The other month, I had a discussion with a friend. She was worried that the more she read, the more her stories sounded so much like other people’s works. It’s a concern all writers have at some point. Imposture syndrome throws in a mix of feeling like you’re plagiarising and the fear that you need to be original. The truth is, there is no avoiding taking inspiration from something. Whether that’s watching a movie, looking at art, nature.
Each time we process something in our—mostly 16 hours—time of being awake, we are absorbing information. Heck, even in our sleep, we are. So there’s no surprise that this information finds its way into books. My advice to my friend and to all writers out there is: don’t be afraid of your work being similar.
My current project started out as unplanned fan-fiction of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. I say unplanned because I didn’t realise it was until the very end. Now, several drafts on and it is different enough to stand alone away from the Pirates of the Caribbean series, but also have those same core similarities. It also has similarities with Game of Thrones
Why should I be happy about similarities
Similarities are vital. If your book was out there. No one had written a book like yours before. Ever. You discovered a new theme and a new character arch. Your book wouldn’t sell. The publishing business, and the broadcasting business too, have one goal. Sell the projects that they can. They’re not risk jumpers. I mean… there are 10 Fast and Furious movies; 14 Land Before Time; and there are 52 Barbie animated films.
These films have proved that there is an audience. They are low risk. If you approached a broadcast company tomorrow and told them you had the next Fast and Furious movie, chances are that they would be interested. The same goes for books. If you found an unpublished Terry Pratchett book, the publisher would take it from you in a heartbeat. If you give them a manuscript and you tell them it is nothing like they’ve seen before… if you can’t tell them at least two things it reminds you of slightly, then the publisher or broadcasting company are going to walk away. It’s too much of a risk.
You need to read books that are similar to what you are writing so that you can use them as comparison titles when writing your cover letter. You need to show the publisher you know your market.
Use other stories as inspiration
They say write what you know. Well, what does that mean? It means write what you consume, whether that’s your work-life, your relationships… and what you read. So use what you read as inspiration. If you’re writing about dragons, and another author added a cool feature—maybe their fire isn’t hot that people could touch it. Or maybe it creates a new chemical element—then use that as inspiration.
That isn’t to say that your dragon also creates a new chemical element with it’s breath, but maybe they’re scientific in nature… maybe their cold breath changes the earth’s state throwing it into a long summer or a long winter. Whatever it is, don’t be afraid that the idea came from someone else’s work. As long as the execution is original, it’s all good.
Fear of being accused of copying
Note: This section talks about two authors whom I do not support but are useful to bring my point across.
I think some people fear that if their work is similar to another person, they’ll be accused of copying. I think this depends… Authors acknowledge all the time what inspired them. E. L James, for example, fully admits that 50 Shades of Grey started out as twilight fan-fiction. Retellings of fairytales also seemed to have taken a rise and we all know what inspired those authors. Heck, with the exception of Hans Christian Andersen who used his family tales, other folklorists retold stories like Cinderella for centuries. Cinderella from the 11th century is not the same Cinderella in the 16th or 18th century. Same goes for Little Red Riding Hood. If you’re interested in all the differences, I recommend checking out The Trials and Tribulations of Little Red Riding Hood.
I think there are issues when an author denies influences. There are vast similarities between Lord of the Rings.
- The giant man-eating spider
- Wormtail and Wormtongue have similar appearances and names
- Gandalf and Dumbledore are also similar in aesthetics (not just in the movies) and are classed as great wizards that must fight the really bad wizard.
- Ringweaths and dementors.
- The Dark lord
- The ring that is holding the dark lord in the realm
I could continue the list, but I won’t. To say that she had no inspiration from Tolkein, I think, is the issue people have. There are too many character similarities. She didn’t copy. The plots are different enough, but there are definitely elements there that suggest she is familiar with the text enough that it shaped the Wizarding world.
Be honest about what inspires you and I don’t think people would think poorly of you. Sure you might get some negative comments saying its a knock-off, but you’ll be getting negative comments no matter what you write. People love to complain.
Only you can tell your story
Everyone tells a different story, even if the stories share key points or events. Even if you had five key points in the story as another author, you will execute your five points differently. Say for example, the five key points were:
- a new student at school
- struggling to fit in
- bullies and friends
- meeting a love interest
- family life
Each of those five points would be executed differently. One author might have it that this is the first time a student has been to school after being educated at home, her parents died in a car crash and so not only has to adjust to school life but also all the drama with it and a foster family. Another might have it that this is the fifth school that the character attends because she has been violent in the other four and have been kicked out, and no one has looked to see if her behaviour is a reflection of her home life.
Both stories have the same key points but their execution is different. That’s what matters… and only you can execute like you.
Conclusion
Don’t worry about using inspiration from other people, media and authors. I think as long as you’re honest about it, like E. L. James was, people don’t care. The stories are never going to be 100 percent even if the elements and key points are. I think this is what they mean when they say there’s no such thing as an original story, because we all take inspiration from something.
What does make a work original is the twists and turns that you execute. These twists will not happen in the first draft. Maybe in the third, or fourth or fifth. So son’t worry if you don’t see them to begin with. They’ll happen eventually, and you may not be aware of it until you read through or a beta reader tells you.