I though of an idea of a space colony where the leading bodies control the populace through chips in their brains that control their emotional and even their free will. i would have a character have his chip fail through an accident and he wakes up with temporary amnesia. After regaining enough memory, he realizes that if the people will ever be free, he must do something about it. however, no one can be trusted as the chips also allow people to be monitered (through eyes and ears). i just wanted to know if anything like this has been down. and yes it does sound similar to the book Big Brother.
I just watched a movie extremely similar to this a few weeks ago: Equilibrium (2002) with Christian Bale and Sean Bean. Also Host by Stephanie Meyer (which is going to be release as a movie later this year). But, any idea is going to have been done before when summed up in a few sentences. How you write it makes a difference.
When anyone asks "Has this been done?" I don't even have to see what they're talking about. It most likely has. What hasn't been done is your take on it.
I look them up. mine does seem to have a degree of originality seeing as it's in space and it's a chip. Host uses aliens and The other uses drugs. so it's been done, but hasn't at the same time
I usually see the thread title, and think to myself "Yes." This sounds really similar to the game 'Syndicate.' But, as me and everyone else here pretty much will tell you, that shouldn't stop you. It's all about how you write it! Hope this has helped somehow!
There was a comedy out there called "Idiocracy" where people in the future have chips in them. It's a really stupid movie, go figure, but has a lot of stars in it. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387808/
I don't see how it's a variation. it's not a computer program and the matrix was created both to control and for energy. Mine is to just control and for completely different reasons. i see your point though. Also mine isn't just a martial arts story.
When I first saw the thread title, I thought, "In the long history of novels, it probably had been done hundreds of times before." What matters is your take on it.
i should of mentioned that when i asked i wanted to know if anything VERY similar has been told. I'm not bothered about writing a book that can be compared to something else, but i'm bothered about writing a book when something has already been done that is almost like it.
that's "should HAVE". Sigh. You mean that way if someone posts an answer you don't want to hear, you can argue about the degree of similarity? I have a better idea. Just write it. No one thought less of "West Side Story" because it was "Romeo and Juliet", only 400 years later.
Well stop being bothered by that and write it! If you want to that is. It doesn't matter. 3000 years ago King Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes said "To the writing of books there is no end," and "There is nothing new under the sun." That was 3000 years ago, and he felt that way. Nothing is different now. Just write your story as best as you know how and don't worry about whether it's similar to something else or not. What matters is how YOU do it.
King Solomon was rich, he didn't care about selling books, and even if he did he would just order to have people killed that didn't like his story.
I just used it as an example. Attack the source if you want, but you can't argue the content. People have always told stories, and after such a long time, they're bound to run out of new stories to tell. When that happens, its up to the storytellers to put their own spin and make old stories new again.
I was just joking, but it is somewhat true. In all actuality, storytelling will never die as long as people have imagination. The plots might be the same, but as long as the characters, the setting, and the writer are different, it's not going to be the same.
As you can see, yes. Whatever scenario you care to present HAS, indeed, been done before. And, in this case, several times successfully (more or less). The deeper answer is: It has never been done the way YOU will do it! Don't worry whether or not a story idea has been done by someone else. NO ONE else can do it the way you can so, whether someone else has done a treatment of the same idea is totally irrelevant.
Ok, here's the comparison, using your exact words. I replaced your 2 proposed substitutions with actual materials and locations in the film. As you can see you matched instrument for instrument, location for location and the rest of it remains exactly the same. I though of an idea of a space colony (futuristic Earth)where the leading bodies control the populace through chips in their brains (wiring their brains) that control their emotions and even free will. i would have a character have his chip fail (wiring fail) through an accident and he wakes up with temporary amnesia. After regaining enough memory, he realizes that if the people will ever be free, he must do something about it. however, no one can be trusted as the chips (wiring) also allow people to be monitored through eyes and ears. Premise is totally Matrix-derivative, but that doesn't mean it can't be made into a good book. But you have to be aware of your influences. Also, with re-working of a story, getting a new take on it is ok, but if everything looks and feels the same and you only change a couple of details, but leave same conflicts, same roles, same characterisations, same goals, same premise, then you will be confronted about it by the readers. Even though readers don't care whether the story is 100% original, they care about being told something new.
And herein lies the crux of your question. If you are writing in this particular genre, you have probably seen the movie The Matrix. Somewhere in your mind, the familiarity with that movie has influenced your ideas. And that's okay. We get our ideas from a myriad number of sources, including film and other books. But that means you must be doubly aware of that influence when involved in your own writing.
My goodness, never heard of the Borg? If you really look into it they are alien species controlled through mind control - even if that includes brain chips or cypersentic alternations - as a means of entering the collective and/or hive mind. There's only one dominant leader to each Borg ship. Your idea sounds interesting however it's probably done before - somewhere - just not in well read authors and/or film.
Don't worry about it. Just write and revise later if you feel it's too similar. Most people have this problem sometime down the road.
I have never heard of anyone doing something like that in a space colony, although the idea is familiar. No one (as far as I know) has done something so similar that you will be criticized for directly copying. There will be those who find it similar to other books that they have read, but as you know by now, it will be different because of the author and characters. If/when this book gets published it shouldn't be flagged for copyright. Just write the story your way and there should be nothing to worry about.
It sounds like a few other books i have read not 100% the same just a bit. When you strip a book down to it's bear bones it can sound like a hundred other books i liked it it reminded me of Micheal Moorcock just go for it if people are going to worry that there work is like something else no ones ever going to write anything.
