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Reusing Ideas

Lately, I've found myself in a strange dilemma that I've never heard talked about among writers.

Basically, I'm always juggling multiple story ideas, taking place in different universes. And I'm always coming up with new ideas for worldbuilding elements or characters or concepts or elements to enhance the aesthetic I'm going for to use in the story. My problem is: how do you know which story to put which ideas in?

Can you plagiarize yourself?

Okay, plagiarism isn't the right word, but I constantly have the urge to reuse ideas I like in different stories. Do I have to pick *one* place to put this idea? my muse whines. For example, I've had a few characters that keep getting reincarnated in story after story, finding a home in a new story after the old one was left unfinished. I suppose there's nothing wrong with re-metabolizing ideas after a story fails, but when BOTH stories are working, it's different, isn't it?

An example of this: My current WIP includes a magical plague that inflicts mysterious wounds on its victims. This idea wasn't original to my WIP; it was plucked from an earlier story that I stopped working on and intend to return to. So now the same distinct idea is in two unconnected stories. It's the same with the eyes growing throughout the city that my evil dictator uses to watch the city (yes, I'm writing a weird story); it was pulled from an earlier story I intend to return to, and now it exists in both. And, honestly, I'm not sure which story to remove it from.

Theoretically, if both these stories were published, readers would want some explanation. A connection between the worlds. Right? (Or would I be That Author Who Includes Eyeball-Loving Dictators In All Her Stories?)

I guess the clear answer is that I should think of *more* ideas. (The two examples I gave were not much more than worldbuilding accessories, anyway.) But, how do you decide where to put an idea?

Is anyone else familiar with this problem?
 
Lately, I've found myself in a strange dilemma that I've never heard talked about among writers.

Basically, I'm always juggling multiple story ideas, taking place in different universes. And I'm always coming up with new ideas for worldbuilding elements or characters or concepts or elements to enhance the aesthetic I'm going for to use in the story. My problem is: how do you know which story to put which ideas in?

Can you plagiarize yourself?

Okay, plagiarism isn't the right word, but I constantly have the urge to reuse ideas I like in different stories. Do I have to pick *one* place to put this idea? my muse whines. For example, I've had a few characters that keep getting reincarnated in story after story, finding a home in a new story after the old one was left unfinished. I suppose there's nothing wrong with re-metabolizing ideas after a story fails, but when BOTH stories are working, it's different, isn't it?

An example of this: My current WIP includes a magical plague that inflicts mysterious wounds on its victims. This idea wasn't original to my WIP; it was plucked from an earlier story that I stopped working on and intend to return to. So now the same distinct idea is in two unconnected stories. It's the same with the eyes growing throughout the city that my evil dictator uses to watch the city (yes, I'm writing a weird story); it was pulled from an earlier story I intend to return to, and now it exists in both. And, honestly, I'm not sure which story to remove it from.

Theoretically, if both these stories were published, readers would want some explanation. A connection between the worlds. Right? (Or would I be That Author Who Includes Eyeball-Loving Dictators In All Her Stories?)

I guess the clear answer is that I should think of *more* ideas. (The two examples I gave were not much more than worldbuilding accessories, anyway.) But, how do you decide where to put an idea?

Is anyone else familiar with this problem?
I think Michael Moorecock said something about this when talking about his Elric stories. He said that essentially, he was always making stories about the same sword-wielding badass in a psychedelic world. Now, he didn't have an issue with this, instead, he used it to his advantage.

What he did is create an underlying metaphysical concept to his worlds called the Eternal Champion, which was the amalgamation of all incarnations of his character. An archetype if you will. Through this, he connected his multiverse.

Now, this example might seem unrelated, but I think it illustrates that even repitition of ideas can be used for something creative. Remember, so long as you aren't copying things word by word, readers might just take it as a thematic element in your stories. Maybe you can use the same element in various stories, but allow that element to affect the plot in unique ways depending on which story it is.

Remember, a formula isn't always something that's boring. A lot of times, it can be something that's so good, that there's no need to change its core.

I hope I helped somehow [emoji106]

Sent from my SM-J700M using Tapatalk
 

pmmg

Myth Weaver
I think it is not uncommon for authors to reuse ideas, particularly if the idea has not been successfully published. If it was rejected than isn't just sitting there waiting for improvement?

I think the danger is staleness of ideas, but that is a question for you. If you are comfortable evolving and adding to already existing ideas, and its the kind of stuff that gets you jazzed, then go for it. But if it is staying too long in what is comfortable, then maybe you should challenge yourself to move on to something new.

If you have a single idea, and it gets published, and then you re-use it, I would think you would run the risk of having readers think you don't really produce new stuff. I suppose it could come back to bite you in that way.
 
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Demesnedenoir

Myth Weaver
Unless you have a collection of shorts all about eyeball loving dictators... but until publication, nobody cares anyhow. Then you need to get creative. Repetition can be dangerous, although to some degree it's going to happen. This sort of thing happens all the time, I've decided against a couple elements in the first novels I'll shop soon because they were too close to those in a stand alone I plan to write. The type of underground network was more critical to one story than the other, so it goes there.

So far, sounds like you are free to decide or not to decide... yet.
 

Penpilot

Staff
Article Team
IMHO, the number one priority is to write a good story. If that means stealing from yourself, then do it. There will always be themes and elements that you're drawn to. There's nothing wrong with that. You just have to make them feel natural to the current story and not forced and you'll be fine.

"good writers borrow, great writers steal."
 

elemtilas

Inkling
Lately, I've found myself in a strange dilemma that I've never heard talked about among writers.

Can you plagiarize yourself?

On the surface it may seem dumb, but, you can plagiarize yourself. And it can land you in hot water, depending on the context. If you steal someone else's idea and copy him verbatim, that's obviously plagiarism. You can be gotten for copyright violation and perhaps be sanctioned by a professional organisation or academic institution. If you're copying your own words and presenting them as something novel, then it's no different. Copyright may still be at issue. In an academic or research setting, this can be a very serious offense. Like if you publish a short story or a poem in a magazine, and then years later incorporate that story or poem into a longer work (the Great American Novel), you would certainly have to know what rights you retain as the author of that piece, but might still have to obtain the (kind) permission of the publisher to reprint in the new work. You'd also have make notice acknowledging yourself as author of that sub-work somewhere back on the credits page. Just as you would do if there were illustrations or poems or portions of the work coauthored by another.

Reusing ideas

Another and infinitely more interesting thing! Of course, reusing ideas (either your own or someone else's) is par for the course in the arts. Basically every fantasy writer that came along in the 1960s through 1980s or so "reused" ideas and motifs from Tolkien. Composers have long stolen motifs, quoted passages, rewritten, orchestrated, deorchestrated and reorchestrated other composers' works for centuries. Architects the same. How many different ways are there to make a neoclassical public building look anyway?

Composers and even writers have also long been notorious for reusing their own ideas. Again and again in different settings, different orchestrations.

Okay, plagiarism isn't the right word, but I constantly have the urge to reuse ideas I like in different stories. Do I have to pick *one* place to put this idea? my muse whines. For example, I've had a few characters that keep getting reincarnated in story after story, finding a home in a new story after the old one was left unfinished. I suppose there's nothing wrong with re-metabolizing ideas after a story fails, but when BOTH stories are working, it's different, isn't it?

I don't think so. I'm guessing there's no way to meld the two stories into one longer saga or the two worlds into one world. As someone else said, why not create a kind of polyverse wandering character who lives again and again in different worlds having different adventures?

An example of this: My current WIP includes a magical plague that inflicts mysterious wounds on its victims. This idea wasn't original to my WIP; it was plucked from an earlier story that I stopped working on and intend to return to. So now the same distinct idea is in two unconnected stories.

Me I don't see a problem here. Plagues. Wounds. Victims. Nothing original there (with all due respect!) --- it's what you do with that basic idea in each of the stories that will matter. As a story element, why not run with it a couple different times?

It's the same with the eyes growing throughout the city that my evil dictator uses to watch the city (yes, I'm writing a weird story); it was pulled from an earlier story I intend to return to, and now it exists in both. And, honestly, I'm not sure which story to remove it from.

Reminds me of the ever watching televisions in 1984. So, you've got two stories with similar motifs running in the background. So what!? Take em both and run with em!

I think it becomes a problem ónly if the magical plague has the same exact manifestations and the same exact character experiences them in the same exact way. Or the watching eyes are exactly alike in form & function and came about in the same way by the same type of dictator under the same circumstances and are used in the same way ... well you get the idea!

If you're just rewriting the same exact story, then yeah, you have a problem! If you're writing distinct stories with some similar background elements or even similar / same characters but novel plots and situations, then I think you have much less of or even no issue at all.

Theoretically, if both these stories were published, readers would want some explanation. A connection between the worlds. Right? (Or would I be That Author Who Includes Eyeball-Loving Dictators In All Her Stories?)

They might want an explanation, they might not even notice. Some would probably say, yeah, she's the eyeball lady; but so long as the stories are good, repeated motifs will most likely be overlooked. Especially if they're not just identical blocks in each story!
 
I've been talking about this a lot in the chat recently. I wrote one failed attempt at a horror novel and one terrible short story and found both to be unsalvageable. Then I started thinking up a new story that was essentially a hybrid of the two. I thought what I'd come up with was decent, but it was 99% recycled ideas and it felt stale and uninteresting. I knew I wouldn't be able to enjoy writing it.

So, currently, I'm trying to gather a bunch of new ideas i haven't used before. Plant some seeds, grow them in the garden, and then slice them up and make a nice salad. I find it refreshing and just what I need.

Recycling ideas is absolutely fine, and I'm pretty sure every writer does it all the times. It's just that you might end up feeling like you have to get this idea right and keep forcing into things and trying to work with it. And it may be a good idea, and you may use it again one day, but sometimes you just need to put it in a box and not think about it for awhile. At least that's what I've learned.
 

Rkcapps

Sage
I can't say ... yet ... I have that problem but from a reader's perspective I like things set in the same world. David Gemmell tied his land/ideas in the Legend series though 100 years separated characters. Kathryn Kerr had lives reincarnating. Read them (if still in print) and see how she handled. I'm sure you'll find a way to blend ideas :) Good luck :)
 

Ruru

Troubadour
I also find that very few things I first throw into a story remain the same as I move along. You might find that a 'reused' idea evolves away from its original state, depending I guess on how intergral the idea is to the story. A passing detail may not change as much, but then this might not be so obvious to a reader anyway.

I don't really see that it would be a problem, especially if as was stated above, you're not phrasing the idea identically in the two stories. I think I'd almost enjoy reading a book and having a realization moment that linked me to a different story by the same author
 

CupofJoe

Myth Weaver
For about three years after a fairly major personal event I found myself writing and rewriting the same basic idea. I knew what I wanted but I didn't know how to get to it. Eventually I wrote it out of my system but I still feel the pull of the idea.
I'd be more surprised to find an Author that didn't recycle their ideas.
Don't we all have a dump folder of fragments of plots, character of settings?
 
D

Deleted member 4265

Guest
I've had my fair share of idea recycling and in my personal experience it stems from one of two things.

One possibility is that you haven't found the right story for an idea yet. Over the years I've written several stories featuring the same character (changed his name and made a few slight modifications to his character, but other than that he was identical) and I liked all those stories. I had plans to finish them all and was conflicted, as you are, by the issue of reusing this character. Then I started the story I'm on and I realized this was the story that character was meant for, and though and now that I'd found the perfect fit, I knew I was never really going to finish those other stories. I didn't need to.

The other possibility, which is more likely is that you're simply enamored with the idea. When I have a case like this, and I find myself reusing a similar motif, I look at what precisely draws me to that idea. For example, I'm a bit obsessed with the concept of immortality. But I think people would get tired if all I wrote were stories with different takes on immortals. So I thought about what it is about immortality that fascinates me and I think one of the major reasons I find the concept so alluring is because immortals, good or evil, are something outside of human control. They are in essence, the embodiment of the unknown. So maybe there are only so many stories I can write using immortals, but the fear of the unknown is such a broad concept, the possibilities remain limitless.
 

pmmg

Myth Weaver
Just along this subject, and anecdotally, I once read the works of Robert E. Howard, and know a little about his life. Mr. Howard wrote a lot of stuff and tried to get it all published, but frequently got rejections. If he got an idea rejected, he felt no qualms about reworking the story and submitting again. His first Conan story (the phoenix on the sword) was a rewritten Kull story (by this Axe I Rule). Later, after Mr. Howard had passed on and was also more famous, all of his works, published and unpublished were published. And so, if you read his collection now, you will find a lot of the ideas and themes repeat. Mostly, this is because he reused the unpublished ideas until they got published.
 
Thanks for all these replies!

I have to say that I have considered the possibility of connecting the two worlds somehow, but the magic systems and flora and fauna of both are too different. I keep returning to the idea of connecting all my stories, in subtle ways that fuel reader speculation...That's a kind of far-fetched idea, but I keep going back to imagining it. Even in such a way as having one story be a mythological tale in another story, for example.

And i do have common elements that seem to appear in all or most of my stories. Winged humanoids usually feature in my stories, as do feline creatures of any kind. Immortals, also, and exploring their motivations and how their humanity is affected by their immortality...almost every story I have in the works. I have a thing for sinister forests that seem to have a will of their own. I love dystopia, and creepy Big Brother-type dictator figures. Most of my stories take place in a world that was once prosperous and full of magic, but has now decayed due to the magic being destroyed somehow. Also, having stories within stories; using my novel as a framing device for smaller stories...I always want to include mythological tales, stories written by people in the story, stories told by characters, in their entirety in the novel, often taking up several chapters. I feel that most of my stories fall into the "weird fiction" genre to varying degrees.

(Seriously, I was on wikipedia the other day reading about what Weird Fiction is and I thought "Wait, this is what *I* am!" Looking at examples further confirmed my thoughts, and expanded my to-read list considerably. I love combining various genres with fantasy, and I love to include stuff that will weird and squick my readers out a bit. My imagination is morbid and bizarre.)

So, I guess you WOULD say I have a 'brand' of some kind. I tend to repeat a lot of concepts.

However, I'm not sure how this translates to ideas that are very specific. (Because honestly, a dictatorship that watches the oppressed class using eyeballs attached to optic nerves that climb all over the empire like vines is pretty specific.)

Of course, i have no idea if these stories will both be published.
 
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