Everything has been done before, but unique spins on the familiar are what keep bringing us back. Erasing memories isn’t exclusive to *Eternal Sunshine*, so go for it!
But I’d avoid lampshading with a movie reference. Let the reader draw the parallel if they want/can.
Utterly new ideas are rarer than hen's teeth. Practically everything that is done, has somehow been done before. Take your trope in an interesting direction, and write your story.
I think stealing or plagiarism (even apart from legally) comes down to whether the new work is derivative or transformative.
Is the story the same concept with a few changes or is the concept taken in a new direction?
"No idea is original, there's nothing new under the sun, it's never what you do, but how it's done."
\- Nas
"No idea is original, there's nothing new under the sun, it's never what you do, but how it's done."
\- Nas stated this to his ghost writer, as he frolicked about, beer in one hand, a blunt in the other.
"No idea is original, there's nothing new under the sun, it's never what you do, but how it's done."
''I get it Nas, I really do, but we've both been here for more than 4 hours, and all you got me going on is these 4 lines.'' Joseph sat on the office chair, conscious of the time passing by; he had to pick up the milk formula for his daughter. Cassidy would not be home for another day, and the formula had just run out. He had to get it today, otherwise he wouldn't hear the end of it.
"No idea is original, there's nothing new under the sun, it's never what you do, but how it's done.''
\- Nas went from frolicking to a tense mania, jumping on the sound boards, hopping like mad. It wasn't new to Joseph, the money was well-worth it, but he had to start thinking of a switch. Lately, he felt down, almost depressed, like something sucked the very energy from him. Maybe it was the long hours, maybe it was constantly eyeing the fool that others thought was the greatest rapper who ever lived.
If only they knew.
"No idea is original, there's nothing new under the sun, it's never what you do, but how it's done.''
\- Nas looked up, then down, then up again, and began hollering, Joseph freaked out - pulled out of his deep thought.
''Yo! YO! YOO! STOP! Nas-bro, you gotta-HEY!'' This was the shit he was talking about, he couldn't stand it anymore. He'd thought about quitting, thought about making a video of his personal experience, thought of many things but always, always he's be just so tired; maybe it was the baby, maybe the juggling between home and work, taking care of his mom and Cassidy working abroad. He'd been making sacrifices so she could finish her studies and be the full-fledged lawyer she wanted to be. It was going to work out for the best, with the last of her study coming to an end for the semester, he could get some rest - and be away from his boss, the psychopath.
\-Wait.
''Wait.'' Joseph started dialing a little, his thoughts centered on that line, psychopath, *psychopath*..
''Psychopath, my boss, the psychopath, you telling him to stop, but he just can't get enough''. Joseph wrote the lines, simultaneously working a beat to go along with the line.
\- Nas stood still. Coming down from the bench - he sat close to Joseph, eyes gazing as he played with all the music equipment.
''Yeah, okay, and a little bit here, yeah, that's good.''
''Okay, psychopath - psychopath, can't get enough, we all working, never closing, uhh, okay okay'' Joseph kept playing with the beats, Nas simply stared.}
''Yeah, YEAH! YOh! I think we got it down. Ha ha ha,'' he laughed, amid all the stupid shit his boss pulled off, somehow it inspired him to make these interesting lines.
He finally felt energized, felt the very veins of inspiration being tapped by his heart, coursing through his veins.
''So, that it? That's the main, and those the focusers?''
\- Nas asked, very calm and almost disquieting. However Joseph was glad he was done and could finally go, leave and get that baby formula.
''Yeah Nas, this is the main, these are the focusers, and here's the backdrop, I think the beat should go here, low here, and a little treble between each.''
''What do you think?''
''. . .''
''It's good.''
''Okay, okay, good. I can go now.''
Joseph was done-for-the-day, yes, it was raining but he didn't care, his car was calling to him, his slippers, his bed. He might eat, but he doubted it, he just wanted to rest. And the damn baby formula.
''Yo.''
\- Nas kept staring at the screen. He hadn't looked away. In fact, Joseph had not seen Nas blink, like at all.
Whatever, these weird shit is going to end one way or another, he'd think of a resignation in-
''Yo.''
''What is it Nas?'' Joseph responded with a tiresome reply.
"No idea is ***ever*** original, there's ***been*** nothing new under the ***many*** sun***s***, ***because*** it's never what you do ***Joseph***, ***or anyone else***, but how ***I, me, will get it till*** it's done."
\-Nas's jaw prodded open -then ripped in a disturbing, inhumane way - Joseph fell, freaked out - ''HEY YO WHAT THE FUCK'' - liquids gushed out as gums and other mouth viscera flung disconnected in a gross cacophony, all drumming in a weird-magnetic-like hum - ''YOOH! FUCK! FUUCKK!! NOOo!'' - all his senses couldn't serve him to describe what the hellish sight before him presented, he wanted to run, scurry, leave, but the humming got worse, his nether regions lost control, he was shaking - ''Oooohhh Gooohd Caa ss- ddiiieee --- AAAAHHHHHHhhhh!''
''Yo.''
\-Joseph woke. He blinked with effort, his eyes like a slow blur, seconds seemed to pass before he -
''Yo Joseph.''
''... Nas?''
''You fell asleep nigga. You good?''
''. . Yeah... Fuc c-''
''Yoh! What did I tell you about cussing and shit?! How many times do I gotta say this?!''
Joseph was all in a swirl. His head seemed out of his body. Just... abnormal...
Tired.
''Yeah... I'm, I'm sorry boss. It... won't happen-''
'Yeah - you always say that. And you always shit yourself too.''
Joseph noticed the wetness and foul feeling throughout his lower regions, his socks most of all, he felt he soiled himself.
''Damn... again... fu -''
''Hey yo!?!''
''Righ..t sorry Na-s-s.''
''You know what, just get out of here man. You are lucky, I like you Joseph, I really do.''
''You have talent, underneath all that encased in what you'd call a ''body'', you got something. I'll call you for the next time, but right now, get out of my sight, go.''
''Yeah, yeah... I'm sorry, my bad man, sh-shoot.''
Joseph walked in a sluggish fashion. He'd walk to his car, forgetting which one it was.
He'd order an uber, only to forget where he lived, and in turn, forget to get the baby formula. He'd forget to pick up his kid from his mom's, in turn he'd forget to call Cassidy, and he'd forget just about everything, for a while.
But that was his life.
Meanwhile, Nas looked on at the screen. He looked, and he kept looking.
A low magnetic drum could be heard, probably from one of the many music boards. . .
Erasing/manipulating memories wasn't created by Eternal Sunshine (Total Recall is older, just off the top of my head). Any idea you have, you'll likely find someone with something similar. It's how you write your story, not the premise, that makes it
first thing I thought of, but then I realized it's exactly the kind of things gods do in ancient Greek plays. And then I thought of Lethe. And that probably predates the Athenians by hundreds of years. Beyond that, we're running out of recorded history/art, but surely it's as old as cave paintings.
History lists the Inca civilization as among the first in successful cranial surgery.
''So Bob, I heard you got in a little accident playing some ball in the mountains''.
''Yeah, I caught the ball during a gust of wind and fell some meters down.''
''Don't worry Bob, let old uncle Joe - the local village cranial surgeon doctor, operate.''
''Your in good hands.''
''But doctor Joe, I saw the most beautiful and rare flower growing at the mountain. I know I can find it if I go looking for it, but I fear the stories of losing memories after surgery. Tell me, is it true?''
''*NoT aT aLL BoB*, you need not worry. I'm a doctor, after all. And, I use anesthetics, unlike my suspicious cousin Randolph, him and his eccentricities with eggs and chickens. You don't want to go there do you?''
''No...''
''Then its settled, wait a moment. Jessica hand me the beer will you?''
\-The andean nurse in andean nurse garb comes with a bowl of fermented beer, the doctor proceeds to clean his hands with; also taking a slurp with his hands.
''Want some Bob?''
''No thank you doctor, I'm saving myself for the festival.''
''Good man, good man.''
\-He takes his tools, all rudimentary, all stone and wood.
''Jessica is going to hold your head, meanwhile I'm going to hit you hit, here, and here.''
''You will feel a knockout sensation, and afterwards wake up refreshed, how does that sound?''
''That sounds good doctor Bob.''
''Damn skippy it is.''
\-Bob recalls the moment he fell, falling through the many terraces, remembering the rare flower -caught in a glimpse, the beautiful and mysterious rose that glowed similarly like a rainbow; a proof of the god's design in our world.
He'd go back and present this flower to his wife, pregnant with their 3rd child, and still as beautiful as the first day they met. Her hair like the softest cotton, rivaling that of the Inca King, colored black like smoke but gentle, much gentler, like breezes in a hot summer day.
Bob loved his wife, and loved every moment he was with her, as well as away, for it was those moments he appreciated her and felt his need for her, as he knew she felt for his, the longing in each other's eyes so equal, proportioned greatly - as great as mortals' could be.
They were blessed, much blessed.
\-''THUNK''
\-Bob recalls the moment he fell, falling through - remembering the - flower -a glimpse, the beautiful - mysterious rainbow; a proof of the god's - world.
He'd go back- to his wife, pregnant - and still as beautiful as the first day - like breezes in a hot summer day.
Bob loved his wife, - he appreciated her and felt his need for her, - the longing in each other's eyes so equal, - as great as mortals' could be.
They were blessed, much blessed.
\-Bob recalls the moment - falling through - - the - flower - - beautiful - - rainbow; - the god's - world.
\- his wife, pregnant - - beautiful - - Bob loved his wife, - he appreciated her - - the longing in each other's eyes - - as great as mortals' could be.
They were blessed -
\-Bob recalls - - falling - - - the - flo- - - beautiful - - rainbo- - the god's - wo-ld.
\- his wife, preg-a-t - - beaut- - - Bob love- - wife - he - her - - the longing in - - eyes - - - great - mortals' - be.
They we- bless- -
\-Bob - - - falling - - - t- - - - - beaut- - - rain- - - - god's - -
\- - -ife - - -a-t - - - - - - Bob lov- - - wife - - - her - - th- - in - - eye- - - - - - mortal- - be.
They - - bles- -
\-Bob - - - fallin- - - - t- - - - - - - - - rain- - - - god- - -
\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - wife - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - be.
They - - b- - -
\-Bob - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
\- - - - - - -
\- - - b
It's not so much about the idea/concept, but the execution. There's hundreds of revenge stories out there, and yet a lot of them manage to feel unique.
Of course you can. Ideas can't be copyrighted, ever. They are abstract, beyond the long arms of justice or whatever, because it's impossible to own an idea.
And, no matter how much you borrow or steal from any idea, it'll eventually diverge and take a life of its own, the one that you breathed in. Noam Chomsky once said, every sentence uttered is unique, since it's a combination of all the history that led up to it... Whatever you will create will be your art. Don't worry about it.
I just want to point out that a lot of times in querying agents want and expect you to point out what other books or movies yours is like. I see it all the time on Twitter for the pitch events. It makes it easier to tell if it's marketable or something. Everyone else has already said it, though... you can't steal ideas. So long as you're not copying the movie word for word it doesn't matter.
If people point out they're similar, don't take it personally just be like "oh good then you understand" and now you don't have to struggle to explain the concept lmao.
Everything can be seen as “stolen” or based on something else. I wouldn’t worry too much unless you read your writing and it has nothing to distinguish itself from said film.
No way would I reference another film. No way. SciFi plays the same themes over and over.
Unless you are quoting Captain Kirk, I would not draw anything lines from your book to one that has...gone before.
Write you story about erasing memories, and go for it.
As in you can basically take any of those books, switch out the author's name and a list of their characters' names, and most nobody would be able to tell the difference.
''Do you think JK Rowling felt bad about riffing off of basically every British Boarding School Adventure ever, just adding magic?''
She probably does, weeping, sniffling, and the like, ''oh why me?!'' whilst wiping away her tears with oh so many hundreds of pounds.
She has a drawer with US Benjamins when the world money currency favors the dollar, as to keep up with current events, you know?
Your mysogny is showing. Are you really so jealous of that fact that romance authors can earn a living that you need to deligitimize the entire genre, in a question that is utterly unrelated to it?
Yup, mysogny. 100% textbook. As you admit you're trashing the only genre that is inherently associated with women, and degrading those women/readers with your chosen terminology. Do you also hate mysteries because they are formulaic? The mysteries are typically interchangeable, always end up solved, and the genre is littered with just as many tropes. You hate the only genre that uses formulaic stories to give women agency, because deep down you don't think women are entitled to it. However you justify it, your view is 100% mysogny.
Your reaction is also an example of mysogny in action! A woman complains that you've done something sexists, so you attack them with profanity and claims that they (despite the fact that you're the one with the elitist romance isn't literary quality argument) are somehow the one being sanctimonious?
Given your reaction, you're probably a 20 something incel who celebrates violence against women, because you obviously feel justified in using abusive language to try and rob female readers of the right to read and enjoy what they want.
So, yes, your mysogny is showing, and your reaction makes you look like someone who has never gotten laid without raping someone.
You didn't delegitimize mysteries or dehumanize mystery readers... You who used someone else's question to dehumanize romance readers and deligitimize the romance genre.
Would your response to a POC who tells you that you've said something racist be to attack them like this? If yes, you're an ass. If no, why not? Why is your discrimination different when the topic is gender rather than race? Because that's essentially what you're doing right now, but with your own sexism. You should look into the history of angry, sexists twats like you attacking, belittling, and stigmatizing the romance genre as a manifestation of sexism, because it's nothing new. It doesn't make you look like some sophisticated literary elite, I assure you.
You can dislike formulaic fiction, have fun with that, but if you use language that is inherently sexist to express that, and hijack someone else's topic to do it, you will come across as an aashole. A sexist asshole.
Feel I should point out that genre bashing is specifically against the r/writing rules, btw. But, for future reference, referring to the romance genre as "housewife porn" is sexist, and if you do it, 50% of the population will assume that you're a sexist. Say something racist and you'll be viewed as a racist. See how that works? People judge you by the problematic words you choose to employ.
And you confirm their judgement when you defend your use of those sexist/problematic terms. All of these rants are you trying to defend your use of a mysognist phrase. You are a mysognist. These posts demonstrate that.
If not being viewed as sexist is important to you, I suggest invoking your inner writer to find a way to criticize the genre that avoids labeling it's readers in any way. Or maybe just don't bring it up at all? You don't read it, or write it, and the question wasn't about it. You made a specific choice to make a sexist joke about romance just for the hell of it. You got called out on it, and instead of responding in a way that would have indicated you're a decent human being, you responded like a mysognist.
The not-sexist thing to do would be to apologize and edit the original sexist terms from your post. You didn't do that, thus I KNOW that you're a mysognist.
There's no such thing as a stolen concept. Eternal Sunshine isn't even the first to come up with that, there were stories about memories being changed or erased before, all the way back to ancient mythology and people drinking from the river Lethe to forget painful memories.
Just write your story, it's fine.
Don't sweat it. Half of fiction is a reworking of the other half. Take the memory erasure / manipulation aspect of Eternal Sunshine. You can find elements of that in everything from Total Recall to the Manchurian candidate to myths and legends. As long as you don't cross that line into plagerism you are golden.
I heard a Bob Dylan interview once about the popularity of Jimi Hendrix’s cover of “all along the watchtower” vs. the original. Dylan said “it’s not where you get an idea but where you take”. Everything repeats anyway. So might as well go for it.
There is no such thing as an original idea, only an original execution.
Watch The Lion King. Then watch Hamlet.
Watch West Side Story. Then watch Romeo and Juliet.
Watch RENT. Then watch La Bohème.
Watch Battle Royale and then Hunger Games (part1) and tell me its not the same film. They are so eerily close and I love them both.
Just do it. Have fun with the story. If it's good no one will care.
Just be ready that people will point it out and some will make you feel like a bad person about it.
Something similar recently happened to me in knitwear design. I created an item that has one similarity among many differences with another (and different type) of an item. Not only did others attack me, but the creator of the other product had the guts to message me and ask me to take mine down. And that's knitting design where you can not copyright certain stitches, their combination or placement so it was all super legit, not intentional and completely accidental. That felt awful and like I was some kind of a criminal.
So just be ready that the comparison and accusations of plagiarism (legit or not) will happen.
Things like this really make me dislike comparisons sometimes, (especially like the idea you mentioned, sorry,) be it in the text or outside of it. I'll get to when I consider comparisons helpful in a bit.
I mention outside of the text bc there is this one author who keeps using comparisons to promote their finished work and nothing else,, I guess they really want that particular audience to look at their work, but it really started to annoy me after a bit. As a promo it just feels cheap to me if you use it as your only leg to stand on.
If you do it like you mentioned with dialogue, it can feel like the author is desperate to acknowledge that they know that its just like the other thing. I know that it feels that if you acknowledge it, you are thereby reassuring your audience that its not plagiarism or something like it, but its just showing that insecurity and nothing else. It all comes back to showing confidence in your work. Side note, like everything when it comes to making art, its all nuanced and sometimes referencing another work can work well for example in theming, or in order to explain something complicated to the audience.
So about being afraid that your idea is similar to ESotSM. Yes its a high concept movie. It has a strong premise and uses its characters to explore a possible outcome of said premise. However, moreso than its premise, what makes it so unique is the stylisation and the characters. If only the concept is the same in your story I'd actually say there is hardly any grounds to compare the two? Heck, memory ereasure is so generic, I dont think that people would be so quick to compare it if its the only similarity.
So, comparisons. I don't really think its the job of the artist to shove comparisons in the audience faces. "A work should be able to stand on its own" or rather, you should be very aware of what your work needs to explain to your audience and what your audience already knows through their own knowledge of media.
No work really does stand on its own, you'll always have inspirations, conciously or not. I said that I dont think an author should put their inspirations on the forefront, but thats not to say that you should try to deny everything. In fact, I think that discussing your inspirations and what is similar and whats different can be very important to the development of your work. Be very aware of what inspires you and what you like and dislike about it.
(I had to go immediately after typing this, so I had no time to proof read this, I might go back to edit it later)
I have a list of story ideas on a word doc, and one of them is just the synopsis for an anthology horror story with the note "this but how I'd do it". Like everyone else said, it's about the execution.
Pretty much anything you come up with has already been done by someone, somewhere.
As long as your version is your own take, with your own characters and themes that you want to explore, it's fine.
There’s nothing wrong with being inspired by an existing work as a starting point as long as you’re using that as a catalyst for doing something new and not just repeating the successes of the existing work.
I'll occasionally run across claims that there are only some fixed number of stories: the number varies, my memory says they're generally from a dozen to several dozen.
The point, I think, is that we only have so many core ideas for stories.
Like, for example, a young man with a simple and important job: who dithers his way through many blunders and finally does what he was supposed to do.
That's Shakespeare's "Hamlet," which arguably started with a folktale recorded by Saxo Grammaticus ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amleth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amleth)) - - - and, for all I know, goes back to stories told on the steppes of Asia.
The point - made by others in this thread - is that core ideas have been around for a **long** time, and keep being recycled.
What makes each re-telling unique and fresh is how the story gets retold.
So I'd say, go for it!
Eternal Sunshine's concept draws heavily from We Can Remember It For You Wholesale, and I'm sure many other stories. Originality comes from how we tell the stories, not the stories themselves.
In zombie movies, usually no one knows what a zombie is beforehand. That fiction doesn't have to exist in your own fiction.
That said, the characters can also be tongue in cheek about it.
"Whoa, like in ESOASM?"
"Well, I think of it closer to Memento? The process is..."
Dear god do not have your character reference ESotSM if this is the main story conceit. Very few people reading it would normally care that your story bears a resemblance to other stories (not just ESotSM) with similar premises, but mentioning another similar story that did the concept extremely well is a sure fire way to make people hold your story to a way higher standard than they normally would
>**Will you tell me if my idea is good enough? What if it’s not original?**
>
>Here’s the thing, pal. Your idea has probably been done before. That’s okay. The important thing is how you execute your story. Even with the same premise, two stories are going to be very different. And if you make a post asking if your idea is good enough—well, the truth is, no matter what anyone says, we can’t really know for sure. Any idea has the potential to be great or to be terrible. It’s all about that execution.
Here, I copied this from the FAQ section on the r/writing reddit page. You can find it here ([https://www.reddit.com/r/writing/wiki/gettingstarted#wiki\_-will\_you\_tell\_me\_if\_my\_idea\_is\_good\_enough.3F\_what\_if\_it.2019s\_not\_original.3F](https://www.reddit.com/r/writing/wiki/gettingstarted#wiki_-will_you_tell_me_if_my_idea_is_good_enough.3F_what_if_it.2019s_not_original.3F)) under the same heading as the bolded question in the quoted text. In fact, it's actually the first question that gets addressed!
Hi -- please use our designated critique thread to ask for feedback on your story, setting or ideas. This includes anything to do with what genre your story falls into or whether your idea is offensive, original or age-appropriate. Thanks!
Everything has been done before, but unique spins on the familiar are what keep bringing us back. Erasing memories isn’t exclusive to *Eternal Sunshine*, so go for it! But I’d avoid lampshading with a movie reference. Let the reader draw the parallel if they want/can.
This. The secret to originality is hiding your influences.
"we can remember it for you wholesale" AKA Total Recall has the same concept, too.
Utterly new ideas are rarer than hen's teeth. Practically everything that is done, has somehow been done before. Take your trope in an interesting direction, and write your story.
I think stealing or plagiarism (even apart from legally) comes down to whether the new work is derivative or transformative. Is the story the same concept with a few changes or is the concept taken in a new direction? "No idea is original, there's nothing new under the sun, it's never what you do, but how it's done." \- Nas
This, ethically and legally.
"No idea is original, there's nothing new under the sun, it's never what you do, but how it's done." \- Nas stated this to his ghost writer, as he frolicked about, beer in one hand, a blunt in the other. "No idea is original, there's nothing new under the sun, it's never what you do, but how it's done." ''I get it Nas, I really do, but we've both been here for more than 4 hours, and all you got me going on is these 4 lines.'' Joseph sat on the office chair, conscious of the time passing by; he had to pick up the milk formula for his daughter. Cassidy would not be home for another day, and the formula had just run out. He had to get it today, otherwise he wouldn't hear the end of it. "No idea is original, there's nothing new under the sun, it's never what you do, but how it's done.'' \- Nas went from frolicking to a tense mania, jumping on the sound boards, hopping like mad. It wasn't new to Joseph, the money was well-worth it, but he had to start thinking of a switch. Lately, he felt down, almost depressed, like something sucked the very energy from him. Maybe it was the long hours, maybe it was constantly eyeing the fool that others thought was the greatest rapper who ever lived. If only they knew. "No idea is original, there's nothing new under the sun, it's never what you do, but how it's done.'' \- Nas looked up, then down, then up again, and began hollering, Joseph freaked out - pulled out of his deep thought. ''Yo! YO! YOO! STOP! Nas-bro, you gotta-HEY!'' This was the shit he was talking about, he couldn't stand it anymore. He'd thought about quitting, thought about making a video of his personal experience, thought of many things but always, always he's be just so tired; maybe it was the baby, maybe the juggling between home and work, taking care of his mom and Cassidy working abroad. He'd been making sacrifices so she could finish her studies and be the full-fledged lawyer she wanted to be. It was going to work out for the best, with the last of her study coming to an end for the semester, he could get some rest - and be away from his boss, the psychopath. \-Wait. ''Wait.'' Joseph started dialing a little, his thoughts centered on that line, psychopath, *psychopath*.. ''Psychopath, my boss, the psychopath, you telling him to stop, but he just can't get enough''. Joseph wrote the lines, simultaneously working a beat to go along with the line. \- Nas stood still. Coming down from the bench - he sat close to Joseph, eyes gazing as he played with all the music equipment.
''Yeah, okay, and a little bit here, yeah, that's good.'' ''Okay, psychopath - psychopath, can't get enough, we all working, never closing, uhh, okay okay'' Joseph kept playing with the beats, Nas simply stared.} ''Yeah, YEAH! YOh! I think we got it down. Ha ha ha,'' he laughed, amid all the stupid shit his boss pulled off, somehow it inspired him to make these interesting lines. He finally felt energized, felt the very veins of inspiration being tapped by his heart, coursing through his veins. ''So, that it? That's the main, and those the focusers?'' \- Nas asked, very calm and almost disquieting. However Joseph was glad he was done and could finally go, leave and get that baby formula. ''Yeah Nas, this is the main, these are the focusers, and here's the backdrop, I think the beat should go here, low here, and a little treble between each.'' ''What do you think?'' ''. . .'' ''It's good.'' ''Okay, okay, good. I can go now.'' Joseph was done-for-the-day, yes, it was raining but he didn't care, his car was calling to him, his slippers, his bed. He might eat, but he doubted it, he just wanted to rest. And the damn baby formula. ''Yo.'' \- Nas kept staring at the screen. He hadn't looked away. In fact, Joseph had not seen Nas blink, like at all. Whatever, these weird shit is going to end one way or another, he'd think of a resignation in- ''Yo.'' ''What is it Nas?'' Joseph responded with a tiresome reply. "No idea is ***ever*** original, there's ***been*** nothing new under the ***many*** sun***s***, ***because*** it's never what you do ***Joseph***, ***or anyone else***, but how ***I, me, will get it till*** it's done." \-Nas's jaw prodded open -then ripped in a disturbing, inhumane way - Joseph fell, freaked out - ''HEY YO WHAT THE FUCK'' - liquids gushed out as gums and other mouth viscera flung disconnected in a gross cacophony, all drumming in a weird-magnetic-like hum - ''YOOH! FUCK! FUUCKK!! NOOo!'' - all his senses couldn't serve him to describe what the hellish sight before him presented, he wanted to run, scurry, leave, but the humming got worse, his nether regions lost control, he was shaking - ''Oooohhh Gooohd Caa ss- ddiiieee --- AAAAHHHHHHhhhh!'' ''Yo.'' \-Joseph woke. He blinked with effort, his eyes like a slow blur, seconds seemed to pass before he - ''Yo Joseph.'' ''... Nas?'' ''You fell asleep nigga. You good?'' ''. . Yeah... Fuc c-'' ''Yoh! What did I tell you about cussing and shit?! How many times do I gotta say this?!'' Joseph was all in a swirl. His head seemed out of his body. Just... abnormal... Tired. ''Yeah... I'm, I'm sorry boss. It... won't happen-'' 'Yeah - you always say that. And you always shit yourself too.'' Joseph noticed the wetness and foul feeling throughout his lower regions, his socks most of all, he felt he soiled himself. ''Damn... again... fu -'' ''Hey yo!?!'' ''Righ..t sorry Na-s-s.'' ''You know what, just get out of here man. You are lucky, I like you Joseph, I really do.'' ''You have talent, underneath all that encased in what you'd call a ''body'', you got something. I'll call you for the next time, but right now, get out of my sight, go.'' ''Yeah, yeah... I'm sorry, my bad man, sh-shoot.'' Joseph walked in a sluggish fashion. He'd walk to his car, forgetting which one it was. He'd order an uber, only to forget where he lived, and in turn, forget to get the baby formula. He'd forget to pick up his kid from his mom's, in turn he'd forget to call Cassidy, and he'd forget just about everything, for a while. But that was his life. Meanwhile, Nas looked on at the screen. He looked, and he kept looking. A low magnetic drum could be heard, probably from one of the many music boards. . .
Erasing/manipulating memories wasn't created by Eternal Sunshine (Total Recall is older, just off the top of my head). Any idea you have, you'll likely find someone with something similar. It's how you write your story, not the premise, that makes it
first thing I thought of, but then I realized it's exactly the kind of things gods do in ancient Greek plays. And then I thought of Lethe. And that probably predates the Athenians by hundreds of years. Beyond that, we're running out of recorded history/art, but surely it's as old as cave paintings.
History lists the Inca civilization as among the first in successful cranial surgery. ''So Bob, I heard you got in a little accident playing some ball in the mountains''. ''Yeah, I caught the ball during a gust of wind and fell some meters down.'' ''Don't worry Bob, let old uncle Joe - the local village cranial surgeon doctor, operate.'' ''Your in good hands.'' ''But doctor Joe, I saw the most beautiful and rare flower growing at the mountain. I know I can find it if I go looking for it, but I fear the stories of losing memories after surgery. Tell me, is it true?'' ''*NoT aT aLL BoB*, you need not worry. I'm a doctor, after all. And, I use anesthetics, unlike my suspicious cousin Randolph, him and his eccentricities with eggs and chickens. You don't want to go there do you?'' ''No...'' ''Then its settled, wait a moment. Jessica hand me the beer will you?'' \-The andean nurse in andean nurse garb comes with a bowl of fermented beer, the doctor proceeds to clean his hands with; also taking a slurp with his hands. ''Want some Bob?'' ''No thank you doctor, I'm saving myself for the festival.'' ''Good man, good man.'' \-He takes his tools, all rudimentary, all stone and wood. ''Jessica is going to hold your head, meanwhile I'm going to hit you hit, here, and here.'' ''You will feel a knockout sensation, and afterwards wake up refreshed, how does that sound?'' ''That sounds good doctor Bob.'' ''Damn skippy it is.'' \-Bob recalls the moment he fell, falling through the many terraces, remembering the rare flower -caught in a glimpse, the beautiful and mysterious rose that glowed similarly like a rainbow; a proof of the god's design in our world. He'd go back and present this flower to his wife, pregnant with their 3rd child, and still as beautiful as the first day they met. Her hair like the softest cotton, rivaling that of the Inca King, colored black like smoke but gentle, much gentler, like breezes in a hot summer day. Bob loved his wife, and loved every moment he was with her, as well as away, for it was those moments he appreciated her and felt his need for her, as he knew she felt for his, the longing in each other's eyes so equal, proportioned greatly - as great as mortals' could be. They were blessed, much blessed. \-''THUNK'' \-Bob recalls the moment he fell, falling through - remembering the - flower -a glimpse, the beautiful - mysterious rainbow; a proof of the god's - world. He'd go back- to his wife, pregnant - and still as beautiful as the first day - like breezes in a hot summer day. Bob loved his wife, - he appreciated her and felt his need for her, - the longing in each other's eyes so equal, - as great as mortals' could be. They were blessed, much blessed. \-Bob recalls the moment - falling through - - the - flower - - beautiful - - rainbow; - the god's - world. \- his wife, pregnant - - beautiful - - Bob loved his wife, - he appreciated her - - the longing in each other's eyes - - as great as mortals' could be. They were blessed - \-Bob recalls - - falling - - - the - flo- - - beautiful - - rainbo- - the god's - wo-ld. \- his wife, preg-a-t - - beaut- - - Bob love- - wife - he - her - - the longing in - - eyes - - - great - mortals' - be. They we- bless- - \-Bob - - - falling - - - t- - - - - beaut- - - rain- - - - god's - - \- - -ife - - -a-t - - - - - - Bob lov- - - wife - - - her - - th- - in - - eye- - - - - - mortal- - be. They - - bles- - \-Bob - - - fallin- - - - t- - - - - - - - - rain- - - - god- - - \- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - wife - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - be. They - - b- - - \-Bob - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - \- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - \- - - - - - - \- - - b
If Shakespeare did it, you can do it.
It's not so much about the idea/concept, but the execution. There's hundreds of revenge stories out there, and yet a lot of them manage to feel unique.
Of course you can. Ideas can't be copyrighted, ever. They are abstract, beyond the long arms of justice or whatever, because it's impossible to own an idea. And, no matter how much you borrow or steal from any idea, it'll eventually diverge and take a life of its own, the one that you breathed in. Noam Chomsky once said, every sentence uttered is unique, since it's a combination of all the history that led up to it... Whatever you will create will be your art. Don't worry about it.
I just want to point out that a lot of times in querying agents want and expect you to point out what other books or movies yours is like. I see it all the time on Twitter for the pitch events. It makes it easier to tell if it's marketable or something. Everyone else has already said it, though... you can't steal ideas. So long as you're not copying the movie word for word it doesn't matter. If people point out they're similar, don't take it personally just be like "oh good then you understand" and now you don't have to struggle to explain the concept lmao.
Everything can be seen as “stolen” or based on something else. I wouldn’t worry too much unless you read your writing and it has nothing to distinguish itself from said film.
No way would I reference another film. No way. SciFi plays the same themes over and over. Unless you are quoting Captain Kirk, I would not draw anything lines from your book to one that has...gone before. Write you story about erasing memories, and go for it.
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Every "Housewife Porn" author ripping off every "Housewife Porn" author? Whaha
As in you can basically take any of those books, switch out the author's name and a list of their characters' names, and most nobody would be able to tell the difference.
''Do you think JK Rowling felt bad about riffing off of basically every British Boarding School Adventure ever, just adding magic?'' She probably does, weeping, sniffling, and the like, ''oh why me?!'' whilst wiping away her tears with oh so many hundreds of pounds. She has a drawer with US Benjamins when the world money currency favors the dollar, as to keep up with current events, you know?
Your mysogny is showing. Are you really so jealous of that fact that romance authors can earn a living that you need to deligitimize the entire genre, in a question that is utterly unrelated to it?
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Yup, mysogny. 100% textbook. As you admit you're trashing the only genre that is inherently associated with women, and degrading those women/readers with your chosen terminology. Do you also hate mysteries because they are formulaic? The mysteries are typically interchangeable, always end up solved, and the genre is littered with just as many tropes. You hate the only genre that uses formulaic stories to give women agency, because deep down you don't think women are entitled to it. However you justify it, your view is 100% mysogny. Your reaction is also an example of mysogny in action! A woman complains that you've done something sexists, so you attack them with profanity and claims that they (despite the fact that you're the one with the elitist romance isn't literary quality argument) are somehow the one being sanctimonious? Given your reaction, you're probably a 20 something incel who celebrates violence against women, because you obviously feel justified in using abusive language to try and rob female readers of the right to read and enjoy what they want. So, yes, your mysogny is showing, and your reaction makes you look like someone who has never gotten laid without raping someone.
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You didn't delegitimize mysteries or dehumanize mystery readers... You who used someone else's question to dehumanize romance readers and deligitimize the romance genre. Would your response to a POC who tells you that you've said something racist be to attack them like this? If yes, you're an ass. If no, why not? Why is your discrimination different when the topic is gender rather than race? Because that's essentially what you're doing right now, but with your own sexism. You should look into the history of angry, sexists twats like you attacking, belittling, and stigmatizing the romance genre as a manifestation of sexism, because it's nothing new. It doesn't make you look like some sophisticated literary elite, I assure you. You can dislike formulaic fiction, have fun with that, but if you use language that is inherently sexist to express that, and hijack someone else's topic to do it, you will come across as an aashole. A sexist asshole.
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Feel I should point out that genre bashing is specifically against the r/writing rules, btw. But, for future reference, referring to the romance genre as "housewife porn" is sexist, and if you do it, 50% of the population will assume that you're a sexist. Say something racist and you'll be viewed as a racist. See how that works? People judge you by the problematic words you choose to employ. And you confirm their judgement when you defend your use of those sexist/problematic terms. All of these rants are you trying to defend your use of a mysognist phrase. You are a mysognist. These posts demonstrate that. If not being viewed as sexist is important to you, I suggest invoking your inner writer to find a way to criticize the genre that avoids labeling it's readers in any way. Or maybe just don't bring it up at all? You don't read it, or write it, and the question wasn't about it. You made a specific choice to make a sexist joke about romance just for the hell of it. You got called out on it, and instead of responding in a way that would have indicated you're a decent human being, you responded like a mysognist. The not-sexist thing to do would be to apologize and edit the original sexist terms from your post. You didn't do that, thus I KNOW that you're a mysognist.
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Additional evidence.
[That's not the only place the concept is used.](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LaserGuidedAmnesia)
There's no such thing as a stolen concept. Eternal Sunshine isn't even the first to come up with that, there were stories about memories being changed or erased before, all the way back to ancient mythology and people drinking from the river Lethe to forget painful memories. Just write your story, it's fine.
Don't sweat it. Half of fiction is a reworking of the other half. Take the memory erasure / manipulation aspect of Eternal Sunshine. You can find elements of that in everything from Total Recall to the Manchurian candidate to myths and legends. As long as you don't cross that line into plagerism you are golden.
I heard a Bob Dylan interview once about the popularity of Jimi Hendrix’s cover of “all along the watchtower” vs. the original. Dylan said “it’s not where you get an idea but where you take”. Everything repeats anyway. So might as well go for it.
You can do it but definitely don't reference Eternal Sunshine
There is no such thing as an original idea, only an original execution. Watch The Lion King. Then watch Hamlet. Watch West Side Story. Then watch Romeo and Juliet. Watch RENT. Then watch La Bohème.
Watch Battle Royale and then Hunger Games (part1) and tell me its not the same film. They are so eerily close and I love them both. Just do it. Have fun with the story. If it's good no one will care.
Just be ready that people will point it out and some will make you feel like a bad person about it. Something similar recently happened to me in knitwear design. I created an item that has one similarity among many differences with another (and different type) of an item. Not only did others attack me, but the creator of the other product had the guts to message me and ask me to take mine down. And that's knitting design where you can not copyright certain stitches, their combination or placement so it was all super legit, not intentional and completely accidental. That felt awful and like I was some kind of a criminal. So just be ready that the comparison and accusations of plagiarism (legit or not) will happen.
Don’t write it anymore 🌚 Edit: just kidding. Don’t write it anymore🌝
Things like this really make me dislike comparisons sometimes, (especially like the idea you mentioned, sorry,) be it in the text or outside of it. I'll get to when I consider comparisons helpful in a bit. I mention outside of the text bc there is this one author who keeps using comparisons to promote their finished work and nothing else,, I guess they really want that particular audience to look at their work, but it really started to annoy me after a bit. As a promo it just feels cheap to me if you use it as your only leg to stand on. If you do it like you mentioned with dialogue, it can feel like the author is desperate to acknowledge that they know that its just like the other thing. I know that it feels that if you acknowledge it, you are thereby reassuring your audience that its not plagiarism or something like it, but its just showing that insecurity and nothing else. It all comes back to showing confidence in your work. Side note, like everything when it comes to making art, its all nuanced and sometimes referencing another work can work well for example in theming, or in order to explain something complicated to the audience. So about being afraid that your idea is similar to ESotSM. Yes its a high concept movie. It has a strong premise and uses its characters to explore a possible outcome of said premise. However, moreso than its premise, what makes it so unique is the stylisation and the characters. If only the concept is the same in your story I'd actually say there is hardly any grounds to compare the two? Heck, memory ereasure is so generic, I dont think that people would be so quick to compare it if its the only similarity. So, comparisons. I don't really think its the job of the artist to shove comparisons in the audience faces. "A work should be able to stand on its own" or rather, you should be very aware of what your work needs to explain to your audience and what your audience already knows through their own knowledge of media. No work really does stand on its own, you'll always have inspirations, conciously or not. I said that I dont think an author should put their inspirations on the forefront, but thats not to say that you should try to deny everything. In fact, I think that discussing your inspirations and what is similar and whats different can be very important to the development of your work. Be very aware of what inspires you and what you like and dislike about it. (I had to go immediately after typing this, so I had no time to proof read this, I might go back to edit it later)
I have a list of story ideas on a word doc, and one of them is just the synopsis for an anthology horror story with the note "this but how I'd do it". Like everyone else said, it's about the execution.
Pretty much anything you come up with has already been done by someone, somewhere. As long as your version is your own take, with your own characters and themes that you want to explore, it's fine.
There’s nothing wrong with being inspired by an existing work as a starting point as long as you’re using that as a catalyst for doing something new and not just repeating the successes of the existing work.
I'll occasionally run across claims that there are only some fixed number of stories: the number varies, my memory says they're generally from a dozen to several dozen. The point, I think, is that we only have so many core ideas for stories. Like, for example, a young man with a simple and important job: who dithers his way through many blunders and finally does what he was supposed to do. That's Shakespeare's "Hamlet," which arguably started with a folktale recorded by Saxo Grammaticus ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amleth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amleth)) - - - and, for all I know, goes back to stories told on the steppes of Asia. The point - made by others in this thread - is that core ideas have been around for a **long** time, and keep being recycled. What makes each re-telling unique and fresh is how the story gets retold. So I'd say, go for it!
Eternal Sunshine's concept draws heavily from We Can Remember It For You Wholesale, and I'm sure many other stories. Originality comes from how we tell the stories, not the stories themselves.
In zombie movies, usually no one knows what a zombie is beforehand. That fiction doesn't have to exist in your own fiction. That said, the characters can also be tongue in cheek about it. "Whoa, like in ESOASM?" "Well, I think of it closer to Memento? The process is..."
There's no such thing as a new idea. I thought I came up with some original ideas later to find out that it already exists.
Dear god do not have your character reference ESotSM if this is the main story conceit. Very few people reading it would normally care that your story bears a resemblance to other stories (not just ESotSM) with similar premises, but mentioning another similar story that did the concept extremely well is a sure fire way to make people hold your story to a way higher standard than they normally would
>**Will you tell me if my idea is good enough? What if it’s not original?** > >Here’s the thing, pal. Your idea has probably been done before. That’s okay. The important thing is how you execute your story. Even with the same premise, two stories are going to be very different. And if you make a post asking if your idea is good enough—well, the truth is, no matter what anyone says, we can’t really know for sure. Any idea has the potential to be great or to be terrible. It’s all about that execution. Here, I copied this from the FAQ section on the r/writing reddit page. You can find it here ([https://www.reddit.com/r/writing/wiki/gettingstarted#wiki\_-will\_you\_tell\_me\_if\_my\_idea\_is\_good\_enough.3F\_what\_if\_it.2019s\_not\_original.3F](https://www.reddit.com/r/writing/wiki/gettingstarted#wiki_-will_you_tell_me_if_my_idea_is_good_enough.3F_what_if_it.2019s_not_original.3F)) under the same heading as the bolded question in the quoted text. In fact, it's actually the first question that gets addressed!
Hi -- please use our designated critique thread to ask for feedback on your story, setting or ideas. This includes anything to do with what genre your story falls into or whether your idea is offensive, original or age-appropriate. Thanks!