when your original idea isnt original

**hots_towel** · April 18, 2013, 01:51 PM

tell me if this has happened to you. you're working on a story or a character bio for RP (or what have you), and the thoughts and ideas are flowing perfectly. then you realize that a significant part of your work is actually identical to another story that you read in a book, saw in a movie, or played in a game.

this happens to me every now and then with quite a few short stories ive come up with. I'm aware no story or character development can be completely original, despite how different the plot and setting might be, but it's still a bit of a discouragment for me as i wouldn't want my hard work to be generally regarded as a rip-off of X.

**Dude with the Food** · April 18, 2013, 02:59 PM

My biggest problem with this is names. I can think I've made the perfect name for somebody but it will end up meaning fire engine in Danish or something.

**Hitai de Bodemloze** · April 18, 2013, 04:40 PM

I shamelessly rip off other books

I try not to completely copy stories word for word, but I usually end up taking inspiration from around three or four different sources per story I write, so there are always similarities. I just try to put my own spin on it and make the story my own. As you say, you can never have something completely original; it's just a case of embracing, and with any luck improving upon, what motivated you to write in the first place.

**hots_towel** · April 18, 2013, 05:14 PM

thanks for the feedback. its pretty settling to know that im not the only one who's taken a little too much influence from an outside source (or come up with a questionable name haha)

**Robin de Bodemloze** · April 21, 2013, 10:29 AM

It's fine to take inspiration from other stuff as long as you don't replicate it to an extent where it becomes plagiarism. In my AAR a lot of stuff was inspired by various other books or movies I'd come across.

**Shankbot de Bodemloze** · April 21, 2013, 01:51 PM

I have a new idea every week for a plot... but then I realise it is a carbon copy of something I've already seen. So no, you are not alone.

**Spajjder** · August 03, 2013, 02:08 AM

If you do enough background check on any book movie etc, they are all a mix of ideas from other books/movies. Has always been like that.
The difference between rip off and being original is to be able to mix influences from many sources

**Oestvang** · August 23, 2013, 04:30 PM

Google "imposter syndrome writing". You are not alone, and even the greats feel this way.

**Count of Montesano** · August 31, 2013, 05:32 AM

I've been reading a book called Story Wars which talks about how humans are hard-wired to prefer certain types of stories. Joseph Campbell's work on myths really does provide a good template for what stories resonate with people. It's one of the reasons that stories like the original Star Wars are still popular 30 years later while all the original Star Trek films besides Wrath of Khan have largely been forgotten. in other words, if your story plot is falling into familiar patterns, that may actually be a good thing.

What you want to avoid of course is cliche stock characters or actively copying someone else's style verbatim.

**Hengest** · November 07, 2013, 05:14 AM

You're thinking too much and I bet not writing at all. Just write 50 pages and you will soon find that it will take a life of its own, you can always go back and rewrite and emphasis certain details so that your work is more individual. The problem for writers isn't that their ideas are not original, it's that they just stay ideas and that is not being a writer, it's daydreaming and that is bound to be derivative.