The last don\u2019t do I want to discuss for now is really simple \u2013 don\u2019t steal plots.<\/p>\n
Every so often I come across a posted story that elicits a sense of d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu as I continue to read. Then it strikes me \u2013 this is just (put title of famous novel or movie here) rehashed by the author.\u00a0 This is simple plot theft, and it\u2019s not a good way to start a career as a writer.<\/p>\n
First off, there\u2019s a big difference between plot theft and fan fiction. Fan fiction uses established characters and settings with the writer supplying their own \u2018vision\u2019 or story.\u00a0 Star Trek novels are really just glorified fan fiction, but some good writers have gotten their start that way.\u00a0 Even a few well established writers have written Star Trek books.\u00a0 Its experience, and it\u2019s a publication, especially in fanzines.<\/p>\n
On the other hand plot theft is basically what we see in most movie sequels \u2013 the same plot, just a different location. Think \u201cHome Alone\u201d 1 and 2.\u00a0 Or more recently, think Star Wars (the original 1977 movie) and the current \u201cStar Wars, A New Awakening.\u201d\u00a0 Pretty much the same movie with some updating and characters swapped around.\u00a0 In movies you can get away with this, especially since the studio owns the rights to the original.\u00a0 In writing it indicates a lack of originality or imagination in plotting.\u00a0 Once a reader recognizes the plot theft, all suspense vanishes because they can pretty well tell where the story is going.<\/p>\n
A few years ago I started reading a sword and sorcery fantasy posted to a story submission site. It started off with two brothers who were out hunting or some such when their village (where they lived with an uncle and aunt) was attacked and destroyed by orcs (arrrgh! If you\u2019ve read my earlier posts you know what I think of people who insist on using Tolkien names).\u00a0 Then they go to their other uncle who is a loner outcast of some secret group of knights.\u00a0 After a time they head for the secret city of the knights where they find out their father was a top knight who was banished from the order for some reason.\u00a0 By the way, one of the boys has great psychic power.\u00a0 It became progressively clearer to me that I was reading a slightly modified Star Wars plot in a sword and sorcery setting.\u00a0 (I\u2019ll spell it out.\u00a0 Aunt and Uncle killed just like Luke\u2019s.\u00a0 Loner, weird uncle \u2013 Obiwan.\u00a0 Order of knights \u2013 Jedi. Etc., etc., etc.) I lost interest very quickly.\u00a0 As far as I know, the book didn\u2019t go anywhere either.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a classic Twilight Zone titled \u201cThe Bard\u201d about a talentless, hack writer (not my description \u2013 comes from plot synopsis on IMDb) who has one plot for a tv show. He keeps trying to sell it to an agent by changing the setting.\u00a0 First it\u2019s a detective story, then a western, then a sci-fi.\u00a0 If you are copying someone else\u2019s plot you\u2019re doing the same thing.<\/p>\n
So a little advice. When you work out your plot make sure you think about it carefully.\u00a0 How much is yours, and how much is something you\u2019ve read or seen on the screen?\u00a0 If the major part of your plot is from the second category \u2013 time to rethink the whole thing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The last don\u2019t do I want to discuss for now is really simple \u2013 don\u2019t steal plots. Every so often I come across a posted story that elicits a sense of d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu as I continue to read. Then it strikes me \u2013 this is just (put title of famous novel or movie here) rehashed…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":259,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,28,29],"tags":[24,7,8,42,9,6,26,43],"class_list":["entry","post","publish","author-photophoosk100","post-425","format-standard","category-jotting-and-stray-thoughts","category-on-writing","category-writing-your-book","post_tag-discussion","post_tag-getting-published","post_tag-novel","post_tag-rules-for-writing","post_tag-writers","post_tag-writing","post_tag-writing-a-novel","post_tag-writing-donts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomwolosz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomwolosz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomwolosz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomwolosz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/259"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomwolosz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=425"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tomwolosz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":427,"href":"https:\/\/tomwolosz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425\/revisions\/427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomwolosz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomwolosz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomwolosz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}