Idea scoopage: how not to rewrite someone else's book

Hey guys,
For any of you out there brainstorming new fiction book ideas and wondering if your idea is really unique, I blogged about the ways you can search to make sure your ideas aren't already out there (or about to be published by someone else).

I would really welcome comments if you have any other ideas!

http://lydiakang.blogspot.com/2010/02/idea-scoopage-how-not-to-rewrite.html

Very good point. As someone commented on the blog, "There are no new ideas, just ideas rediscovered and given fresh perspectives."

Unfortunately, I have a few friends who have written manuscripts where certain plotlines and overall themes were too close to something already out there, and hence were not picked up by agents.

It's not about reinventing the wheel. Just making sure your wheel is unique in its own way.

I agree with much of what you say here. But storylines and plots can be "just invented" again and again. Like you said, most plots aren't new. If you have enough similarities with an existing novel where the market starts to get oversaturated with certain ideas, then even if the writing is fresh and new, the publishing world may not be interested. And as everyone knows, agents and publishers are more selective than ever these days.

I'm just saying it would be heartbreaking to finish a book and query it, only to be told that it's got too many similar elements to a book that's already out there. If this happened to me and I didn't know this beforehand, I'd be kicking myself.

I think this post may be more relevant to certain genres or subgenres, like YA urban fantasy, as an example. It may not be relevant in other genres where the search terms might be too broad, or in character-driven literary fiction.