I just finished a short story that has inspired me to start working on a novel.
The novel is about a huntsman named Iver, whose village has been struck with a disease epidemic that has been contracted from the drinking water. When the village apothecary becomes sick, the town reaches a crisis as there is nobody left to work towards a cure or properly treat the ill. The village Elders ask Iver to leave the village to trade pelts and sell weapons so the village may have the funds and support needed to work towards a cure. On his travels, Iver encounters an industrial boreal town to the north that makes huge profits from the fur trade, but has over hunted the surrounding forests and polluted the water as a result (and are responsible for the sickness in Iver's village). These events have angered the gods that rule over the surrounding lands, particularly the fox goddess of the hunt, Venaria. The gods are all humans who can take the shape of animals. For example, the mountain god is a goat, the sky god is a hawk, etc. As Iver becomes acquainted with Wolfstal, he realizes that the town may be his only hope for saving his village due to the funds they can provide him from selling his pelts and weapons, but as he becomes familiar with Venaria and her struggle to save the forest, he has difficulties coming to terms with what is right. In addition to all of this, Xelios, known as the king of the gods and 'father nature', is on the brink of awakening due to all the trauma that Wolfstal has caused to the river and forest. There is little time for Iver to find a way to save his village, as well as quell the tensions between Wolfstal and the gods.
I really like what I can do with this story, but I'm honestly afraid it feels too much like Princess Mononoke (the Studio Ghibli film) as the characters, plot structure, and themes are almost the same. This was not intentional, but it still ended up being very similar. If you are familiar with the film, you may understand what I mean. How do you know when you're bordering on plagiarism when it comes to similarities to other stories?
The novel is about a huntsman named Iver, whose village has been struck with a disease epidemic that has been contracted from the drinking water. When the village apothecary becomes sick, the town reaches a crisis as there is nobody left to work towards a cure or properly treat the ill. The village Elders ask Iver to leave the village to trade pelts and sell weapons so the village may have the funds and support needed to work towards a cure. On his travels, Iver encounters an industrial boreal town to the north that makes huge profits from the fur trade, but has over hunted the surrounding forests and polluted the water as a result (and are responsible for the sickness in Iver's village). These events have angered the gods that rule over the surrounding lands, particularly the fox goddess of the hunt, Venaria. The gods are all humans who can take the shape of animals. For example, the mountain god is a goat, the sky god is a hawk, etc. As Iver becomes acquainted with Wolfstal, he realizes that the town may be his only hope for saving his village due to the funds they can provide him from selling his pelts and weapons, but as he becomes familiar with Venaria and her struggle to save the forest, he has difficulties coming to terms with what is right. In addition to all of this, Xelios, known as the king of the gods and 'father nature', is on the brink of awakening due to all the trauma that Wolfstal has caused to the river and forest. There is little time for Iver to find a way to save his village, as well as quell the tensions between Wolfstal and the gods.
I really like what I can do with this story, but I'm honestly afraid it feels too much like Princess Mononoke (the Studio Ghibli film) as the characters, plot structure, and themes are almost the same. This was not intentional, but it still ended up being very similar. If you are familiar with the film, you may understand what I mean. How do you know when you're bordering on plagiarism when it comes to similarities to other stories?