Plot is somehow related to a book or the other
Hello!
I have a plot, for my story, but I have one problem- the plot is always there in a book or the other.
I had a plot earlier, but then I realised that my plot was somehow related to Harry Potter.
so I changed my mind. I got another plot within days. but again, it's related to another best-selling book- The Hunger Games.
I've tried thinking of another plot, but my best plot was the last one (the Hunger Games-related).
I'd really appreciate it if I could get a little help.
(I had seen in many other websites, but I felt this website would give me perfect answer.)
Answer: There are very few wholly original plots. In fact, some people assert that there are less than a dozen basic plots that simply get re-used and re-told in different ways.
For instance, take this basic story idea...
"An evil wizard-warrior murders a young boy's father. The boy is then sent to be raised by a powerless uncle but watched over by an older wizard-warrior. When the young boy comes of age, the old wizard-warrior trains the boy in wizard-warrior skills so he can avenge his father's death by defeating the evil wizard-warrior."
This is the basic plot of Star Wars, Harry Potter, and countless other stories.
The trick is to dress up an old idea in new clothes. Change the settings. Change the characters. Change the villain, the death traps, the plot twists, how the magic works, etc.
You can, in fact, give a basic idea like this to 100 writers and each of them will write a completely different story (on the surface at least). Most readers will never notice the similarity between the stories.
So you can borrow ideas from existing stories, as long as your expression of those ideas is entirely your own. You must create your own story world, your own characters, your own variations on the classic plot.
Important: the one thing you must NEVER copy from another story is the actual words. You can borrow ideas, but the expression of those ideas in words is the property of the writer. For instance, no one can write a story involving "Jedi" without permission from George Lucas.
Also, it's a good idea to change whatever story idea you are borrowing in some significant way that makes it more interesting for you (and the reader).
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