Originality and Inspiration

[Oomatu]

Hello!

This is only my second post here, and a have a serious question.

I am currently writing a novel called "Islandfall" which takes place in an archipelago alternate universe and has a very techno-magical driven premise with strong characters, plotpoints, and backstory. My problem is this, I keep running into the issues with originality. My story is very strong and can stand on its own two feet. I've spent years working on the details and making sure that I can please an open audience. However, whenever I present my premise and plot, I keep getting called out for copying the story the inspired me to write this one. Aside from some environmental similarities and subtle plot-overlaps, the two stories are light-years apart! How can I be sure that when people hear my story pitch, they don't immediately think of my inspiration?

Thanks guys, I'm looking forward to becoming a full fledged member here!

'Matu

 

[Ban]

One thing from your post that makes me slightly worried is this "I've spent years working on the details and making sure that I can please an open audience.". In my experience trying to please as many people as possible isn't going to work out. You should write the story that feels right to you and not to others. If you write it in a way that feels right then you have a bigger chance of making your own unique "thing", which solves the originality problem.

What is also important to remember is that almost every story ever has already been written. There are only a few story archetypes and many stories written in those archetypes so no doubt some other story will seem similar. One of my favourite writers Patrick Rothfuss has been called out on copying Harry Potter, which is completely unjustified. The only similarities (MINOR SPOILERS)/ is that both are about a young man who lost his parents and went to a mage school./ The rest of the story is radically different but people will see similarities in everything. So don't worry.

 

[evolution_rex]

I don't think anyone accused you for copying the plot in your thread in the World Building section. There were comparisons to The Elder Scrolls and Bionicle, and none of it was really 'copying' nor were they specifically criticisms. I did, however, mention that I didn't like the main character had amnesia because I feel it's a bit of a cop out story line.No need to be shameful of your influences and your mythos is original enough. What matters more is the plot of your novel itself.

 

[Oomatu]

Yeah, the amnesia thing is actually the crux of the story... the character's self discovery. The big reveal is how not just the story, but all of history, revolves around his actions.

 

[Scribe Lord]

Well I think I'll just dump a quote here...

“There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations. We keep on turning and making new combinations indefinitely; but they are the same old pieces of colored glass that have been in use through all the ages.” - Mark Twain

...and say that people are always going to see similarities in your work. There is really no way around that. The goal, I think, is simply to captivate the interested of the reader. As long as you have done that then you have succeeded. Now if they are saying 'This is just [insert inspiration] with a different title', then you might have a problem.

 

[Penpilot]

I don't have much to add to what's been said, but here's the thing. Comparing one thing to anther is one of the ways humans communicate. It's a way to condense ideas and explain things quickly.

For example, if someone says the story is like Star Wars with dragons, it immediately gives one the flavor the story and a broad idea of what characters and conflicts will be involved.

Every story will be compared to other stories whether you like it or not. Many stories are just a retelling of other stories, but are able to stand on their own. Eg Westside Story vs. Romeo and Juliet.

Originality lies not within broad shape of your story. It lies within how you tell it, the way you phrase things, the way our personal outlook shapes the characters, the world, and how the plot unfolds.

Originality is overrated, worry about telling a good story and everything else will take care of itself.

 

[Svrtnsse]

How can I be sure that when people hear my story pitch, they don't immediately think of my inspiration?

Change the pitch.

And as others have said, originality is overrated.

However, being accused of being a copycat, or feeling like you're being accused of it, or just doubting yourself, is a bit crap and it's not something to be scoffed at. Especially when it comes to something you've put time and effort into.

That said, yeah, originality IS overrated.

You can still modify the pitch though. See if you can put focus on something else that's also important in the story. The pitch isn't the story though, and the way I understand it the pitch is there to get readers interested in the story. If it's too similar to something else, it may potentially give a bad impression.
So just like you've taken great care in crafting your world and story, take great care in crafting the pitch too - it may be the only thing people ever read of your work.

As for associations, the mention of archipelago made me think of the Wizard of Earthsea, which was awesome. I really enjoyed that setting.

 

[Miskatonic]

I was hellbent on trying to be as original as possible and shun any type of historical inspiration.

Now I'm completely fine with taking past events and re-working them to fit into my story.

Basically I need a lot of material to use during war time that deals with political dealings and backstabbing, changes in alliances, etc. Then you have back story that can develop historical events that have lead to the current conflict, as well as what past grudges certain nobles might hold towards other nobles in their own kingdom, or those in others. I need realistic reasons why people would change sides and place their bets with the ever looming possibility that it may have been a risk not worth taking.

Good guys and bad guys just doesn't cut it.

 

[Devor]

Somebody mentioned there was another thread about this? I am answering without having looked at that.

But really? Embrace your inspirations. They're a part of who you are and why you write. Don't hide them. The truth is that everybody is being "inspired" by something, and it's worse when you don't even realize it. It's better, I think by far, to take control of your inspirations, to use them, to build off them. What's the quote? Bad writers copy, good writer's steal? I think this is what the quote is about. If you know your inspirations, and take control of how they are inspiring you, then you can also use them to manipulate the reader's expectations. Use the known to set up your surprises.

I have no comment on "originality" because it is the wrong word. You shouldn't want to be original, you should want to be yourself and have that show in your writing. As I understand it, there are studies, and professionals, and so on, who are in consensus about this. A focus on "originality" leads to results that are less original. A focus on being yourself, showing yourself, letting your own personality come through leads to much better results. (I can only guess as to why.)

 

[Heliotrope]

OK…. true to Helio fashion, this is probably going to be really long…. lol. I'm so sorry!

So, fun exercise: Watch The Matrix, then watch Monsters Inc. Compare and contrast.

Yep. Same movie.

I'm going to cut and paste an email I recently sent to someone who I'm critting:

Agents and publishers are wary about spending time on anything that is too ‘new’, strangely enough. They actually want “The same, only different.”

Look, for example, at the Hunger Games vs. The Maze Runner. The same, only different. Both take from Lord of the Flies and Ender’s Game.

Agents and publishers want what they knew will sell. They know that the average consumer is more likely to spend their hard earned money on something they already know they like. This is why we see so many trilogies, series, and sequels instead of new stuff. This is known as a pre-sold franchise because a goodly chunk of the audience is already sold on it. It’s not that the publishing world is creatively bankrupt, it is just that the decision makers know that deep down the consumer is hesitant to try anything new.

This is why, typically, they will want to know “What is it like?” If you can answer this question then they can put it in a category and decide if it is worth investing in or not.

Twilight – Is Interview with a Vampire and Beauty and the Beast… with Teenagers. (And was very quickly followed by The Fallen series, which is identical except with Angels, and Fifty Shades of Grey which was actually Twilight fan fic).

Hunger Games – Is Lord of the Flies, in the future and was very quickly followed by The Maze Runner – which is Hunger Games and Ender’s Game, (Because the future is really big right now… which is why they are doing Star Wars again… they don’t just make these choices for no reason.)

Jaws is just the Greek myth of the Minotaur

Superman is just Hercules

Road Trip is just The Canterbury Tales

Basically, they want you to take something that already exists, but then twist it to be new. Something that has already been proven to be successful, but give it new packaging.

This is also why they are re-releasing the 1960’s sci-fi The Snow Queen and making it into a movie… to make revenue off the coattails of Frozen. And why Disney released “Snow White and the Huntsman”, a live action “Cinderella” and have a live action “Jungle Book” coming out.

This is the business end of writing.

“If you are writing one of these types of stories then the dynamics of the Buddy Love structure are a must know. Sit down with a dozen or so of these, pop ‘em into your DVD player, and get ready to be amazed by how similar they all are. Is this stealing? Is Sandra Bullock ripping of Katherine Hepburn? Should Cary Grant’s estate sue Hugh Grant for copyright infringement? Of Course not. It’s just good storytelling. And the beats are the same for a reason.

Because they always work. “ (Bake Snyder, Save The Cat, pg 36).

Now, Blake Snyder does suggest pitching the story to as many people as you can and get their responses. Take the criticism to heart and try to make the pitch better.

When I pitch my newest WIP I do say "what it is like"… "It is Percy Jackson, but with time-travelling pirates…" and I get some raised eyebrows, and "ohhh, that is interesting…. tell me more…" responses. THAT is what you want to hear.

This is why on sites like Amazon and Chapters, if you click on a book at the bottom of the page it will say "people who like x also bought y,z,a,b,c...." And give examples of a similar type of book.

 

[FifthView]

The problem is that people want the familiar but often want the unfamiliar, too.

I couldn't stomach some of the comments under the YouTube video for the trailer to Ender's Game: "OMG they are just stealing from Hunger Games!" Um, no. But when it comes to spotting the patterns, many people are chronology-inhibited. There is the objective chronology and the personal chronology, and the latter almost always usurps the former.

But even worse: In spotting similarities, people give different weight to different elements. For my part, the similarities between Ender's Game and The Hunger Games are very thin. Sure, there are children fighting each other in both—people who haven't experienced much of that in their book/cinema experience latch onto this as THE KEY similarity—but the basis for this conflict is entirely different between the two (one is training all of them up, the other is to eliminate each one by one for entertainment while distracting the populace), the goal of killing all other children is in one but not the other, and the real outcome of all this conflict is entirely different. Perhaps one could say that finding "The Fittest" is a similar goal between them, on a surface level at least. And there's that word, "game."

Problematically, three things in particular limit the potential for originality: Our language, the fact that we are all humans, and our shared history ("world history").

As for language: we have a limited set of words, word-meanings, and our thought processes are greatly shaped by our inexact language. And we share that language. Even different languages may have common roots and/or cross-pollination.

As for the fact that we are all humans: "We fancy men are individuals; so are pumpkins; but every pumpkin in the field goes through every point of pumpkin history." Ralph Waldo Emerson. Our experience of the world, however individual we might be and however varied our experiences, is nonetheless quite similar.

As for our shared history: Our framework for understanding is built from our common past. Kings? Emperors? Village councils? War and civil war? Poverty? Trade? Family units? All these things and more populate the past for everyone now alive; our understandings of history must include all these things and our thinking is informed by this understanding.

I think, as a broad guess from anecdotal observations, that although people desire both the familiar and the unfamiliar, most of the time they want the experience of the unfamiliar to be more obvious, upfront and center, taking up their conscious awareness while the familiar takes a backseat or occupies the substrata. This might not be the best way of phrasing this, however. (And even so, sometimes it is precisely the familiar that people want to see the most.)

 

[Oomatu]

So looking at my story the way you guys suggested, I pieced together a description drawing from preexisting stories.

It is as follows:

"A story kinda like Atlantis: The Lost Empire that takes place in Island settle which is reminiscent of Bionicle and Lost but has backstories and sequels that are similar to both Skyrim and Halo."

Now this is obviously in your face and shouting "THIS IS MY INSPIRATION", but I guess I should be a little more willing to embrace the things that inspired me. Now, my actual story ins't this blatant pointing to my inspiration, but it does give an idea of what takes place in it.

 

[Heliotrope]

Yeah, I agree with fifth view, and perhaps wasn't as clear as I should have been .

You could never tell that Monster inc and the Matrix were the same, unless you really looked for it.

Or that Fight Club was based off of The Great Gastbsy. So yes, new should be front and center, but too new (say, an alien invasion to a world infested with vampires during a depression might be a bit too new....)

Hence why Cowboys vs. Aliens wasn't a big hit...