I'm sure it's happened to most authors, but I had the terrible realisation that my story has already been written, even if it's in a different form. I was watching TV the other day when a movie trailer came on... and there was my novel.
I don't know if I've ever mentioned what my current novel is about, but it's a sci-fi YA about a fifteen year old girl who contracted a disease two years before the novel begins. Unless a cure is found, it will kill her within the year. If you watch the trailer, there are similarities.
Of course, a few days later, I've calmed down enough to see that there are more differences than similarities. Yes, the characters in the movie contract a mysterious disease that kills quickly. But it's more quickly than in mine. It also hits a lot more people- the disease in my novel is extremely rare. I also only tell the story from a patient's point of view- I never go into the minds of doctors or parents or friends. Still, it freaked me out a bit.
I guess there are no original ideas... and I wouldn't stop writing my novel either way.
I'm guessing that happened to almost every writer out there. It's almost impossible to be completely original nowadays.
ReplyDeleteWhat I believe is that one should focus on what we're doing different, and not on what we're doing that has already been done. After all, just because the premisse is similar, it doens't mean the development will be anythign alike.