Has this been done?

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SafetyDance

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Wondering about a story set in a kind of mental/respite home, but for those with more supernatural problems. Anyone read anything like this before?
 
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Everything's been done.

None of it, however, was written in your voice.
 

KingM

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Wondering about a story set in a kind of mental/respite home, but for those with more supernatural problems. Anyone read anything like this before?

Yes. Not in a published manuscript, however. It might be a hard sell because that is an inherently depressing setting.

You are right to ask this question, though. Too many writers dive into the first story idea that comes to mind without first screening the many possible stories they could write for what is or isn't marketable.
 

ManicMondayMama

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Not like X-Men, a home for people with supernatural powers?

And not like someone with supernatural powers being locked up in a muggle hospital, right?

Is it set in a supernatural world, and their problems are something akin to their spells always going wrong, or their prophecies always turning out false?

I can't think of anything like it, but I think it's an awesome idea.
 

KingM

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Not like X-Men, a home for people with supernatural powers?

And not like someone with supernatural powers being locked up in a muggle hospital, right?

Is it set in a supernatural world, and their problems are something akin to their spells always going wrong, or their prophecies always turning out false?

I can't think of anything like it, but I think it's an awesome idea.

Okay, I think I was misreading the original idea. I thought OP was saying a nursing home type setting where there was something supernatural going on, but you're suggesting an asylum for people with supernatural abilities. That is a different story.
 

ChaosTitan

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Too many writers dive into the first story idea that comes to mind without first screening the many possible stories they could write for what is or isn't marketable.

I'm curious about this statement. :)

How does a writer decide if a story is marketable until they actually write it? Often the initial idea is different from the finished product, and by the time the story has been written and polished, the market has already shifted.

The OP's idea could be a depressing story. It could also end up being quite humorous, depending on what she actually does with it.

ETA: Slight cross-post with above.
 

KingM

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I'm curious about this statement. :)

How does a writer decide if a story is marketable until they actually write it? Often the initial idea is different from the finished product, and by the time the story has been written and polished, the market has already shifted.

The OP's idea could be a depressing story. It could also end up being quite humorous, depending on what she actually does with it.

ETA: Slight cross-post with above.

I don't want to derail the thread, but it's often other factors than the quality of the writing that cause a novel to be picked up or selling a gajillion copies. You can see that by picking up bestsellers and reading a page or two. Some are wonderfully written, others...not so much. That's the charitable way to put it. :)

Every writer has multiple stories in her. She can list eight or ten ideas that strike her interest and then ask herself questions about which is most marketable. Note that this is different from saying, well, I usually write SF, but I hear YA is selling right now. That almost never works.
 

amyashley

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Yes, Carol Berg had a home for those with magical abilities in her fantasy novel Daughter of Ancients. It wasn't the sole focus of the novel.

The home was more of a old folks home or a place where those with ailments could come and their pain would be taken away however they had no magical abilities any longer, nor could they leave. The hero of the tale worked with his father who agreed to go in disguise into the home as a resident. His memory and emotion also started to fade with time. The hero discovered that the woman who ran the home was siphoning off the magical energy and life force of the inhabitants for her own use.

It is at the end of a series, but if you wanted to read it for research you could probably do so standalone. I would reccommend the series though to understand completely. It is an excellent epic fantasy series! Very intricate, though some scenes drag on, and some characters are dull. Overall VERY good.

The concept could easily be done differently, but I'd read this book and any others to avoid similarities.
 
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amyashley

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You cannot base the marketability of a book on idea (just a sentence) alone.

Just my opinion. There is more to it, first of all. There is the author's ability, the market she plans to target, the themes of the novel she intends to intertwine, the overall tone of the novel, and the characters. All of these things combined would help one get a better picture of whether or not this would be a good idea to pursue.

Even trends, ideas that are "overdone", and popularity in the marketplace are not always good factors to base on what an author should begin to write. As an author, I would say that the best thing to write is the vision one is most passionate about, since this is the one that will have the most heart in it's voice and the one the author would be the most determined to polish into perfection.

I have no doubt, knowing Firebrain, that she is unlikely to go haring off wildly after some unthought out idea. She'll put thought behind it and she'll do whatever she chooses well.
 

KingM

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You cannot base the marketability of a book on idea (just a sentence) alone.

I agree that there are multiple factors, but you can still ask yourself these questions. Does the book have scope? Is the setting unusual? Can you put it into a fresh-sounding spin that can intrigue an agent/editor/marketing guy?

Note that none of this has anything to do with how good the book is, but it is about removing barriers to success.
 

SafetyDance

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Yes, I was talking about an asylum type place. A correctional facility. I'm not fussed if it's been done before as such, I just want to make sure that what I write isn't too similar to what has gone before. Thanks for all the suggestions/comparisons on that front. Was thinking of something like a House Of Un -- unmentionable, unexplainable, unsightly...undead...

X Men is possibly the closest thing to my train of thought right now, although I'm trying to iron out the plot in my head so that it's different i.e. not lots of mutants all over the world. More like a select group, and with some different abilities. This is because I can't do epic scopes; I'm much better at small-scale.

I'm not worried about it being depressing, but thanks for the thought on it :) I write too much snarky dialogue for that!

AmyAshley, thank you for the vote of confidence. I wouldn't bet on that though, lol. Especially since this idea says "I am YA, so sue me," and I CANNOT DO YA [bangs head against wall]

ETA -- I used the wrong word in my OP. "Respite" was not what I meant!
 
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amyashley

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KingM:
Yes, I was trying to point out that was exactly what she was trying to do with this thread.
Not all of us are daisy-eyed flops. A few of us think before we begin typing. Most of us come here to ask the important questions of people we trust. Perhaps you should try following threads in the genres your agency represents, as in your answer to this question, you stated that no published novel existed. Berg has a large following in fantasy.


Firebrain, check out the book I mentioned. It isn't YA at all! I don't read it. I can imagine a book like this being funny rather than depressing, but then you know me, I WRITE humor. I think it is a cool idea. Hmmm. I'm thinking of including some mental instabilities in one of my upcoming novels, but it's all humor.

Just keep brainfarting, and you'll get it.
 

KingM

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KingM:
Perhaps you should try following threads in the genres your agency represents, as in your answer to this question, you stated that no published novel existed. Berg has a large following in fantasy.

No, I said I hadn't read a published novel like that, not that it didn't exist, but then I realized I had misunderstood the initial premise.
 

SPMiller

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Yes, Carol Berg had a home for those with magical abilities in her fantasy novel Daughter of Ancients. It wasn't the sole focus of the novel.
Patrick Rothfuss also had an asylum for magicians in The Name of the Wind, but it wasn't the sole focus, either.

Every idea has been done before. The details may vary by implementation. Just write it again, and your version will be both different and the same.
 

AceTachyon

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Yes, I was talking about an asylum type place. A correctional facility. I'm not fussed if it's been done before as such, I just want to make sure that what I write isn't too similar to what has gone before. Thanks for all the suggestions/comparisons on that front. Was thinking of something like a House Of Un -- unmentionable, unexplainable, unsightly...undead...
So it's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest done as UF, yes?
 

Maxx

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So it's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest done as UF, yes?

Okay, get this: It's a Young Jack Nicholson meets The Prisoner of Askaban. Hot. rippin' it will have agents wallowing in their fluids.
 

amyashley

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:Ssh:

NO SEX!!!!???? Oh, well if agents wallow in their fluids, I guess that's a fair sub.
 

SafetyDance

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Well...maybe no sex for the first book :p The MC (a ghost-type) will spend most of the first mooning over a gay vampire.

Am thinking correctional facility is, of course, not what it seems. That's a given, right?! :p
 

Maxx

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:Ssh:

NO SEX!!!!???? Oh, well if agents wallow in their fluids, I guess that's a fair sub.

No SEX per se, but think of the other Ken Kesey-eqsue possibilities: a boat trip for the supernatural invalids out of Ken's favorite little harbor of Depot Bay. Or maybe a more Louis Malle Murmur of the Heart take: sex yes, but only with somebody you've known extremely well for decades.
 
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amyashley

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Now I want both of you to write these two very different books so I can read them.


Sex or not, the premises are entertaining. A gay vampire and Ken Kesey-esque possibilities? Oh yeah, my credit card is ready.
 

SafetyDance

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[googles Ken Kesey] Edit: I officially have no culture. Stoopid English degree.

He's a shy gay vampire. Finnish. Fond of bad death metal.
 
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