Coincidental Plagiarism aka THAT JERK STOLE MY IDEA!
I had to scrap an idea of mine recently, because I believed it was too close to someone elses work. I've always prided myself on being as original as possible, and when I saw another idea that resembled mine, well, I wasn't too thrilled. Annoyed, in fact, because I really, really liked my idea.
A thought occured; a mental theft had taken place, somebody had stolen my idea. The scoundrels.
Hangonasecond! How the hell is that even possible? Have you seen articles online where somebody has stolen somebody elses idea? Its insane because its virtually impossible. How is someone supposed to know you came up with a similar idea to theirs before they started writing? And who's fault is it that they were noticed first?
Its something that takes place constantly in the writing world, be it a novel, movie or whatever, and you know what the cause of it is? Coin-freakin-cidence! Seriously. There's a reason they say there are no more original ideas left, because everything, and anything has already been done to death. You can hardly be judged for that.
But is it the end of the world? Hell no! You don't have to do what I did, and scrap your idea completley. In fact, Disney and Dreamworks have done well for themselves with "stealing" each others ideas, as well as Marvel and DC comics, to an extent. Each story those four big companies put out have similairites, sure, but each are different in their own right. After all, its how you execute the story that matters.
Remember Twilight by Stephanie Meyer? Of course you do, it was a worldwide sensation. Remember the books that came out after/during its run? A bunch of other gothic/teen fiction that I'm sure were successful, as it reminded those fans of what they loved previously, and even today are still being sold. The question, however, is; are these just rip-offs to Twilight? I have no real answer, but I believe its a little of Column A and a little of Column B. Whos to say these gothic tales weren't written well before Twilight existed, and only came to be due to its global recognition. Those are the harsh realities of the publication world. Your work may never see the light of day unless someone elses' is successful, and the market suddenly craves for that genre. Sad, but true. But the good news is, for anyone who wants to make it as a writer, your work will be seen either way if you work hard enough, so don't give up on that.
Of course, when something like this does happen, there's a great chance to redesign your work. Change things, switch plots around, make it as unique as you possibly can without betraying the original story you had in mind. Most times, having to do this can be incredibly frustrating, but whenever you have the chance to do this; do it! Its a great way to flex those creative muscles some more. No story is perfect, but there's no reason to not persue perfection whenever you can.
You are your own voice, and nobody can replicate that.
Life is not a race. If the quality of your work is better, then yours will be remembered more so. Fact. Just keep doing what your doing, and don't worry about what anyone else is doing.
Hell. With that mentality, I just might go back to my previously scrapped idea.
A thought occured; a mental theft had taken place, somebody had stolen my idea. The scoundrels.
Hangonasecond! How the hell is that even possible? Have you seen articles online where somebody has stolen somebody elses idea? Its insane because its virtually impossible. How is someone supposed to know you came up with a similar idea to theirs before they started writing? And who's fault is it that they were noticed first?
Its something that takes place constantly in the writing world, be it a novel, movie or whatever, and you know what the cause of it is? Coin-freakin-cidence! Seriously. There's a reason they say there are no more original ideas left, because everything, and anything has already been done to death. You can hardly be judged for that.
But is it the end of the world? Hell no! You don't have to do what I did, and scrap your idea completley. In fact, Disney and Dreamworks have done well for themselves with "stealing" each others ideas, as well as Marvel and DC comics, to an extent. Each story those four big companies put out have similairites, sure, but each are different in their own right. After all, its how you execute the story that matters.
Remember Twilight by Stephanie Meyer? Of course you do, it was a worldwide sensation. Remember the books that came out after/during its run? A bunch of other gothic/teen fiction that I'm sure were successful, as it reminded those fans of what they loved previously, and even today are still being sold. The question, however, is; are these just rip-offs to Twilight? I have no real answer, but I believe its a little of Column A and a little of Column B. Whos to say these gothic tales weren't written well before Twilight existed, and only came to be due to its global recognition. Those are the harsh realities of the publication world. Your work may never see the light of day unless someone elses' is successful, and the market suddenly craves for that genre. Sad, but true. But the good news is, for anyone who wants to make it as a writer, your work will be seen either way if you work hard enough, so don't give up on that.
Of course, when something like this does happen, there's a great chance to redesign your work. Change things, switch plots around, make it as unique as you possibly can without betraying the original story you had in mind. Most times, having to do this can be incredibly frustrating, but whenever you have the chance to do this; do it! Its a great way to flex those creative muscles some more. No story is perfect, but there's no reason to not persue perfection whenever you can.
You are your own voice, and nobody can replicate that.
Life is not a race. If the quality of your work is better, then yours will be remembered more so. Fact. Just keep doing what your doing, and don't worry about what anyone else is doing.
Hell. With that mentality, I just might go back to my previously scrapped idea.
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