Shattered Writer

Triple A

Hi, this is my first post in this area but i had an idea for a book about 3 years ago and after mulling over it for awhile about 2 years ago i started to write it as a hobby.

To date i have approx 85,000 words written and am almost 75% of the book complete. I have no experience in writing but i started with a plan and character profiles and then commenced writing from page one. Obviously i've found out when you start writing the book it leads you in different ways you never expected and takes on a life of its own, almost. So i know the outline and the plot of the remaining chapters etc - its just a matter of writing it.

However i am absolutely shattered this morning. I have found out of a film with a very similar plot strandline as mine. Its not the overall key element in my book but it is a major influence as to why most other things happen. I am not going to go in to details but i will say its a very unusual plot strand, so much so that i now feel its possible that i will just be ridiculed as a "plot thief".

Yes, i do this part-time, and yes i started this as a hobby, but i as i have progressed i have affection and pride towards it and i have investigated how i would go about publishing it.

Now, i am on the floor.

Please advise...........

stevejazzx

Don't worry about it, adapt if you can to find new angels or just broach the subject in a completely different way. There are many ways to skin the preverbial cat as it were...it'll probably take considerable rewrites but hey in the writing process that isn't altogether unheard of. Bon chance.

Steve

EamonnKeane

which film is it, so that we could think up ways you could deviate from its plot?

Memnoch

every single story has been done before. it just depends on your angle on it, and your treatment of the subject that will make different.

desmondkenny

I would agree with Memnoch (the devil haha!)

All stories have been done before - not that I want to say yours isn't unique becuase, well, I honestly don't know.

The same thing happened to me with a big movie recently (I'm trying to write my first novel too) Then I realised that the movie was based on a novel. Which was based on another novel. And it had inspired another book by a very well known author. Which also became a movie. Then when you start thinking about it you see it everywhere.

It's not plagiarism - it was your idea. Unfortunate that someone seems to have gotten there first, yes, but it doesn't take away from your idea. It also doesn't diminish it.

Look at Harry Potter - you could say it was directly plagiarised from a story Neil Gaiman penned about a young boy with a skateboard who found out he was really a wizard - long before JKR put pen to paper. In fact, isn't that story like so many others? All the way back to the Arthurian legend (story of boy who doesn't know he is really x, y or z)? Also, did Tolkein's Lord of the Rings stop all epic fantasy writing? Hell no, it spurned an industry of it. And everything Shakespeare wrote was only a retelling of an already known story. Same goes for the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson. Not to mention everything Disney touches.

In short - you're in some bloody good company there.

Don't lose face, hope or confidence. And for the love of the lack of good reading material, DON'T STOP WRITING!!

Hope it helps

Des

Triple A

Thanks to all for very helpful replies. I think i have come to terms with it over the last few days. I was dissapointed at first, but i'm not that arrogant that i have a master-piece anyway. I have gone back to why i started to write it in the first place, because i enjoy it. I have really got great pleasure out of it and nothing should take away from that.

I found out that this film is based on a TV series which was based on a short story. I have also discovered that while the same plot line is there, as Memnoch advises, the treatment of it is vastly different.

I will plough on. Thanks again!! Really appreciate the advice.

lukegriffen

I thought that the Greeks discovered that there was only 7 possible stories to be told. But there are millions of different ways to tell each story.

rockbeer

This could actually work for you. A major film can put the theme out there, and if it's as unusual as you say this might actually make it more interesting to potential publishers.

How often have pioneers failed while those that follow in their footsteps reap the rewards?

Triple A

Hi all,

As you can see from above i only really came onto this board when i hit a problem, but as i have checked back for the advice i have sifted through the other posts on the site (which i've found pretty useful).

Now, as i said, i have approx 85,000 words written and am well over half way to completion. I know what else i want to write, plot wise.

I have never done anything special other than Leaving Cert English and won a few local short story and poem comp's in my teen's.

My question is now, should i be going on courses, seeking advice on what i've written to date, etc? Or should i continue to the end and finish my novel as i see it? The more i read from you guys who obviously have more experience than me the more i feel i have gone about this the wrong way?

lukegriffen

I don't know how you're going to get someone to critique your 85k words.

http://www.fishpublishing.com/critique-service.php do a short story (5000 word) critique for €45.

Rather than going on courses, why don't you read a few books on writing - another thread has recommended readings

But I'd keep going if I was you. It will be a nice achievement to finish writing a novel. If you put it down for a week or two, there's a chance you may never pick it up again

nobodythere

I come up with great inventions, and if I didn't have google perhaps I'd believe that some of them are original

If people ask, say you hadn't heard of it till your book was out. If they don't believe you, screw them, if you write the book well enough there should be few complaints.

This is an invitation to work harder, not give up.

Triple A

lukegriffen wrote: »

I don't know how you're going to get someone to critique your 85k words.

http://www.fishpublishing.com/critique-service.php do a short story (5000 word) critique for €45.

Rather than going on courses, why don't you read a few books on writing - another thread has recommended readings

But I'd keep going if I was you. It will be a nice achievement to finish writing a novel. If you put it down for a week or two, there's a chance you may never pick it up again

You are bang on about putting it down and not picking it up again. I started in September 2005 and i have had long gaps of not writing at all, but to be fair i always kept a notebook as ideas came to me and the gaps i found helped me with character development.

I am a bit more regimented now trying to do a few hours in the evenings when i get home from work.

MsFifers

I think writers groups and courses can be dangerous in a way. There are lots of people who attend these and spend their time dissecting and discussing rather than actually producing! (I speak from personal experience!! )

It can also be a place where a small off-hand remark can seriously affect your commitment to what you are doing.

I would advise that you keep going until you get your first draft completed, and then join a group/go to a course - you will probably need to do some revisions at that stage, and it will be v. helpful to get opinions then.