Heh. Happen often to you? You just went through and created a plot outline for your next story; or worse, you have already written it out, either in draft or just completed, and a new movie comes out including the ideas that you based your plot around? *Trashes her short story idea the day after creating it...*
Fahgedaboudit. There are, practically speaking, no new plot ideas. It's not about the plot idea, it's how you write it that makes or breaks your story.
I totally agree with Cogito. It cannot be the same to every detail, so you can write the story anyway (with some minor changes,if needed). I even get inspired by movies, of borrow basic plots and think about them from my subjective point of view. And turns out to be quite different at the end. Don't shoot the directors at once .
Take it as a compliment to your taste. Your idea was good enough for someone else to toss 100 million dollars at it.
I agree with the above. You should be proud. Next time be a bit quicker and get it out before they do.
I have never heard a plot like my own (thank god) lol so i try to make all my ideas extremely different. and I think that there are unused idead out there we just have to come up with em and make em great!
all the time, and its great to know i have tapped into the zeitgeist, but would be even better if i had gotten there first dammit!
Happens to me on a regular basis. The next day, I complain to my friends and some can relate while others don't see it as a big deal. As long as you write it in your own, unique way, it may seem unique. I like to keep that in mind.
hey man, just take heart from the fact that there really isn't such a thing as a tired idea (Unless of course, you plan on writing fantasy, in which case you are SOL because the whole genre is a tired idea). I mean, there are supposed to be what, only 7 plots in the whole history of human literature? Just because a movie snaked your idea doesn't mean anything, man. It's a different medium telling the story in a different way. I get a lot of my ideas from films. And music. And pictures. And...well, I pull my ideas from everywhere I guess. I wouldn't sweat it unless your idea was stolen by District 9, in which case, scrap that idea because that movie was the cinematic equivalent of tainted meat in both senses of that word.
I'm curious what movie it was. It has happened to me a few times. Oh, bumboc, I don't believe fantasy is a tired idea, anymore than all the other genres. Dictrict 9 made it to my top ten movies of all time.
Sillraaia, Don't worry, your not the only one who face this problem. Even movie and Game Directors has the same problem as you do. Btw, bumboclaatjones, what do you mean?
I don't think there's anything wrong with fantasy as a genre. There's just so many LOTR knock-offs, they seem to make up the genre, but they don't. Not if you look a bit closer. Just avoid stuff with big swords and dragons on the cover.
I'm glad you brought that film up film up because some critics I like destroyed that film for being unoriginal, yet I can't think of a film that combines every aspect of it. And yeah it's one of my favorites now too. It made me analyze life itself, how stories in general do that? I reviewed that film on youtube and threw in a two minute rant on how the critics are full of BS. It was pretty funny lol
It's never happened with movies, but I have seen TV shows that have an idea similar to what I have. I also came up with the McGriddle the DAY before I saw a commercial for one. 2 waffles 1 fried egg 1 piece of sausage maple syrup I call it a Waffwich. What I really hate, though, is when you have an idea that someone else has already done, and you know you could have done a much better job.
When I think about it, I will take existing ideas and change them around to make them an interesting story. Am I ripping them off? As Cog and many of my teachers have stated everything has already been done before. I've done lots of research in the past on Greek and Roman mythology and I read some really bizarre and crazy stories, guess how the Minotaur was created? Don't ever be afraid to try what's already been done, and don't ever be afraid to let yourself be inspired either.
Hehe, I know how the minotaur was created. But trust me, Egyptian is far weirder than Greek. It's kinda like it, except it involves incest, more rape and gods growing from semen. Literally one god masturbates to make more. Weird stuff. I'll take your concept one step further. One day I got this idea about speed limit signs sending signals to cars disallowing them from exceeding the speed limit; of course, there would need to be a whole device implanted in the cars themselves for it to work but I thought it was fairly possible. And then on that very same day I saw an article in the paper saying the exact same thing. I swore I never read it, but nobody believed me.
Yeah I know but I was kind of thrown off when I came across a story of bestiality on a website my school recommended It still is freaking hilarious telling the story in front of a class of middle schoolers. I'm mean seriously, every aspect of the human imagination has been explored already thousands of years ago. There's no point in even trying to be new or original. Your just fill yourself with dissatisfaction after you fail at every attempt. Just write what you think is cool and don't let anybody tell you your concept is old, because you already know that
Thanks. That's exactly who I was thinking when I wrote that. Those questions are always silly in my opinion.
Hehe, yes this has happened to me. I have been planning a graphic novel for a while, then I came across an anime called Wolf's Rain. It has the same basic plot as my story (animals thought not to exist disguise themselves as humans and go on a journey), and naturally I loved the series because it was the type of story I liked. Now when I start releasing pages of my graphic novel, I wouldn't be surprised if people start saying I "ripped off" Wolf's Rain, knowing I am a fan of it. Heck, even my working title had the word 'rain' in it. But as others said, every concept has already been done. What you think is a new concept created by you could be ideas from many stories you have heard of before which you have put together subconciously.
It happens all the time, its very hard to be original these days apparently All that we can do is go back to the drawing board, be as original as we can, and get published before they make their new movies
Everybody rips everyone else off in the plot department. Look at three popular movies, the Terminator series, The Matrix, and i,Robot. All have the same basic concept, robots taking over the world and either destroying humanity, or enslaving them. All very different story lines, same basic idea. Disaster movies are also all based on the same concept, humanities destruction...how it happens and if we survive all differ in each story, but the basic concept is the same. Look at Star Trek and Star Wars, both space operas...in their own respective ways. Think about how many "In a galaxy far, far away" stories there are...they all share commonality, but are vastly different. I get ideas from other people all the time. Zombies aren't a new concept, but how the story is told is what makes each one different. Time travel and parallel universes are now making the rounds, look at Fringe, and Lost on TV...two totally different ideas, but share similarities. It has nothing to do with recycling basic concepts for a story, as most things have been told already and share some sort of similarities in plot line, but how it is told, the characters involved, and the situations are what make each story different. It's what makes the viewer/reader want to make time for the story.
