I think it's safe to say that it happens to the best of us (I am writing this post partly because of my discovery of what a Death Note is). I've actually had many ideas before they were invented by others, one of them being a take-home box for soup.
My suggestions? Get a new idea. Modify yours. Get there first. The second one is something I often do--take a writing prompt and modify the heck out of it, so it doesn't look remotely like the original. But if a writer is really so clever, he/she can come up with 25 more ideas. Even if the subject matter is similar, I try to differ the circumstances.
Random notes:
I'll try to write longer posts. Maybe I'll make it a goal. ~ I'm still put off that I missed an eclipse. ~ Shortest random notes ever, is it?
-Lewis
Haha, you came up with the idea of a Death Note? Pretty cool, when I read that comic I thought it was really original.
ReplyDeleteStill, if you come up with an idea someone else already has, you don't have to change it or give up on it. Like your paranormal detective idea, I said "oh, so its like Dick Gently", but when I started reading it was very different.
Okay, think about all the books about Vampires. A lot of people do Vampire novels, and they don't all....Okay wait, bad example.
but if someone had an idea and they looked at a list of already-thought-of-ideas, and they found one similar to theirs and gave up...There would be a lot lot less literature on the shelves at the bookstore or library. And a lot of those books that are like that don't necessarily suck.
So....keep at it, I guess?
Thanks! It was actually something you said at group that inspired my "Death Note" idea. Funny, huh?
ReplyDeleteI've not heard of Dick Gently, but I think some of the Sherlock Holmes stories are on the supernatural side (from what I've heard--haven't read all of them). A friend of mine was telling me about a series where a trio of women do that, but she didn't say what it was called. It was different? Thanks, that's a relief!
I have plenty of vampire ideas, actually, but mine don't sparkle. I love traditional vampires, and they are even briefly featured in said paranormal-detective novel. It was a good example (though Twilight sets a bad one for girls).
I suppose you're right. One of my favorite books (Eragon) has echoes of Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, but it's still awesome. I suppose that as long as it brings SOMETHING new to the table, then it can be good.
Keep at it? Thanks, I will. :)
Which is even FUNNIER because I got it from Death Note! Full circle.
ReplyDeleteReally? I should figure out what series this is....
And yeah, I was saying that these days, since twilight, almost all vamp novels are about sexy guys with abs and not cold blooded killers.
And precisely! If you boil it down, if you gave up whenever an idea wasn't 100% original, every genre would only have one book in it xD
Yes, exactly! I saw a preview for a vampire movie called Priest. It said it was based on a graphic novel, so I figured you would have heard of it. It looked actually pretty cool, and scary like vamps are supposed to be. I plan on assisting in bringing back the morbid brutality of bloodsucking demons. You should check out the Necroscope series of novels by Brian Lumley. I plan to read them sooner or later.
ReplyDeleteI heard somewhere that the world has only seven or eight completely original stories, and all others build on them. I wonder what they are?
"Dick Gently"...*giggles*
And about the only-one-book thing: True!