Hey, So I've been working on two novels recently, (which ever I'm in the mood for) but one of these I've wanted to change the plot slightly, I'm re-writing a lot of the original book, but keeping the same main characters, settings and some plot foundations. The two main characters are young adults, they live in a town I made up on the French coast. The main aspect I have kept is the fact their families hate each other, but my main guy (Brody) doesn't see eye to eye with his mobster family, since the dissapearance of his mother. Including his selfish and violent brother. Yet being rebellious he provokes them by seeing the girl (Lilly) 'As acquaintances at first' as they attempt to uncover the secrets of the long standing and violent family fued. (hopefully without that sounding too Romeo and Juliet.) The main issue I'm worried about is my new take to the book, I'm worried I've taken too much inspiration from the film the Unknown. (with Liam Neson) background info of the film: He is involved in a car accident which wipes about a lot of his memory, but when his wife pretends she does know him, he goes on a mission to find out who he really is. (which is a trained killer.) I wanted a verdict on that: So this time around, The characters both wake up from a bad accident in which neither have any recollection of. Nor do they have any memories upto a certain point in time. (this will obviously differ between the characters) They are told the 'facts' surrounding the accident. Including the fact they were both involved in the crash is circumstantial. That it was just a tragic accident. The pair however start noticing their families and once close friends stories don't add up, and flash backs that don't make any sense either. They investigate furthur which 'eventually' leads them to discover they had planned to run away together after the discovery of a deep dark secret. And that the 'accident' was a failed attempt to kill them. Discovering the dangerous unveiling of their worlds, the characters go on the run in search of his mother who he believes can help. I'm not sure what would constitute as taking inspiration or just taking the idea??
Heh, my first thought was that you were talking about Romeo & Juliet, or maybe West Side Story. I've barely even heard of that Liam Neeson movie. Maybe because "Liam Neeson is a trained killer" seems to be all he has done the last couple of years. Liam Neeson is Taken! Again! And again! Now he's fighting wolves! Or something else! And with a shocking twist, now he... is a trainer killer! Again! But anyway, I don't think the similarities are all that important. That's just the basic plot. What really matters is what you do with it.
Having two lovers from feuding families is going to invoke Romeo and Juliet, it just is. But that's not a death sentence. The idea that the 'Capulets' and the 'Montagues' tried to murder the lovebirds, failed, and are now trying to cover it up is an amazing twist on the trope.
It's very similar to Unknown, Romeo and Juliet... but hundreds of stories are similar to both as well. If you want it to be unique do what I do when I'm writing a story I'm not sure about; stop plotting and just write. If something feels a little too familiar to something else, take a walk and think of alternative plot elements. Once you have something cool, you have a new starting point to continue from. I've changed settings in my story several times before I settled on the final product, eliminating cliches as I went along so it felt somewhat new. Hope this helps, happy writing!
Quite by accident I have two copies of Unknown. As long as you don't have anyone blow up a building at the end, I think that you're pretty safe. It wasn't a very good movie.
I think they should end up finding out they have the same mom and that was why someone tried to kill them.
