Hi guys! I'm new here but have been lurking here for a while, please be nice Okay, so I've had this problem for a while now.. And it is that my story feels like a rip off of an already existing story (which is VERY unique may I add...) I love this anime (yes it's an anime called Attack On Titan, it's really good!!) and was very fond of the whole layout with the titans invading humans and humans fighting them off. So it inspired me to create something similar but I can't help but always use it as a reference when I think about my story, almost as if I'm doing it subconsciously..I should add that the reason may stem from of me listening to AOT (short for Attack On Titan) soundtracks while writing my story( I love their OST's!). It would mean a lot if someone could enlighten me on what I could do in order for me (and maybe someone with a similar problem) to write something that is not too similar to another story
It's always difficult if you're basing your story on someone else's. The positive thing is that you recognise that you're doing it. Identify what elements in your story are lifted from the other story, and either seriously modify it, or cut it out completely. Are your people living in the last city on the planet (as far as they know)? Do they have a corps of soldiers dedicated to fighting the monsters besieging them? If so, that's not original. It's found in multiple different anime. Either cut it, or do it differently. The survey corps in AOT are volunteer soldiers. Maybe your group forcibly recruit children and train them as suicide soldiers. Expand your reference material. Find other anime or books that you like. It will help you get your mind away from AOT, and perhaps inspire you to create your own unique elements.
Thank you for your reply, I really appreciate it! It honestly has bothered me a lot when writing this story, the references I'm doing that will say :/ Well, my characters live in 1 of 4 nations in an island (there used to be 5 but due to war back in the day, that land is no more occupied by humans, just some animals). There are 2 types of military in this specific nation: a military that is 100% government controlled and another military corps that is man made, but is approved by the gov and they work really close to each other ( the government keeps a very close eye on them). I was actually thinking that they would get forced to become soldiers, just like you said, by the gov. The problem comes to the monsters, I don't know how to make unique monsters, weapons and so on. About your tips, thanks again! I will make sure to find something as interesting as AOT and hopefully that will broaden my reference material
Hi, not much I can do to help except to say this: if your story is written well, and you recognise that there need to be differences, then it will be your own story whatever happens. The end product will be unique, because it's yours. Unless the intention is to rip something off - and you can nearly always tell when this is done - then note similarities and try to add even slight variations (however small) and you'll be okay. Make it your own. Creating unique monsters? All I can say to that is sit down with a pen and use your imagination. Draw something to use as a reference, maybe. A good (if slightly ridiculous) tip I'd give is: start with how many arms it has, and work your way inward! Good luck
When I was little, I did similar things. I watched Roald Dahl's The Borrowers on TV and then promptly wrote about little humans who also borrow things from big people. I watched Sailor Moon and thought the resurrection ending was super clever and then in my own story my two lovers kept resurrecting and forgetting about their romance lol. Also, all my villains laughed manically until my early 20s as per every anime villain ever. I also wrote Doraemon fanfiction - I didn't know what fanfiction was at the time, I was like, 10. But I found the ideas of it so interesting that I took them and the characters and then made up my own with them. I read bedtime fairytales as a 9 year old - western stuff I'd had little exposure to at the time - and promptly wrote about my own fairies. I read romance novels done in the format of diary entries and for a spell all my stories were done as diary entries (always, of course, with the twist that the writer of the diary is actually dead!) To some extent, copying is part of the learning curve. That's where we begin. What you're learning is how to apply these super cool ideas you've come across, and that's as invaluable as writing original stuff that's all yours. I wouldn't worry too much. I don't know how old you are, but you sound pretty young. Just enjoy it. Write your close-to-plagiarising-AOT story and enjoy every minute of it. Get it out of your system. Then write something else. Enjoy that one thoroughly too. Rinse, repeat, and so on. Keep looking for things you love to read and watch and keep using them as inspiration. You know, at one point I actively tried to emulate Henning Mankell's writing style (famous Swedish crime author), admittedly it was the translation I was trying to emulate. I don't write anything like Mankell and I don't want to anymore - but again, part of the learning curve. A piece of advice someone once gave me, and I tend to agree, is: always ditch the first idea that comes to you. The first idea is usually the cliche, the trope, the most common thing or something you've copied. Dig a little deeper. Is there something that's even better? Ditch the first idea, keep going down the rabbit hole and see what you find.
Different characters, different personal struggles, different setting and direction for the conflict can alter the course of your novel.
In addition to McKK's excellent advice to ditch your first idea because it's likely to be a cliché, I'd add this: Turn something about the original story you're copying on its head. Not only does that make the story unique to you, but it will make it easier for you to divert yourself away from the original. Just brainstorming here, to give you an idea of what I mean. (Not ideas you need to take on board; just the method.) 1) Instead of a military controlled by the government, maybe the government doesn't need a military at all. (They control people some other way.) Instead, it's rebels who are building a military. 2) Instead of monsters, why not create aliens? Maybe aliens who appear to be human, but lack some kind of human quality that makes them want to fight the humans? Or they are waiting for reinforcements to come from another planet ...but the humans don't know this. Or maybe they do? This kind of stuff. Turn something important on its head and see where that takes you.
I did similar things when I was a kid. I think it was my way of coming to grips with writing and it was excellent practice for me. The older I got the more I started coming up with my own ideas. If you like it that much, then do it. Do it for fun and for practice. Or, take a step back and look at what it is you like about the material that inspired you. Think about the box and ask 'what if'. Look at other scenario's. Try starting in different places. If the quest is to save her sister and she succeeds, what would happen if she failed? What if a War was lost? What if the great battle at the end of the material your copying was only the beginning of the story? Everything has been done before, nothing is 100% unique
thank you so much guys! You have given me so many good tips, I will make sure to use them into my story. If anyone have any more tips, I and other's in the same situation would be very happy to receive them I think this is a part of the process to be honest, a way of exploring yourself and your way of writing as many of you have explained and it makes me happy that I'm not alone
Precise details, different style, different goals and characters. You take the story E.T. and Alf it's practically the same story but the details, the style, the characters and the goals are all different. Alf went the odd couple route and the alien was now an obnoxious house-guest doing constant battle with the father. E.T. went more the neglected child (who probably feels a little alienated as the middle child) bonding with the young alien route. So I would look to figuring out the goals, the details, the style, and give it your own twist. There's room enough for similar stories just don't go the rip-off route as they don't fare so well - Mac and Me came out in 1988 while E.T. was being reissued on videocassette and that alien movie just bombed.
The idea of a monster of some kind attacking humans and then warriors having to fight them off is a tale as old as time. Beowulf. St Peter and the Dragon. Jack the Giant Slayer. The list goes on. My first advise is this: Is this your first novel? If the answer is yes, then don't worry about it. Writing should be fun first! In fact, it's best that beginners copy off of familiar works to start out. Who cares? Don't be so hard on yourself! But, yes, you do eventually have to work out of writing what others have already written. So let's talk about how to do that. 1. Start learning everything you can about everything. This doesn't have to be boring. You like anime? Right there is the perfect topic to start with. Anime has a fascinating history and is far older than people think. Start learning everything you can about it. What is the first anime? It has a unique art style. Why is that? Can you name the top three most influential animes in the last decade? What about of all time? Why are they so influential? Where did they get their inspiration from? If they got it from a legend or a story, find that legend and read it for yourself. 2. Go explore. This doesn't have to be fancy. Again, let's use your fascination with anime. From what I understand, Attack On Titan is quite a popular anime. And that's fine. Have you tried looking at Animes that aren't so well known? You mentioned you like the score. Who wrote it? And can you find his other works he did outside of cinema? It doesn't mean you go out and explore outside. It just means that you go beyond what you normally think you'd like. Start talking to people outside your social circles. Get to know them. 3. Learn current events. This is an odd one, because you're writing fiction. But the more you know about current events, the more you can understand human nature. The more you understand human nature, the more you understand how characters should act. The more you understand how conflicts happen. This will help generate originality. These two things have one objective to them: Find you the origin of inspiration. When you know how your favorite creators became inspired to create your favorite works, then you can expand. When you explore, you start to find other creators, and then you start to see where their inspiration comes from. And then when you study current events, you begin to realize your own world, and you start to bring your own self back into your works.
You’re probably not copying from enough sources. Artists mix and match they don’t spontaneously create some ‘new story’ from nothing. There is nothing wrong with copying ideas but it is called plagiarism if you only copy one idea. I suggest you branch out into other areas and see what meshes with your ideal vision.
