Damn ideas!

inkstar

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Ok. One of my old ideas was about teens, whose parents are superheroes. And those teens go to a superhero high school. Sounds simple, huh? Well. It is. So, why I didn’t write it? It’s because the main story idea was very much like Rocketjump’s Video Game High School. (BTW, one of the most awesome web series of all time.) But I don’t like stealing ideas. I hate it when people do this! So… back to topic. How do I change the story of my idea? And how do I get ideas for each episode?
 

Enlightened

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Sounds like the animated film The Incredibles (a family of superheroes). IMDB: "A family of undercover superheroes, while trying to live the quiet suburban life, are forced into action to save the world."

Survey the landscape (i.e. research what is out there already). This is prominent in academic, research programs. Check what is out there before creating your own research, stories, and so on.
 
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inkstar

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Meh. Those teens are more important than the whole family for the story. It’s more about their daily life as a superhero kid and how they can handle it. So...
 

Enlightened

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Sounds like you have a start. Stories are, for the most part, comprised of setting, characters, and plot (coupled with the conflict between each of the categories). Change it however you like. There are an infinite number of ways to do so.
 

inkstar

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Well. The concept would be different. The characters are no problem. The problem is the damn plot!
 

sandree

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How about a star crossed love story. Undercover super hero teen and the villain’s kid or superhero kid and ordinary teen.

Or child of superheroes who just wants to be a ballet dancer - or a writer - or anything other than a super hero.

Or - maybe they have an odd super-talent that has never been seen before and they have to discover what it is.

Or they have no talent at all - and feel like a failure and have to come to terms with that.

I haven’t seen or read this type of story so if I just repeated what is already out there, please forgive...
 

inkstar

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Actually, the main question of that project will be, "What makes us human? – The personality or the look?". It’s about teens and their daily problem. I wanna show that you can be really crazy to an ordinary human (in meaning of appearance) but can be still adorable. That it doesn’t mattter what other people think about you and that’s ok to be yourself. And of course, that you can reach every goal if you really want it. So... Your ideas are great for a kids story. But my audience will be the internet community and no Fortnite players. ;-)
 

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Easy fix; watch the Planet of the Apes saga (new generation of movies). You may get a plethora of ideas for your own project. If you want a real head trip (what makes us animal and human), watch The Grey. Seven men survive a plane crash to be hunted by wolves. There are odd parallels between the wolf pack, its leader, and the human tribe/survivors and their leader.

Planet of the Apes (2001)
Rise of the Planet of Apes (2011)
Dawn of the Planet of Apes (2014)
War for the Planet of Apes (2017)

Odd, but I am watching the series now. I'm watching them at 4x/6x speeds to get through them fast. I have one left. I think if Animal Farm (Orwell) was continued, it would cover every aspect in this saga. We have revolution (lead by an ape called Caesar), war leaders, war, treachery, alliances with humans and matryrdom.... The apes show what makes us human and what it takes for them to behave like us.

The apes do not care what humans, in this series, think of them; and, to them, that is okay for them to be themselves. They prove they can reach every goal they want, so far. I have yet to see the last movie though!
 

ranjitmore

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Ok. One of my old ideas was about teens, whose parents are superheroes. And those teens go to a superhero high school. Sounds simple, huh? Well. It is. So, why I didn’t write it? It’s because the main story idea was very much like Rocketjump’s Video Game High School. (BTW, one of the most awesome web series of all time.) But I don’t like stealing ideas. I hate it when people do this! So… back to topic. How do I change the story of my idea? And how do I get ideas for each episode?

Having a similar premise hardly qualifies as stealing. Yes, people have done it before, but that doesn't mean you can't do it.

Put a different spin on it. Come up with something unique.

Maybe the protag hasn't developed any powers well late into his teens, and is seen as a loser by his classmates. Maybe his parents were not that high on the superhero chain, or maybe they were but deliberately laid low, working on the sidelines, to protect their family - as a result, voila, your Protag is a complete nobody in the school, but, at the same time, is the most powerful student due to his genes. Maybe the govt. assigns Norway or the South Pole to the superhero with the lowest score in school. As a result, our protag, who is the underdog, and the girl/guy they have a crush on (who has received such low grades due to being caught in a fiasco set up by the high-school/college bully, who sees them as friends)is forced to camp out at those icy regions. However, aliens attack, or creatures from the deep dark attack, and the protag + his friends save the world from them.
 

Crowned in Fireflies

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I watched a video essay a while back about how this cheesy movie was accidentally very fascist in it's messaging. It's about this kid who is the son of superhero parents, and he goes to a superhero school with a strict caste system between superheroes and sidekicks. The main character's issue was he had no powers, but he affirms the status quo by the end when his powers awaken and he's amazingly strong. Your idea reminds me of this and other shows and movies. I guess what I'm getting at is that it doesn't matter if you think something else already used your idea, you can still use that idea and just do the execution differently enough for it to stand out and be worth existing.
 

Tazlima

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Ok. One of my old ideas was about teens, whose parents are superheroes. And those teens go to a superhero high school. Sounds simple, huh? Well. It is. So, why I didn’t write it? It’s because the main story idea was very much like Rocketjump’s Video Game High School. (BTW, one of the most awesome web series of all time.) But I don’t like stealing ideas. I hate it when people do this! So… back to topic. How do I change the story of my idea? And how do I get ideas for each episode?

There are currently 7.5 billion other people on the planet, and that's not including all those who have died in the course of human history. If you try to do something that nobody has ever done before in search of "originality" you will: 1) drive yourself mad. and 2) fail, or possibly 3) Succeed by making something utterly bizarre and abstract that lacks any coherent plotline... only to discover that bizarre and abstract has also been done.

Superheros having a family is not a new idea. However, that doesn't mean it's not "original" to you. The issue is with how you define "originality."

The root word of "originality" is "origin," and an "original" idea is one that originated with YOU. That's all.

As a child I invented the concept of a shopping mall, where you could go to one place and get every kind of store at once. Yes, it already existed, but I didn't know that, and it WAS a good idea. Just because someone else has also, independently, come up with a similar idea doesn't make it any less "original." And unlike shopping malls, which can only be set up in so many ways, if you proceed with this project, the odds of you accidentally recreating someone else's work in its entirety are basically nil.

Heck, this explanation of originality isn't my own idea. I learned this bit of wisdom from an essay by Tommy Wonder.

Have you ever participated in an exercise where a bunch of people write from the same prompt? The fascinating thing about these exercises is that even when everyone shares a starting point, each writer immediately takes the story in a completely different direction, following the thread through the maze of their own mind.

Write good stories. If you're aware of similar projects and fear unintentional copying, avoid reading/watching those similar items until after your project is complete. As long as the stories come from you, they will be original. It will happen without even trying, so just enjoy yourself.
 
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Kevin_C_Vang

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Ok. One of my old ideas was about teens, whose parents are superheroes. And those teens go to a superhero high school. Sounds simple, huh? Well. It is. So, why I didn’t write it? It’s because the main story idea was very much like Rocketjump’s Video Game High School. (BTW, one of the most awesome web series of all time.) But I don’t like stealing ideas. I hate it when people do this! So… back to topic. How do I change the story of my idea? And how do I get ideas for each episode?
I prefer knowing your character as if you have lived with him/her. Also, you have to know the situation and the elements as well since these are your spices.