Do you google your "original" idea before you write?

[Steve Harrison]

I am too frightened that I'll be influenced by someone else's take on an idea.

However, once finished I do a little research, as agents and publishers often want to know what comparable or 'similar' novels are out there.

 

[Tawariell]

I never research it either. At some point, we must accept that no storyline is going to be 100% original or unique, and that everything has been done before.
There are over 7 billion people in this world, and even though each individual mind is unique — even our imagination has its limitations. Without a doubt, there will be 2 or 3 people in this world that got to that exact same idea as you, but it's just whether or not they did something with it, and how they did it.

A wise person once told me (err— my mom), "There is always someone stronger, someone smarter, and someone wiser than you. Once you learn to accept that there is always someone exceeding you, you'll learn how to stop having unrealistically high expectations of yourself."

Don't worry, just write it. Everything we come up with today, will have been done before by someone else. Whether it be a movie, a poem, or a book.

I once wrote a story when I was 13/14, and never did anything with it. I left the project for a couple of years (since I was way too young to do anything serious with it), and a couple of years later, another author had almost the exact same storyline as me. It became a best-selling novel, and later a movie... (imagine how bummed I was).

 

[Astro Pen]

I don't do it for plots but I do check names that I use, both people and every time for corporations. As long as the people I find are unrelated to the subject that is OK but it is surprisingly hard to invent a tech company name that isn't already out there.

That said, even in the microcosm that is Chrons I wrote a line in a story which, I found out a later, was almost verbatim what someone posted in a comment a little earlier. It was pure coincidence of thought but it looked bad. So I can understand the paranoia.

 

[alexvss]

I just remembered two things.

Back when I was posting chapters of my novel on Wattpad, someone approached me saying that his novel had the same title. I went on to read the first chapter, and saw that even the plot was the same The title was generic--The Dark Ages--, and the plot could be summarized to "a girl from the medieval ages, whose life is at rock-bottom, becomes a monster slayer", so we both just laughed it off, and I ended up abandoning the project for another reason entirely.

Also, the curious fact of similar movies being released at the same time. Antz (1997) and A Bug's Life (1998), Jobs and Steve Jobs (2015), The Silence and A Quiet Place (2019)... the list goes on. People have the same ideas at the same time, and Hollywood, being an industry, showcases this every single year. The movies may have the same plot, but they differ in other aspects so the directors don't blame each other (but maybe screenwriters do, in secret).

 

[Aurora Nights]

I just remembered two things.

Back when I was posting chapters of my novel on Wattpad, someone approached me saying that his novel had the same title. I went on to read the first chapter, and saw that even the plot was the same The title was generic--The Dark Ages--, and the plot could be summarized to "a girl from the medieval ages, whose life is at rock-bottom, becomes a monster slayer", so we both just laughed it off, and I ended up abandoning the project for another reason entirely.

Also, the curious fact of similar movies being released at the same time. Antz (1997) and A Bug's Life (1998), Jobs and Steve Jobs (2015), The Silence and A Quiet Place (2019)... the list goes on. People have the same ideas at the same time, and Hollywood, being an industry, showcases this every single year. The movies may have the same plot, but they differ in other aspects so the directors don't blame each other (but maybe screenwriters do, in secret).

I heard studios make a cheapo version of a big budget production at half the price and release it quickly before the big budget movie hits the screens in the hope they dampen movie-goers desire to 'watch the same movie' again. It doesn't always work as Antz made people want to watch the bigger production A Bug's life apparently lol. I think the reason A Bug's life was a bigger hit is because it's got a larger scope: Bugs versus just Ants. I've never watched either movie, so I'm just going by the name which is what movie goers go by.

Antz (1997)
Budget: 60 million USD
Box office: 171.8 million USD

A Bug's Life (1998)
Budget: 120 million USD
Box office: $363.3 million

The cheapo steal did work with the Steve Jobs films though:

Jobs (2013)
Budget: 12 million USD
Box Office: 42.1 million USD

Steve Jobs (2015)
Budget: 30 million USD
Box Office: 34.4 million USD

Never watched either again lol, but I'm certain people aren't going to watch the same movie again if it appears to be the same.

The lesson is watch out for the cheapo version released a year before your big production lol.

 

[alexvss]

I heard studios make a cheapo version of a big budget production at half the price and release it quickly before the big budget movie hits the screens in the hope they dampen movie-goers desire to 'watch the same movie' again. It doesn't always work as Antz made people want to watch the bigger production A Bug's life apparently lol. I think the reason A Bug's life was a bigger hit is because it's got a larger scope: Bugs versus just Ants. I've never watched either movie, so I'm just going by the name which is what movie goers go by.

Antz (1997)
Budget: 60 million USD
Box office: 171.8 million USD

A Bug's Life (1998)
Budget: 120 million USD
Box office: $363.3 million

The cheapo steal did work with the Steve Jobs films though:

Jobs (2013)
Budget: 12 million USD
Box Office: 42.1 million USD

Steve Jobs (2015)
Budget: 30 million USD
Box Office: 34.4 million USD

Never watched either again lol, but I'm certain people aren't going to watch the same movie again if it appears to be the same.

The lesson is watch out for the cheapo version released a year before your big production lol.

Thing is, these movies are not from the same studio. Jobs and Steve Jobs are not even from the same country.

Maybe you got confused with A and B movies? Or maybe with the concept of focus groups?

 

[Aurora Nights]

Thing is, these movies are not from the same studio. Jobs and Steve Jobs are not even from the same country.

Maybe you got confused with A and B movies? Or maybe with the concept of focus groups?

I can't even really understand your first point lol. They're all movies from rival studios, rival...studios.

Jobs and Steve Jobs are both global movies it doesn't matter if they're not from the same country, big budget movies play all around the world.

It's a well known idea that one studio puts alot of money into a movie, so another makes a quick rip-off of the concept and releases it a year before the big production one. It's a simple idea and exactly what happens in a Oligarchic-Capitalist system, not sure how you're not getting it? But I'll leave it at that lol.

 

[sknox]

I can't think how I would even do the search. My current story is about a group of actors/singers/acrobats living in an alternate late Middle Ages who get involved in local difficulties like theft and murder, usually also with magic entanglements.

Now, that's a pretty long search string. Plus, it's a series, so each book would have its own. So, all the above, plus locked room mystery set in a tower in a lake.

But I think even if I found someone else had written a story in exactly that setting involving the same type of characters, the story still wouldn't be about Val and Charlot and Tusco and the rest. It wouldn't have an MC with a grudge against the nobility who keeps getting hired by nobles. It wouldn't have an ogre with a complicated background that saw him ostracized by both ogres and dwarves in his home country. And so on.

And even if all *that* were the case, I'd still write my story because what's inside me is *my* story and it follows me around everywhere demanding to be written. I write stories to make them shut up.

 

[Harpo]

 

[Oochillyo]

hey everyone how are you all

This is an interesting idea but not really as I know many of my ideas are already common but you add your own twist to it and as it develops it becomes more and more your idea , like I want an action scene with five monkeys I wouldn't search up if animal fight scenes have happend before they likely have but this is my idea the theme is the same but how its unique and mine matters, think of all fight scenes with superhero's or romance scenes everybody knows whats involved in them and how common they are, romance in story telling ect has been writing, sung and talked about for centuries and centuries you know but everyone's idea and twists on it are different.

So even if I feel like my idea is common or similar to others I know I can add my own twists and uniqueness to it my own characters ect so I dont worry and sometimes you take inspiration from others work and things you've seen or know but again and your own twists, uniqueness and ideas to it and it shouldn't be a worry

Plus for me when I have an idea I wouldn't have the time or patience to search every article ect about it cause you never can know if you've copied there are billion of people on the planet and thousands of centuries of writing story telling ect before had you can never know if you've copied anyone if you find 0 copies out of 10 searches who knows if the 11th search you will find the same thing as your idea already and you apply that to how many searches ect your gonna be prepared to go through all in all to try and have peace of mind about copying or fresh ideas.

When we were doing Business at school and how to check companies write about them ect yes you avoid copy right but you can waste soo much time trying to find an original bit of information and I just tended to get fed up of that as I got behind could never seem to find a Business we were allowed to use for our work and needed help by the Teacher looking aswell to safe time, its just not worth it sometimes if you know what your doing and add those twists and uniqueness to your work.

As you can see right here (how perfect ) I was about to say something and thought of soo much info I had to write it before I forgot and you can see that in my work I was gonna say plus for me when I have an idea I have to write it quick cause its normally a clever idea to me or something I like (for my story) and before I forgot as I often do (cause I have soo many ideas in my head all the time) I have to write it down and dont have time to do the whole checking process, I know my idea may be similar to someone else out there or famous work but just get my idea down first and if it still needs more uniqueness to it I will add my own twists like the fight scene I was talking about in the forum to the person who was having trouble writing a fight and chase scene with an acrobatic person and a mage person (sorry I forgot your name) and you can see one of my fav scenes for my story there and its different to everybody else's even if we all were to work on the same theme and we know this as writers but I dont know how common it is for people to check their ideas or work against others first in case of copying.

I guess when you get more professional and or famous you have to check or have others check for you but for stories or art or whatever you do in your free time at home , you can share it here or with friends whoever but your not gonna worry about if its the same as somebody else's cause its not famous its not serious if that makes sense who's gonna tell you off like seriously with claims of copy right ect if its your hobby and your sharing it with others its not word for word the same as another work and I think your friends ect and people here know that , nobody here is looking to hit you over the head with you shouldn't have said that its very similar story to this ect and I reckon if its somehow soo similar to something people here will kindly let you know and then you can add your twists and uniqueness to it.

The thing with me is I am full of ideas many my own and if similar I know to add uniqueness to it and I would want to if its for a piece of work I like such as my story or a sweet idea I have that maybe nobody has thought off before especially with the twist and uniqueness, I think and type very quickly and have to get these ideas down (if I like them) very quickly before I forget so I dont check around if somebody else has it cause that can be never ending and a waste of time, if you are doing it for yourself or friends/family ect its your hobby and your not a pro why should it worry you soo much it will change if your a pro but you'll have people to help with this type of thing if you are a pro, plus it can be very hard to search or compare your idea against someone else or millions of people/searches especially the more twists and uniqueness you have to yours like the guy with the acrobat against the mages both are common and popular character types of writing but by combining them into one story and I reckon he has is own twists and uniqueness to them your not gonna find that with someone else or the internet especially again with the more detailed and yours those twists and uniqueness become such as 5 purple monkeys punching the main robot villain with balloons.

I seem to be writing a ton today even though I am tired of writing and tired in general wow I just think these are very interesting conversations and I type quick so all my ideas happen quick and hey presto I've wrote 5 books worth for a single question and its not the meaning of life ha

Thank you everyone for putting up with me and reading any of my work/writings likely as your going to bed haha

Regards - Declan Sargent

 

[Mell]

Not really. Not because I'm not curious, but because trying to condense a story idea into a small-ish but decent search term isn't really an appealing task. I just assume the answer is "probably has been done" and that the odds of me somehow not making my take on the idea wildly different from it are pretty slim. And also because I'd probably have a little mini-panic attack worrying about it if I knew.

 

[Astro Pen]

To elaborate on my earlier post.

All elements are out there and so are most basic plots. What I do check are names.

Since the "Blennerhassett of the stock exchange" libel suit it is worth looking names up. The suit was over his surname being used in a yo-yo advert, the protagonist in the advert being placed in psychiatric care after becoming obsessed with yo-yo tricks. This caused Blennerhassett to be ridiculed at the exchange. Luckily for the yo-yo maker the court found for the company.
Strange but true.

http://www.blennerhassettfamilytree.com/pages/YoYo_newspaper_reports_1933.pdf

 

[Swank]

I have a hard time imagining an idea so original that the description of it would cause a keyword search to reliably bring it up. Because the description is going to have to be constructed from terms that aren't often used together, and could probably be described with a whole different set of terms. If not, it has certainly been thought of because it would be an obvious idea.

I'm trying to imagine Vernor Vinge googling "zones of thought".

 

[The Judge]

What I do check are names.

Since the "Blennerhassett of the stock exchange" libel suit it is worth looking names up.

I actually address the question of names and inadvertent libel in my final talk about defamation on the Chrons podcast, which should be coming out next week.

There's a 1996 US case involving a young woman called Bryson who brought an action against the publishers of a short story which featured a girl with somewhat lax morals who had the same surname, but it's highly unlikely the name alone would have been suffiicent to found an action, and there were 25 other alleged similarities between the real woman and the character. The court of first instance dismissed her claim, an appeal court allowed it in part and sent it back for trial, but I've not yet discovered what happened thereafter ie whether Ms Bryson won before a jury (probably the case was settled), but there was a strongly dissenting judgement in the appeal which I imagine is more likely to be influential nowadays.

 

[Mon0Zer0]

To elaborate on my earlier post.

All elements are out there and so are most basic plots. What I do check are names.

Since the "Blennerhassett of the stock exchange" libel suit it is worth looking names up. The suit was over his surname being used in a yo-yo advert, the protagonist in the advert being placed in psychiatric care after becoming obsessed with yo-yo tricks. This caused Blennerhassett to be ridiculed at the exchange. Luckily for the yo-yo maker the court found for the company.
Strange but true.

http://www.blennerhassettfamilytree.com/pages/YoYo_newspaper_reports_1933.pdf

Wonder if that influenced the Homer Simpson / Max Power episode of the Simpsons...

 

[Christine Wheelwright]

I actually address the question of names and inadvertent libel in my final talk about defamation on the Chrons podcast, which should be coming out next week.

There's a 1996 US case involving a young woman called Bryson who brought an action against the publishers of a short story which featured a girl with somewhat lax morals who had the same surname, but it's highly unlikely the name alone would have been suffiicent to found an action, and there were 25 other alleged similarities between the real woman and the character. The court of first instance dismissed her claim, an appeal court allowed it in part and sent it back for trial, but I've not yet discovered what happened thereafter ie whether Ms Bryson won before a jury (probably the case was settled), but there was a strongly dissenting judgement in the appeal which I imagine is more likely to be influential nowadays.

Interesting. I actually dropped a certain British prime minister into one of my stories. Renamed him Joris, and cast him as an incompetent court jester.

 

[Swank]

Interesting. I actually dropped a certain British prime minister into one of my stories. Renamed him Joris, and cast him as an incompetent court jester.

I don't know about Canada, but my understanding is that satirizing political figures is generally considered protected political speech. It would be different for a private citizen.

 

[Christine Wheelwright]

I don't know about Canada, but my understanding is that satirizing political figures is generally considered protected political speech. It would be different for a private citizen.

I think you are right. Besides, to sue for libel the individual concerned would have to prove in court - on the balance of probability - that he is not incompetent.

 

[Toby Frost]

The villain of several of Mick Herron's Slough House novels is a suspiciously familiar MP. There's a moment in one of the later books where a character is described as using a "Boris bike". My friend reckons that that phrase was put in deliberately to show that Boris Johnson does exist in the Slough House world, and isn't the villain.

Anyhow, to answer the original question, I don't specifically search to see if my own ideas have already been done, because I reckon two different authors could make totally different books from the same original premise. I do try to have a rough idea of the cliches of the areas in which I write, though, so I'm not producing anything downright dated.