# Discovering your Story has been done before



## Damian (Nov 16, 2012)

Has anyone experienced writing a story and then finding it has been done elsewhere. I am writing a story and one of my main 'scenarios' towards the was almost identical to the premise of the ending of a recent blockbuster movie I watched last night...  
What is best in this situation as anyone whom would read my story now could relate it to that movie. Is it best to change it although I had lots of plans linked in and around it as you can imagine...
Stuck


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## CupofJoe (Nov 16, 2012)

About a year or so back, I was sketching out an idea when a friend emailed me to let me know what they were working on and it was almost word for word what I was trying out. We had both seen the same documentary and came to the same conclusions. We even had one similar character name...
So luckily in that case I only lost a couple of hours...
As there are only supposed to be only 3, 7, 25 [think of your own number] original stories; just about any story can be reduced to sound like any other. I read a lot of Crime Fiction and they are often exactly the same plot but with different details [crimes, victims, locations, detectives and perps]. That can even be comforting.
I guess what you have to so is to make your story not feel like any other story. And that as they say is the tricky part.
If rewriting your plot isn't for you; don't forget that it might be quite a while before Jo[e] Q Public gets to ready your story so it might not be so fresh in their minds.


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## Chilari (Nov 16, 2012)

Without knowing the specifics of the situation, I'd suggest you hold on to your story. While the scenario might be similar, the delivery cannot be, by definition. For a start, you're writing a novel, not a screenplay. Different media have different requirements. Secondly, the way the director and script writer handled and presented the situation will not the the same as the way you present it, because you're different people with different approaches and quite possibly a different element to focus upon. Anyway, if you ask some people they'll tell you there's nothing new under the sun. Originality of idea isn't actually as important as delivery.

If you still feel it's too close, you might want to chose to shift the focus of your scene while keeping the events the same. Think about the themes in your novel, the motivations of your characters, and see how that might make it different.

At the end of the day, though, even if the film you refer to is a blockbuster and even if it ends up to be the highest box office hit of the year, not everyone who reads your novel will have seen the film. Even the most popular films, after all, are only seen by a certain percentage of even a wealthy country's population.


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## BWFoster78 (Nov 16, 2012)

I think we all put too much emphasis on trying to be "unique."

Think about how many books, stories, and movies are produced each year.  Similarities between anything you produce and something else out there are almost inevitable.

Don't deliberately set out to copy somebody else.  Other than that, don't worry about it so much.  Write what you want.


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## Saigonnus (Nov 16, 2012)

Go back far enough and everything has been done before, so you shouldn't worry much about it. I highly doubt your story is *exactly* the same as said blockbuster movie though there may be similarities. I can think of, off the top of my head a few movies even with a similar basic plot. Karate Kid, Kung Fu Panda, Never Back Down and Star Wars. All are good if not great movies and are about a young character with issues that need to be resolved and all turn to an older male character to learn to fight... whether it's karate, kung fu or the force. Even though the premise is basically the same, they way the story is written is what makes them different. 

If you feel it's too similar to something else to be enjoyable then change it... if not, keep writing and have fun with it; since that's what it's all about anyway, having fun.


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## Mindfire (Nov 16, 2012)

There is only one light, but many colors.


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## lawrence (Nov 16, 2012)

Mindfire said:


> There is only one light, but many colors.



"What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun."

- King Solomon

I haven't encountered a plot very similar to one of mine as yet, but that's because I have not as yet written a great deal! I did get a little disappointed about a geographical location name I had proudly devised, only to find it to be exactly the same as one created by another, very famous, writer.


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## Mindfire (Nov 16, 2012)

lawrence said:


> "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun."
> 
> - King Solomon
> 
> I haven't encountered a plot very similar to one of mine as yet, but that's because I have not as yet written a great deal! I did get a little disappointed about a geographical location name I had proudly devised, only to find it to be exactly the same as one created by another, very famous, writer.



How dare you one-up my profound quote!


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## Penpilot (Nov 16, 2012)

I've been planning a story for about a year while I've been writing/editing a different book. One of the elements to the novel I'm planning  was a wall that surrounded all of the known land. Beyond the wall there's a legend of the dangerous and dark beings that live there called The Others. 

Last month I finally decided to read Game of Thrones. When the connection hit me, I did a scream that would have put Shatner to shame. "KKKKHAAAAAAANNNNN-KKKKHHHHAAAANNN" 

Regardless, I'm still going to use the idea/element. I used the element differently, but I'm going to make adjustments. I'm going to take a slightly different attack angle on it, but for all intensive purposes, it's just changing the window dressing.


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## Mindfire (Nov 16, 2012)

Penpilot said:


> but for all intensive purposes



Grrr... The phrase is "for all intents _*and*_ purposes". Sorry. Things like that irk me. lol


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## Weaver (Nov 16, 2012)

Damian said:


> Has anyone experienced writing a story and then finding it has been done elsewhere. I am writing a story and one of my main 'scenarios' towards the was almost identical to the premise of the ending of a recent blockbuster movie I watched last night...
> What is best in this situation as anyone whom would read my story now could relate it to that movie. Is it best to change it although I had lots of plans linked in and around it as you can imagine...
> Stuck



Here's my advice:

No matter what you write, there will always be someone who is absolutely convinced that your story is JUST LIKE something they saw on television or in a movie, or read in a book once.  It's unavoidable.  And the "just like" can be as basic as the presence of wizards in a fantasy novel, or perhaps you decided to write your story from the viewpoint of the hero's best friend.  You may be (probably will be, at one time or anther) accused of deliberately copying a story you've never even heard of and that may have been written _after_ yours.  (Don't ask me how that happens, but really, kids, that novella I wrote in 1989 is _sooooo _a rip-off of someone else's fantasy novel written in 1999.  Really.  The proof is that both stories have _dragons_.  And _elves_ Plus, y'know, that same story had a character named Jasper, so I _obviously_ stole from Stephenie Meyer's novel that she tells everyone she came up with the idea for back in 2000something.)  

So don't worry about it.  That's what my clone-sibling always tells me every time I have a panic attack over this issue (which happens more often than I want to admit).  As long as _you_ know you're not copying someone else's story - and being inspired is NOT copying - just keep writing your story.


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## Ireth (Nov 16, 2012)

This has happened to me before... I realized one day that my book _Winter's Queen_ is essentially _Finding Nemo_ with humans and Fae instead of fish. I could make a list of the various characters and their roles, and how they match each other nigh perfectly. Hasn't stopped me from keeping on with it, though; I've considered hanging a lampshade on the similarities within the book itself just for fun.


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## Reaver (Nov 16, 2012)

My advice is that you should read Joseph Campbell's_ "The Hero with a Thousand Faces"._ You'll quickly learn that *everything* has been done before.


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## FatCat (Nov 17, 2012)

Or watch the Southpark episode "The Simpsons Did It".


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## Zero Angel (Nov 17, 2012)

I read an interview with an anime writer before who had a great idea in the 80s that featured a bunch of kids riding flying bicycles...then E.T. came out and the project was scrapped. He talked about this idea of a collective consciousness where certain ideas have a _now_ness to them that will develop independently across the globe. 

As has been mentioned before, if your story is similar to someone else's, then don't worry about it unless you copied it. 

On the other hand, if you have an experience like PenPilot did, then it is probably best to make adjustments as needed.


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## Penpilot (Nov 17, 2012)

Mindfire said:


> Grrr... The phrase is "for all intents _*and*_ purposes". Sorry. Things like that irk me. lol



I hate it when I do that too. The worst part about it is more often than not I really do know the right phrase, but I fart out the something else instead. I don't mind being corrected. It's a nice reinforcement on what the proper phrase is.


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## Sinitar (Nov 17, 2012)

It's not possible. People will always establish certain connections, but that's just a first impression. At first glance, it may look like my story is similar to another. The synopsis may give this away, or the inciting incident, or maybe something else. However, I strongly believe that every work is unique in its own way. There may be no such thing as original ideas, but people can get proficient at mixing these ideas into something extraordinary. At that point, I really don't care if that story resembles something I've read before. 

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson is a good example. Take that book apart and you'll have a bunch of overused concepts, some cliches and a dull plot. Read it as a whole, and things will be so much different.

ONTOPIC: Even if my story has been done before, that will most certainly not stop me. I know things that my readers don't. If I succeed showing them that my work has a different touch compared to the book they compare it with, they will go along with it. Unless they're terribly stubborn and/or ignorant.


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## Wanara009 (Nov 17, 2012)

I always say that There is No Such Thing as a Bad Idea, only Bad Execution. Truly original ideas is very hard to come by because we as human has limit to our mind. As such, people will always find parallel between works of fictions.

Personally however, these kind of thing has stopped to bother me. It's like coming to a Halloween party and meeting someone who had the same costume as you are.


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## lawrence (Nov 18, 2012)

Mindfire said:


> How dare you one-up my profound quote!



 Was using it to back ya up !


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## Grand Lord BungleFic (Nov 19, 2012)

I've certainly had the experience of coming up with an idea that I thought was completely new and original and then finding that same theme used in someone else's novel or in a movie.  I'm just a newbie when it comes to writing fiction but my understanding is that it's all about making it FEEL original -- even if all of the ideas have been used before. It seems to me that the really accomplished authors often handle this by changing familiar themes to fit their own story or even filling in additional layers of complexity to situations/races/monsters/etc that have been used before.


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## Zireael (Dec 2, 2012)

> Go back far enough and everything has been done before, so you shouldn't worry much about it.



So true. My university prof has been saying it for a year in a literature studies course.


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## Lawisendro (Dec 2, 2012)

Thankfully, I haven't discovered that my story hs been done before, but I weep for you guys that have. Truly, I do.


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## Anders Ã„mting (Dec 2, 2012)

These days, I try to be preemtive about this, so I make of point of having my stories resemble other stories that I like, deliberatelly. I find that this is a more honest approach that saves me a lot of stress.



Lawisendro said:


> Thankfully, I haven't discovered that my story hs been done before, but I weep for you guys that have. Truly, I do.



Don't pity those who fail to achieve absolute originality. Pity those who think they have to strive for it.


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## Penpilot (Dec 2, 2012)

Anders Ã„mting said:


> These days, I try to be preemtive about this, so I make of point of having my stories resemble other stories that I like, deliberatelly. I find that this is a more honest approach that saves me a lot of stress.



You know there's a lot to be said to doing this. My current work, I deliberately set out to write something that I thought wouldn't be too original because I figured it would take some pressure off so I could focus on just telling an interesting story and writing it well. 

As it turns out, things turned out more unique than I thought they would. My own spin on standard tropes produced something I really like, and if my writing group is to be believed, fresh and original. Sooo, the way I figure things now, I just write what ever the story IS and let the originality chips fall where they may.


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## Addison (Dec 2, 2012)

"It's not what you do, but how you do it." I forget who originally said that. Who ever it was made a great point. From the beginning of publishing there has been stories of murder, romance, princesses locked in towers. But everyone still reads these stories despite them being done a hundred times over. Why? Becaues of the author. They add their own flavor to the story with their own vision, their imagination, voice and style. 
    Don't worry if you read the back cover of a book and think "It's like my book". Because it's not. Different author, different story.


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