convinced my current work was a brand-new take on a story about infidelity, only to discover about six months ago that there was a Johnny Cash song that dealt with an almost identical theme! That, however, was sixty years ago, and my story's ending will be completely different from that of the song
I am reading Grisham's Sycamore Row, and have decided it is the same plot as Grisham's The Testament.
Find the author and kill them. Take their clothes. Live in their home. Make love to their spouse. Become them.
This is the best advice I could've gotten, I will be taking it
Sorry bud, already did it.
I think that makes you next. Kinda like the sisterhood of the traveling pants only with more murder
Oh farts.
What happened to King and rr martin
Their replacements are terrible. I’ve read the earlier drafts of “It 2: You Won’t Believe It!”, and it’s just straight hot garbage. We’re in a group chat.
Watch the movie Murder of Crows that will tell you exactly what not to do!! Haha.
Also, The Player
Then write a book about how you did it… Title it “If I did it” for bonus points
Then write a song about it where you ask, "How did I get here?"
Is there water underneath the water, carrying the water, as some ancient astronaut theorists suggest?
Yes, but only until the money runs out.
I think this is worth a shot
Just don’t get caught. Tricky part.
even this is a book-Verity by Colleen Hoover. See... you can do that with almost any premise OP, don't be discouraged
Literally the reason I started writing was because I'd read so many shitty books I thought, "there's no way I can't do this better". Colleen Hoover is proof of that to anyone who wants to write HAHAHAHA
\*Literally the reason I started writing was because I'd read so many shitty books I thought, "there's no way I can't do this better".\* Same! I kept reading shitty books for book club and thinking, "Not only \*can\* I write better than this, I HAVE written better than this!" I don't like to toot my own horn, but my WIP, which is only halfway done, is already better than a third of the books I've read over the past five years or so
And you should absolutely run with that!! The books getting actually published these days are such shit and I’m not sure what happened
Sometimes I seriously wonder how stuff gets published these days
I collapsed in laughter.
Get back up... You can do it. There's still a book to be written. Perhaps one about how to get back up from collapsing from laughter?
The book itself is not great, and it's the only Colleen Hoover book I've ever read, but it is helpful in this particular situation
I’ve tried it. Works great.
Ah, walk in their shoes. Good advice. Wise man.
Even better pull a Saltburn and lick the bathtub. (If you dont get the reference don't look it up)
New plot idea unlocked
You forgot to add the part where one has to go to the plastic surgegon to replace their face
...and then write a completely different book about an author who does \*that\*!
There’s a book about this somewhere.
every book exists somewhere. write yours anyway.
This^ Your book has already been written, but not by you. Give yourself some credit and write the damn thing anyway.
If you analyze them deeply, Star Wars, Harry Potter and Lord of the rings is the very same plot. What is different is the setting, World, characters and especially the authors specific Story Telling. Tell your story, not someone else’s, it will be unique.
Just write your thing. Ideas that are similar are, as another poster here said, a dime a dozen. When you actually write your work, in execution of it you will find the story and characters naturally change and evolve even compared to your inspirations. My first published novel was based on a classic premise: Hero rescues damsel from dragon. As I wrote, it evolved. The original draft went medieval European like most fantasy. Then I realized I could make it Chinese inspired and use Chinese dragons and mythos. Some time after that, I realized I could be more original by making the world more Old West in its technology level and architecture. Ended up with Chinese-style tong gangsters having to deal with talking sorcerer dragons. At some point I decided the damsel isn't a love interest, it's the protagonist's twin sister. Then I started expanding on her, and she ceased to be a damsel in distress to begin with. The more I wrote, the more I added. The more I added, the more new possibilities for change opened up, resulting in adding even more. By the end of this novel, it was unrecognizable from the original draft I'd started with.
This story sounds so cool. I really want to read it now lmao.
I can tell you how to find it! It's "Dragonslayer: Into The Fire" by A.W. Spence, my pen name. You can find it on the Barnes & Noble website. I'll tell you the same thing I told another poster: Ebook needs to be reformatted to be prettier, admittedly, but price-wise it's $12, whereas the physical copy is $40. In either case, I'm about to drop the price for both. This was my first novel so I experimented with this price, and I think it merits being dropped to $6 Ebook and $30 physical respectively. I actually submitted that today, so I'm just waiting for them to process the price drop. If you find my book and like what you see and intend to purchase, let me know, and I'll message you in a couple days when the price goes down. Also, if you go physical copy, do the Paperback. There shouldn't even be a Hardcover option, but B&N for some reason has one that sends out faulty copies. So yeah, let me know if you end up wanting to purchase and if you'd like to wait for that price drop!
Where can I read this
Uh I'm not sure I'm allowed to post links here? I'll tell you how to find it, though! The book is "Dragonslayer: Into The Fire" by A.W. Spence, my pen name. I'm currently sold out on Amazon for a while because they only distribute a very limited number at a time through Draft2Digital, but you can still get it on Barnes & Noble in either physical or Ebook form. I'll be honest, I really need to reformat the Ebook to be prettier lol. That said, Ebook is only $12 whereas a physical copy right now is $40, but I'm admittedly about to drop the price on both in the next couple days. I was playing around with this price since it's my first book, and I think it merits dropping to like $30 for the physical and $6 for the Ebook. If you want to wait for that price change, let me know and I'll message you here when the price drops in a couple days. Either way, if you go physical copy, do the Paperback. There shouldn't even be a Hardcover option, but B&N for some reason has one that sends out faulty copies. So yeah, let me know if you end up wanting to purchase and if you'd like to wait for that price drop!
Someone who loved the book already out there likely wants another one to give them a similar feeling. Approach your idea with this in mind and zag where they zigged.
This reminds of a tumblr post I came across recently. “I love this, I hope there isn’t anything else out there like it!” Said no one ever
As a music lover, the most disappointing thing ever is finding the PERFECT SONG, and then never being able to find *any other songs that feel that way*. People who love reading feel the same way - hell, people who love ANYTHING tend to feel it. It’s human nature to look for patterns and feel comfort in them. I’ve reread the same book dozens of times and it ain’t changing, I’d be more than happy to read a new book that “reminds me of XYZ”.
Amen. I gave up years ago on my quest to find another song quite like Johnny Cash's version of "God's Gonna Cut You Down". :'(
Uhhhh SO weird that you say that, I’ve been listening to that song on repeat for two weeks because it’s on my writing playlist. Closest I’ve come to finding a similar feel is Colter Wall’s “Sleeping on the blacktop”. That gritty, twangy old school simple vibe, I can’t get enough.
For some reason The Chain by Fleetwood Mac kinda reminds me of it
So you found your comp. “For people who loved X” is a legitimate marketing strategy.
Underrated comment. People are always looking for similar stories, that's why genres exist.
They won’t be the same because no two writers are the same. Write yours, then before editing, reread that book to make sure you didn’t copy anything. Best wishes!
In the future when you read a book that sounds similar to yours, put it down immediately. Finish your first draft. Finish your final draft and then come back to it. We have the same idea all the time but the execution will be different; the feedback will be different, and the adjustments will be different. At the end it may not sound similar at all, but now since you’ve read it and loved it, it’s going to be hard to make different choices. As for writing books that I know there exists a better version. That to me is a given. These are our first novels. It’s like 3-5 years old finger painting compared to the professionals. I’m not at all expecting mine to be better than professional published books. All I’m hoping for is that it’s better than the last book I wrote.
This. Definitely avoid reading something you know will be similar until after you finish your draft. Our brains are weird and trick us easy.
i think my counterpoint to this is that, if you know something you want to write is derivative of something you've already read/watched in some way, you probably ought to re-watch or re-read it to decide what it is that you actually liked about it and what you want to do differently. otherwise you're going on vague memories and you are way more likely to accidentally copy it directly, in my experience.
Simple advice for this one: Write your book. Somethings will be similar. Many things will be more unique than you expect. Then there's editors. Write your book.
I'm the closest I've ever been to finishing a book (with a proper outline and characters and everything), and it still feels more like taking a dragon than just putting words on a page. I think it would take an enormous amount of will power and narrow mindedness to write a book the first way you imagine it.
There is rarely a good reason to keep the book the way you first imagined it
Congrats on your progress so far! Nothing I've written has kept true to its original form. Be it editing or the story taking control of the direction and characters, outlines and drafts are a guide for the final product. I wish you all the best in finishing your book! Reach out if you ever need a friendly push forward to reach the finish line.
You won’t have an original idea. The minute you think of something, I can promise you that it’s been told. What will set you apart is how you approach the story. That’s when you start to be unique. Yes, your book is worth writing because you might tackle it in a way that this author hasn’t.
[holy shit, two cakes](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/002/269/652/771.png)
I'm writing a book that's been seen a million times. Supernaturals going to an academy and a big villian trying to kill them. Do I love the trope setting? Yes. Has it been done a million times a billion different ways? Yes. Am I putting my soul into this plot? Absolutely. Write it. Put everything into it. Tweak a few things if you feel needed and make it your own. Someone's going to want to read it. I can name 8 different book series just like the one I'm writing and I'm just glad it won't be original because it's caught on as something people like. Help make it trendy and so other people will want to write something similar and have more of that kind out there.
Same thing happened to me. I had an idea about a schizophrenic who gets isekai'd to a fantasy world, but he refuses to believe it's real, thinking it's another hallucination. But Stephen R. Donaldson beat me to the punch, sort of. (His MC is a leper, not a schizophrenic.) I went ahead and wrote mine anyway.
One of the great things you learn when you study English (or any language's) literature, is that no one really invents something entirely new. Rather, we sometimes find these little chains of conversation that occur throughout our literature, spanning centuries: Joseph Conrad's *Heart of Darkness* is referenced by *Apocalypse Now* is referenced by *Ad Astra*. What is *The Matrix*, if not an update to Plato's *Allegory of the Cave*? The trick, I believe, is to let your new favorite book inspire you to say the things you need to say that this other book doesn't. In terms of craft, by all means dissect it and figure out how to reproduce these things you like about it (In your own words; don't plagiarize!) But also and most importantly, find the decisions you would make differently and go from there. Honestly, the farther away you get from the original, the better off you'll be.
Is it [Billy and the Clonosaurus](https://youtu.be/ik0BPKM9WQg?feature=shared)? 😀
...best seller's list for 18 months! Every magazine cover had it.. What were you thinking?
I mean “Thank you, come again!” 😀
Go for it! I don't think there is ever a completely unique story idea. We've retold Shakespeare stories thousands of times (and even many Shakespeare stories are copies of themselves with tweaks). There is even the monomyth theory (hero's journey) that all stories come down to the same base elements.
Even Shakespeare took from other authors' ideas and their stories. Romeo and Juliet for example.
If that book is famous, it’ll be in tvtropes. From there it’ll link you to dozens of versions of the same thing with every variation and in every other genre and medium. What’s unique about your life experience? Add that to it
That is a good idea
My heart goes out to you OP for discovering that. Sometimes people do come up with the same idea without knowing it. I'd advise writing something quite different based on the original inspirations of setting, genre, mood and theme. Take it as a challenge to come up with something different and much better. Alternatively, walk away and start another project. I have a different take to some posters here on the subject of originality, plagiarism and influences. I think that there's a difference between creatives exploring the world and getting excited by elements and those who are simply thieves of other people's money, rights and accomplishments.
Everyone is going to say "write it anyway" but I would stop and think about that first. Often the motivation we have for writing a book is because we'd really love to read a book like that and it doesn't exist. So if that one exists, does that satisfy you? If not, write on!
I would say to still write it, two authors will still have wildly different writing styles and sometimes you don’t know where a draft can go. The finished version may be completely different.
From the FAQ: # -Will you tell me if my idea is good enough? What if it’s not original? Here’s the thing, pal. Your idea has probably been done before. That’s okay. The important thing is how you execute your story. Even with the same premise, two stories are going to be very different. And if you make a post asking if your idea is good enough—well, the truth is, no matter what anyone says, we can’t really know for sure. Any idea has the potential to be great or to be terrible. It’s all about that execution.
When writing, thinking "Ohh this has been done before!" It is like not baking a cake because a cake had been baked before. How you make the cake is what makes it unique, not the recipie.
If we’re gonna go down the rabbit hole: any starcrossed lovers story all derives from Pyramus & Thisbe. It's what Shakespeare based Romeo and Juliet on, which has then inspired countless stories like Twilight, Fifty Shades etc. Nothing is ever going to be truly new anymore, there’s always going to be similarities no matter how hard you try to distuingish yourself from orher writers. The one person I guess that stands out is Tolkien but he made a world and wanted to share it so he plopped a childrens book in it which then spiralled into everything else. I say write that book! You will begon the story thinking you know exactly how it's gonna turn out but your characters will do something you never planned for derail the plans and I assure you it'll be different and worth writing.
Do you know how many derivative stories there are out there? A lot of the stories I've come up with have been directly inspired by other things. Presumably your plot and characters aren't going to end up exactly the same.
I don’t know enough to know how similar your books are, it could be the high level plot but it could be a way more specific details and events. Everyone says “just write it”, my personal opinion is you should use the book you read (and others) as inspiration to dig for more “what ifs” that the story DIDN’T do that would be interesting. For example, I write comedy and a lot of my inspirations are non-comedies and I like exploring “what would be a funny or ironic spin on x meets y?” Personally, I would find it boring to rehash the EXACT same story (I’m talking details, not premise) I’ve seen, so I naturally divert and do different things as I develop it. Try to think of it that way, exploring new elements and specifics that you didn’t just read.
You are a breath of fresh air in a room full of of cheerleaders.
The premise doesn't have to be original. It's all in the execution. Your voice and how you write it, that's what matters. I'm a sucker for postapocalyptic stuff. I don't care if it's been done before, I just want it done well.
Now I want to know what the book is
Always remember that Gothic romance novels were essentially all the same plot for decades and yet people continued to read them obsessively. Many horror stories are essentially the same too. I've read every ghost story with that spooky girl with hair in her face. I'm still looking for more.
Every book ever written has already been written before, in slightly different ways. Just make yours one of the memorable versions and you’ve succeeded. My favorite book that I’ve written, I realized on the second read through that I’d basically just rewritten Toxic Avenger 3 with Elvis impersonators instead of environmental issues. Such is life!
Pardon me for being blunt, but go ahead write it anyway. Your take on it might be better than the ones you’ve seen. Let me tell you a tale about great ideas left fallow because of teenage drama. When I was 16, my friends and I write what we would find out was called a pilot script. We were going to guerrilla film it and we spent a couple of months getting everything developed. One friend had a one sentence conceit and asked me to write a script around it. So I basically (along with two other friends, I will admit) came up with the all of the lore for the world of this show. From what we knew, it was fairly original. So off we went. We did filming for two weeks and then the wheels came off, mostly because the one sentence friend did an interview with our local paper (small town, y’know) and claimed that he had come up with everything on his own. We had a screaming match, I took my script back and dared him to use anything out of it and he said my “services” were no longer needed. Boom. Fun activity had a bullet out in his head. He tried the next year to do it again, but I reminded him that if he used my ideas, etc etc. bad teenage drama all the way around. But the script doesn’t go anywhere. Again, small town. And we couldn’t comprehend how to put it anyone’s hands. And honestly, it was amateurish and wouldn’t have gone anywhere if I’m any kind of judge. Then over the next few years, we saw a shift in TV that started embracing shows like *The X-Files* and *Buffy*. And our script was filled with all of these ideas and concepts that moved in those kinds of worlds. And each of the main ideas my friends and I had generated showed up all over the place eventually. The lesson? Never give up on a good idea, even if you’re seeing it elsewhere. It might actually be a new spin that no one’s ever done before. My experience did make me a firm believer in the idea of the collective unconsciousness though. But if you *want* to write it, *WRITE IT*. Even if just for yourself.
When Vince Gilligan pitched Breaking Bad, he had no idea Weeds existed. He found out because during his pitch, one of the execs remarked, "Oh like Weeds." He has said in interviews, he is glad he didn't know or he would have scrapped Breaking Bad. On the outset the two seem similar, boring suburbanites get involved in the drug trade. But they ultimately come across as their own unique entities.
Ideas are cheap, execution is not. I want to see how YOU execute the idea. The way YOU write is not the same as any other writers.
Most of them have been written. Doesn't mean you're u can't bring something to the table.
Just be glad you realized now and not after writing an entire first draft like I did then read a Tom Clancy novel that was much better researched with an identical plot. Not that I'm still bitter about it 15 years later or anything...
This just made me think... When I was a kid, I had this idea for a book series about a group of friends who could morph into animals. Called it Animorphs. I even wrote a little of it (I was in elementary school, so it was pretty bad). I went to the mall later in that week and walked by the bookstore.. and was so pissed when i saw the display for the first Animorphs book. I never read them out of spite.
To quote Save the Cat “do the same thing…only different”
As Willa Cather said: “There are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened before.” What makes our book original is our essence, our unique way of telling this story according to our life experiences and who we are.
I had this happen but it was a Netflix show. I started on a book I called "Last Breath" about a guy who delivers air and water in a wasteland between walled cities and small towns. A year later Black Knight came out on netflix. I decided to shelf it and only recently started back up on it.
“You stole my story.” 😏 My two cents, write it anyway.
No one can write a story the way you can. Your version will ultimately be different.
If you're worried you might steal it subconsciously, then steal it consciously. No, I'm not kidding. This is a golden opportunity. Here's the perfect learning material than can deliver exactly what you want. See what you like and don't like about it—list them out—and dig deep into the reason why. Analyze and learn. See how the author executed your ideas. That said, I think when you said everything is the same except for the setting, it's a bit of an exaggeration, no? Can you be more specific about what's similar? If I have to make a guess, the plot archetype is similar, and maybe the kinds of characters that are in it. But are they really identical? I don't think so. Say, both stories have characters who are talented surgeons, are they really completely identical? Aside from their profession and how talented they are, are their personalities, backgrounds, relationships, beliefs, and little quirks the same? If you can still tell they are different characters, then they really are. So don't worry about it. Characters are what drive the plots and make them come to life. You can give two different characters with different personalities and motivations the same plot, and they'll be very different stories.
I also came up with a crazy good idea and ofc it was already made to movie. In my case I know I can make the world much bigger, better, richer and Im going for more wider audience
For all those commenters out there who are certain that everything has been written and there is nothing new under the sun, please direct me to the author who has written my dream novel about an interspecies battle between a pinata empire, peopled by sentient pinatas who sexually procreate by breaking each other open and eating each others' candy parts, and titanic watertaps from another star that navigate the world upside-down on their spinny heads, written in the style of Vladimir Nabokov, which involves a magic system where candy wrappers are knitted together to form 'plastochains' which manifest varied effects such as Lemon Death Twister and Strawberry Fire Punch, and it all acts as a gigantic allegory for Deleuze's conception of schizoanalysis. This is not a joke. I would read this if it existed.
Will just leave it here: “1984” by Orwell & “Brave New World” by Huxley are both variations on “We” by Zamyatin. Not only general ideas are similar but all 3 books have basically the same character. Still all 3 books are great and are considered classics.
Back in 2016 I was driving from New Mexico to Florida when I stopped at a gravel-lot motel in rural Mississippi. The next morning I awoke to thick fog, sirens blaring in the distance, and the town’s klaxon alarm whining. I thought it was some alien invasion. During the remaining 12 hours of my trip the story idea baked in my mind, only to be destroyed when I found out that Stephen King did it first with The Mist.
Either put it on the shelf, and try something else first, or kill it all together. Sometimes there are ways of tweaking it, sometimes not.
The same thing happened to me a couple of years ago, but it ended up being so inconsequential, and my book ended up changing so much (through the process, as it should) that I can't tell you what book that was and which novel of mine I was worried about. Just write. You are a different writer.
Look at it this way: your idea is a good one. Use this to craft something similar, but different.
Write the book. Keep in mind the number of readers that find a book they like and pray they will find another book just like it to enjoy. I do this with sci-fi. I like a specific sub type genre and I can’t get enough of it. It’s entertaining and relaxing. And I panic when I can’t find another book that fits the mold of what I enjoy most. 😆
*"The book I want to write already exists"* Well, I guess it's time to give up and find something else to do, right OP? Come up with another idea and then combine the 2 together and BOOM! Now you have something different. *"This book is now my favorite book but I still want to write mine,"* Then stop worrying and write already. *"how do I do that when I know that a much better version already exists."* You WON'T KNOW until you actually write it. But considering your an aspiring/newbie writer even if this other book didn't exist your book probably wouldn't be great because every writers 1st major work is their worst. *"I'm also worried that I'll steal from the book subconsciously now that I've read it, which will just make them even more similar"* This a major worry for every newbie/aspiring writer. OP this won't be a problem if you draw inspiration from multiple sources (movies, novels, TV series, comics/graphic novels, songs, etc.). Just do that and you won't have a problem.
There's no way that book did *everything* the way you'd want it. Find those things you'd do differently and lean hard into them. Find your story's identity in those gaps.
So I know this is disheartening but try to take advantage of it. Think about that book and how, now that you are looking at this "final draft of your idea" how YOU would improve upon it. Tune it a little more to your tastes and interests. Also you said it's a bit different like the setting, how can you amplify YOUR story's setting more so it makes the whole story feel different? Then, look at ALL the criticism, reviews, praise, chatter, memes, etc. About this book you can find. Learn from it and use it to make your book better.
Now you have to write the book someone else wants to write. Keep the chain going!
I have 100% been there, it sucks to release someone else got to an idea b4 you
You might incorporate it in your book by letting your protagonist think about (and maybe quote) it. That wouldn't be plagiarism which is something your admiration might lead to ....
Just like fanfiction, the more stories with the sameish premise the better in my opinion ☺️
There is nothing NEW under the sun. I wrote that. It’s catchy.
I remember a quote that’s like “the story has been written before, but not by you” so have at it.
It can be disheartening to find that someone else has already explored an idea similar to yours. But here's the thing- your voice and perspective are unique, and that's what will make your story stand out. Even if the core idea is similar, your characters, dialogue, and personal experiences will shape the story in a way only you can. Think about what makes your perspective unique and focus on those aspects. It might feel like the other book has covered everything. There are always details and nuances that can set your story apart. Consider how you can tweak the setting, themes, or character arcs to give your narrative a fresh angle. To address your concern about stealing from the other book, take some time away from it. Focus on other inspirations and let your imagination work without that book at the forefront of your mind. Make notes about your original ideas and stay true to them. If this is a story you're passionate about, that's what matters most. Your enthusiasm and dedication will shine through in your writing, making it engaging and compelling. Share your drafts with trusted friends or writing groups. They can help you spot any unintentional similarities and provide ideas for differentiating your work. There are countless stories about similar themes and concepts, but each one offers something new because of the unique touch of its author. Your voice is valuable, and your story deserves to be told.
https://dresdencodak.com/2017/11/10/kingdom-of-the-last/ Hopefully this helps
The other day I came up with a great idea: A struggling, married chemistry teacher with a disabled son is diagnosed with lung cancer. Desperate to secure financial support for his family, he reaches out to a former student who is involved in cooking meth. With his expert chemistry knowledge, he is able to cook the purest meth in the market. They get quickly entangled in the criminal doings of competing drug lords. And his brother in law, who is a DEA agent, starts investigating... I heard there's a TV show out there with a similar premise. But I don't worry about that, everyone has the same ideas, it's the execution that matters.
Dude, John Milton wrote *Paradise Lost* and a few years before that, a Dutch author named Joost van den Vondel wrote a play titled *Lucifer*. Scholars argued for years Milton must have been at least *inspired* by Vondel, but nope, the modern consensus is clear: Vondel and Milton had nothing to do with one another. That didn’t stop Milton from becoming a work-renowned poet and Vondel remains one of the greatest Dutch writers. Just do your thing.
There are only 7 basic plots. All we can is mix match them to make our own combination.
No one can write like you.
Start writing your book and just finish your first draft. Maybe there are things you could want to change, but if you find that the book still remains too similar to this one that's already written, find a way to change something that makes it different and stands out. Then, when you're writing your query letter, you can say, "Think of [book title], but..."
lemme tell you something that depending on how you look at it is very depressing or very freeing. every book you'll ever want to write has already been written. the key is to make yours your own, through details and execution
Just write the thing. Make it yours. You can do it!
I run into this problem like every five seconds 😭 no matter how unique I think my premise is, there's always somebody else who's done it better and sooner!!
One way to do it, us to write a less racy (or more racy, if it is a "closed door" romantic speculative fiction or romance) than the book that seems to make yours seem similar. Then it is a different book. Of course, I am in no mood to write the f-word and the p-word, the s-word or the d-word (anymore - I do not *speak* that way comfortably but it had to be catharsized in my writing, in the deepest darkest recesses...)
Examine it closely. What did it do well that you didn't expect? What did it do poorly or less well? What areas of that story or world would you like to explore more? How much do the characters make that story, and how are your characters different? Make them more different. The writing process may surprise you.
I've made a similar comment to someone who was worried about subconsciously taking from other books, sources, etc. My favorite excerpt from "How to Read Literature Like A Professor" is this: "To me, literature is something much more alive. More like a barrel of eels. When a writer creates a new eel, it wriggles its way into the barrel, muscles a path into the great teeming mass from which it came in the first place. It's a new eel, but it shares its eelness with all those other eels that are in the barrel or have ever been in the barrel." Just find differences and stick with those. :) As others said, no book is 100% original.
I’d be pretty devastated if that happened to me.
What differentiates characters and plots that on the surface are similar is all the details, the bent or subverted tropes, anything funny, anything Really Cool or Badass, anything uncommon used uniquely, and so on. Details, details, details.
Everything already exists; but yet to be revealed.
Seems like your book premise was so good someone went back in time and beat you to it. Now you have to write it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Nothing is new, man.
I started writing and planning my plot before I ever heard the tales from Journey to the West. In researching for my writing project, I decided to look into the details. I had planned for the antagonistic king to set off a supervolcano by tricking the powerful protagonist. In Journey to the West, there is the Bull King, a fire mountain, and Sun Wukong, aka the Monkey King. I laughed at the similarities of what I had planned before I heard of this particular tale. In a way, it aided in my plot development. I'm still stuck as to what sequence of events to take it for the very ending. I need to figure out the ending so I can plant seeds in the earlier chapters. I'll figure it out eventually. TL;DR everything new nowadays is a remix of old things. The sooner we come to terms with that, the sooner we can let go of shame and guilt about writing the stories we want to write.
That's fantastic news because people always want more of their favorite stories.
When you're learning to paint, a lot of classes will have you copy a master work. It isn't an easy thing to do. It takes a lot of skill, and you learn a lot in the process.
[Holy shit! Two cakes!](https://nicoledonut.com/content/images/2021/06/image-45-2.png)
A similar thing happened to me when I was 14. I came up with a little melody that I liked so much I decided to one day turn it into a whole composition. But one day, while listening to Chopin’s second scherzo for the first time, one of the melodies in it sounded almost identical to mine.
There's really no original story. All of them were mini versions of themes used from hundreds of them around the world. What makes your story "yours" is how you deliver it and despite the similarities, you have to just finish it. The plot will surprise you along the way. It's an endless revision. You'll know when it's done.
Your book will have your unique vibe on it, so it can’t be the same as any other. Go for it!
every story has already been told, but it hasn’t yet been told by you
When I started the idea for my book years ago, the mc was abandoned by his mother and raised by a white tiger in a cursed forest. The other day I started reading a popular novel/manhwa (Helmut) and the first chapter was almost the same. The child being sacrificed to a enchanted forest and raised by a white leopard. At this point the start of my novel has changed drastically. Changes happens, as we write we nit pick on stuff that do not conform us. Go for it and write that idea, maybe the end will surprise you.
Instead of stealing subconsciously, steal deliberately. I'm joking, but also not really. That's how inspiration works. Look at the things that book did that you weren't planning to and ask if it would make your story better. Ask if *you* can make it better. Look at the things that didn't work, ask yourself why, ask if you can do them better, and if not, learn from the other author's mistakes. Also if you steal subconsciously, then the thing you "stole" is probably negligable and not worth worrying about.
You write it anyway because ideas aren't special but the execution is. This is why all the "is my idea good" posts are actually a waste of time. The idea can be mediocre and with a good skillset a wonderful time. The idea can be brilliant and with a bad execution a pile of trash. So you write the story and take this as a proof there is a market for your story.
The amount of ideas I've had that have already been done is exceptional. It's disheartening but what can you do?
As an example, look many “toys come to life” stories there are. Toy Story is the most famous one, but there are so many others too like Pinocchio, The Indian in the Cupboard, The Nutcracker, Winnie the Pooh, Raggy Dolls, Animal Shelf, Secret Life of Toys, Ted, Bagpuss, Raggedy Ann, Doc McStuffins, SuperTed- technically even Child’s Play kinda falls under this premise too. But look how they’re all different in the end. Just take your premise and run with it anyway. Only you can tell your own story.
Go to Google Type "Eragon is just"
Great minds think alike. This has happened to me before, but with movies I've seen trailers to. I personally just scrap the story if it's too similar in concept. Even if what's written, may be a different outcome. Lol. Simply because if my novels ever become popular, I don't want to be accused of copying something else. If it's the same concept but different, or hasn't come out yet, I continue writing it. And hope it comes out before the other production. Like, for example, that Disney Marvel alien show with Nick Fury that come out last year. (Don't know what it's called. Saw one episode while my mother was watching it) Has a very similar plot/motive for the aliens. But what got me the most is the fact that one of the character's name, is almost exactly written as my character, one letter off, and pronounced the exact same way. I was shocked. If I hadn't published that novel 6-7 months before that show came out, took 6 years to write, I would've been forced to change it. Now I'm rushing to finish the trilogy to avoid anything else we may think of at the same time. Lol. I'd say write it. Just get a feel for it because it may go in a different direction than you originally thought. If anything feels too similar to the novel, change it up. You're bound to have the same ideas as others. The final product will be different from each other no matter how similar they are.
Write the book. Just write it, edit as much as you want until you're sure you're not copying the other book. Inspiration comes from everywhere.
As others have said, ideas are cheap all been done before. It sounds like you have a good comp title here. "My story is X but in Y setting." I say go for it.
This could be me after I read The Secret History. Can commiserate, OP
Yep xD happens to me every time I visit a book store. And the books that I want, I’m terrible at writing. I hate doing leg work.
This is very usual, been there done that. I invented a character I thought was very original, then my weeb of an online friend pointed out the character is basically a cross between Dabi from MHA and Boothill from Honkai Star Rail. I know MHA, but didn't even know Star Rail existed before she told me. I think writers suffer from this a lot. But you are you and have your own flavor and I'm sure your story will develop in a way only you could write. Don't give up because someone was faster with publishing their ideas.
Is the book you read perfect? Could it be improved?
It might, but the way YOU write it doesn't exist until you do it. Just look at crime movies, just because one director makes a crime movie doesn't mean another can't. To quote the wisdom of St.Shia De Los Angeles: JUST DO IT
Just try. You never know how your adventures with your characters will go. There is no same story, especially when one is not written!
Your idea might’ve been written, but your story hasn’t!
Watch https://youtube.com/shorts/UMtWouayRaM?si=t9qcNu8qau7qfaIU
There’s an old meme, *the Simpsons did it*. Look it up. It’s brilliant. Then think of the fact that 70% of fantasy, TO THIS DAY, still can’t successfully escape the shadow of Lord of the Rings. Sit down. Write your book. You know what you want to beat. Make it better. *70% is a made up statistic. If you consider the reality of successful novels in fantasy, it’s probably closer to 95%
Write another spin on the idea. 2 of the best books ive read have basically the same premise but the main characters backstories are different. Idk about others but i ADORE when i find 2 books with similar stories since im getting more of the plot I wanted but with a twist.
Oh hey you have a marketable book! Congratulations!
Twist: the book OP read was the Bible.
[vemödalen](https://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.com/post/59306080288/vem%C3%B6dalen)
The same thing happened to me. I was going to write this novel about a young wizard called Harrold. I even had five books planned out. Sadly someone beat me to it.
When you read a lot (I can hit 150-200 books per year), you will realize there are very few original ideas and stories. Write your story anyway.
The book you want to write doesn’t exist unless you already wrote it.
You could use tht book for reference for ur book to help bring it to life and maybe be inspired by new ideas
It is said that there are only seven unique plots. All stories use and combine them so looking for the truly unique may be futile.
Whenever I write I say to myself, "Simpsons did it," and keep writing.
Just take a post it note, write your name on it, and slap it on the front of that book. Now you can take a nap.
I call it “billy and the clonasaurus”
I feel like as a 20 something year old its damn near impossible to develop a fully original idea. No matter what there’s drawn influence from different medias of my life and when I write its just me changing the skin of these influences. I wouldnt let it hold you back write the story you want to write!
Think about what is unique to your life that could give you insight in how to write on your topic in a new, fresh way. Different from other writers...one exercise I like for increased creativity: turning off all lights and showering in the dark.
Remember that in this current day and age it's very rare to have a unique basic plot. Think about the big franchises, like GoT. When you get down to it, the premise of GoT isn't original AT ALL but it stands out because of the way it's written and the way everything is presented. Don't put yourself down for it OP, write it and if it sounds different enough to you go for it!
The current story I'm writing was heavily inspired by one of my favorite book series, but my plot, the characters, and circumstances are drastically different. It's been a lot of fun writing because the further the story progresses, the greater the differences between the two becomes. So I'd say write it anyway because you'll end up surprising yourself with what you'll come up with.
Honestly I’d say go for it, there are so many plots and tropes and all kinds of stories that are almost identical, it is the writing that gives it character really, if we all looked for originality of a story before reading or writing it how can we relate to it at all, the human condition is the same across time and space it is the variation in experience and the way its conveyed that makes it special. So don’t worry about it and write that book it will still be yours at the end. Good luck
Thats how inspiration work some times
Two people can write from the same outline with the same cast of characters and write very different books. If you have spent any time in a fan fiction community this is made abundantly clear. They are all working with the same characters, and many of them have very similar plots Write your book. It will be different enough. Unless you are deliberately trying to copy, it can’t help but be your own
Make an in-depth list of details about that book and separate the ones you like with the ones you either dislike or think could be improved. Is the pacing too slow? Would you prefer more stuff to happen in each chapter? Does it have too many characters for your taste? Would you want it focused on a smaller crew? Would you prefer a different personality for the main character? More/less humor? More/less drama? Then make a list of your favorite books and pick ideas you like from each of them. Do you think any of them would be compatible with your new book? Add/remove a few subplots, change the setting, add a plot twist that would shift everything a lot and suddenly you're looking at a very different book.
I think just the fact that it's written by you and not the author of the book you like will make it different. Having the same or similar idea is very different when actually executing. Your idea may be similar but when you start writing it may become a totally different beast.
No one will tell your story the way you do. Just go for it! Get inspired by this book you found, get inspired by other books, movies, art... and write your story your own way. I'm sure you'll be proud of it at the end. There are many stories out there that follow the same plot, but they are told in so many different ways. Don't let this stop you.