Someone else did it better so now I'm stuck.

I'm pretty sure that if there was a requirement that all stories be absolutely original, that 99.9% of writers wouldn't be able to put the first word on paper.
I myself would have absolutely nothing to write about, since the story I'm writing is basically a mixture of everything I've ever read, every movie I've ever seen, etc. What makes it mine though is how it's all put together. A concept might not be new, but how it's used? Well, that's something else entirely.

So I guess, my suggestion is for you to focus on your story, and not worry too much about what someone else may have written that's similar. After all, you might think that other person did it better, but somebody else may look at it and think just the opposite.



O.H

It happens all the time. If you try to avoid anything similar you will drive yourself to drink. I create massive biped bull type creatures called Tauroks- a variation of Taurus the bull. I read the Wheel of Time and discover large animal-like bipeds, (some with bull features) called Trollocs.
I have massive dog-like creatures called Feyhounds with long snouts that pin a man up against a tree and gorge his insides. I read Sword of truth and there are large dog-like creatures with long snouts that eat a man's heart, called Hellhounds.
At one stage I stopped reading fantasy because every time I read a book I discovered something similar to mine.
You may get a few comments from people who don't understand that there is nothing truly original, just like you got people accusing Eragon of being a copy of Starwars, which is actually just the hero's journey, but there's nothing you can do about it. Write the book you want to write.

I get this all the time, especially since I am a newbie!

There's this quote I remember that helps me at times like this;
"I think new writers are too worried that it has all been said before. Sure it has, but not by you." (- Asha Dornfest)

New writer or not, I think it's relevant either way. Ten people can say the same story, but they'll all say it slightly differently.

Hmm, yes, a lot of people confuse "That's the first book I've read with that plot" and "That's the first book that's used that plot." I was accused (probably too strong a word) of copying any of several different prior books when Legion was published. But all of those books could be considered "copies" of other books that were published even earlier.

The Martian is just warmed-over Robinson Crusoe, if you want to get into that mindset. But I've read both, and enjoyed them in different ways.

Masel said:

I know, I know but it is the specifics. I've got a wheel shaped space station. They's got a wheel shaped space station.

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You don't want me to list how many "wheel-shaped space stations" you'll find in sci-fi... mostly because it's a logical, rational design, and one of the few ways to create artificial gravity without some magic technology.

As far as the rest goes... ditto. We'll be here for a very long time going through examples.

So again, write your story. Don't worry so much about what's come before.




O.H.

Masel said:

I know, I know but it is the specifics. I've got a wheel shaped space station. They's got a wheel shaped space station. Bad guys invade both. A rag tag group of people some of whom are teens save the day.

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For what it’s worth, “wheel-shaped space station” goes back to the 1950s in SF, at least.

“Bad guy invaders” goes back to pirate yarns.

“Rag tag group of teens” — yeah, again, not new.

What matters more than plot points & devices are “voice” and developing your characters.

Masel, let's try it this way... I'll take a category you've listed, and give you a movie, off the top of my head, that includes that thing or situation. Here goes:


“wheel-shaped space station” - 2001: A Space Odyssey - Had a half-constructed station near the beginning, after the prehistory scene.

“Bad guy invaders” - Independence Day - Also full of more sci-fi tropes than you can shake a phaser at. ( And please don''t do what was done in the movie Signs. I mean, seriously, Earth invaded by aliens that were destroyed by contact with water??? How could a species that damn dumb even find their way across the universe in the first place? Even Stargate: SG-1's Samantha Carter made fun of the movie. )

“Rag tag group of teens” - Red Dawn. Not sci-fi, per se, but certainly does the "rag-tag teen" thing pretty well, and is nearly 35 years old now. ( This movie was originally made in 1984, then re-made in 2012 ) If you want strictly sci-fi and more recent, there's The Maze Runner.


So, as you can see, those things are not new ideas... However, if you can squish all of those stories listed together, and pour them out into one continuous, interesting, and rational plot and character study... I'm pretty sure you'll find an audience for it.



O.H.

Masel said:

At least my wheels spin in opposite directions. As they should

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But.... if you do that, how're ya gonna stack a bunch of 'em together and make your own version of Babylon 5?



O.H.

Dennis E. Taylor said:

Hmm, yes, a lot of people confuse "That's the first book I've read with that plot" and "That's the first book that's used that plot." I was accused (probably too strong a word) of copying any of several different prior books when Legion was published. But all of those books could be considered "copies" of other books that were published even earlier.

Click to expand...

“Plagiarism” versus “inspiration”. That’s for courts to decide. But I don’t think any novel can claim to be uninfluenced by earlier works. We stand on the shoulders of others.

Editors and agents want comp titles anyway, use it as that. Your story might be similar, but if you wrote it, it won't be the same, like others have mentioned.

Introversion said:

“Bad guy invaders” goes back to pirate yarns THE BIBLE.

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Edited for veracity.

caw

blacbird said:

Edited for veracity.

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I'm sure there are tales on Babylonian tablets about invading bad guys.

Originally Posted by Introversion
“Bad guy invaders” goes back to pirate yarns THE BIBLE.

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blacbird said:

Edited for veracity.

caw

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Not to mention Ezekiel's wheel in the sky, also in the Bible.
There is nothing new under the sun.
Also, wheel-shaped space stations are not something one writer thought up. It's a staple of the genre.

Introversion said:

I'm sure there are tales on Babylonian tablets about invading bad guys.

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And if Neanderthals had a written language, we'd probably be reading something similar about invasions of homosapiens...


O.D.

OldHat63 said:

And if Neanderthals had a written language, we'd probably be reading something similar about invasions of homosapiens...

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Well, it gone done really really well, later, by William Golding, in The Inheritors. That is Golding's second novel, coming after Lord of the Flies, and is a greatly neglected great work.

caw

And that leads me to believe this:

There are no new stories. There are only the ones that haven't been written down yet.


O.H.

A few years ago I had this really brilliant idea for a novel: A vengeful whaling captain seeks revenge on a huge white sperm whale that bit off his leg, and the quest for vengeance doesn't end well. Of course, along the way, I had to write a hell of a lot of stuff about who sperm whales and whaling work, and that took a lot of research.

Then I was told somebody else had already written that story.

Fart.

So now I'm working on one where, in the Middle Ages, a deformed hunchback falls in love with a condemned gypsy beauty and takes refuge in a famous cathedral in Paris, France. I have great hopes for this one.

caw

blacbird said:

So now I'm working on one where, in the Middle Ages, a deformed hunchback falls in love with a condemned gypsy beauty and takes refuge in a famous cathedral in Paris, France. I have great hopes for this one.

caw

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...and if he falls out of that tower and goes splat, I'll bet everybody looks at him, and says he's a dead ringer for his brother, Quasimodo.


O.H.

Here's what I do: read everything EXCEPT my genre/main story idea! I discovered some time ago that when I tried to read works directly in my genre, I found "too many" (in my mind) similarities and began to feel exactly as you did, OP. (And yes, I thought they "did it better" - totally discounting the significant editing that must have happened before publishing.)

I think that's may writers' shared nightmare: you work on your book for years, get to the point of submitting to publishers and someone comes out with something really similar. I've seen that question many times here, and I think I posted the question myself once.

But the reality is, as people are saying, there isn't anything new under the sun. (Sorry for the reorganization of that famous saying.) And if you narrow things even further by investigating works that might already be similar to yours, you're REALLY going to feel down.

Not everyone will feel the way I do - I don't even know if it's good advice - but I personally avoid what I can already tell will be similar works, and if my eye happens to fall on a description on the back of a book that seems similar, I let it pass me by. I read other novels instead that are within a much broader range of what I like (i.e., history from a completely different time period; psychological thrillers with a totally different storyline).

I wouldn't worry about it. You're not going to come up with something completely original with the billions of stories out there in human history. The beauty of what you will create is in your unique telling of familiar themes (ragtag group of teens! wheel-shaped spaceship!) audiences recognize and love with your characters in your world.

I think of werewolf books, which I read and enjoy, where the same tropes get repeated in book after book. It's genre expectation. The Alpha falls in love with the Omega. Blood magic is tied to the moon. Wolves have true mates. Wolves communicate telepathically with mates... I can't remember the last time I saw a "new" idea in that regard... just new settings, new love stories, new characters, which made the stories wonderful to read.