I've been on FanFic and FicPress for a long time now, mostly as a reader. Somehow, i've been noticing something fishy: I've run into more than a few stories that seem to be exactly like a work of published, original fiction, save for a few changes here or there. It's almost as if someone took the book and put it in the dryer, let the words go for a quick tumble, then takes the book out of the dryer and tries to assemble it.

Are the works original, or are they fanfiction? What would you do if you found out your work bore an uncanny resemblance to something already published?

I think, that if the characters aren't named the same as the original story, then it can basically be a loose original piece.

Granted, it's a poorly written one, when you have to take someone else's idea, but still... there's not much we can do about that. :P

Unfortunately today, with the vast array of fiction pubished, it is very hard to come up with something completely original. The chances are its already been done even if you're not aware of it.

I have a friend who came up with a fantastic plotline one day, she told me about it and I immediately thought of a novel I'd read a few years before. She swears she had never even heard of them.

It can be very annoying as you then feel like you should scrap a storyline to find something more original.

If it sounds like plagarism it is likely though, I suggest pm-ing the authors you are curious about and asking if they've ever hear of/read the books their stories are like. If they have its likely been nicked. If not, its just the crappiness of too many storylines being redone too many times.

xx

Not quite "fan" fiction, but more like plagiarism.

I mean, sometimes people can plagiarize without actually meaning to, like if they come up with an idea that resembles a movie or book they might have seen or read years ago. Still, the best thing to do in that case would be to go back and overhaul it even more, even if that requires a lengthy amount of revision. There's also doing it in a way that acknowledges the resemblances. A few years ago when I was still in high school a friend of mine came up with an idea for a science fiction story that was kind of a mash-up of a number of sci-fi movies and stories he'd liked, but the blend was so unique that no one really saw it as copying and more of an homage to everything instead of copying it.

Personally I don't believe every story's been done in such a way that there is nothing left for originality. It's really the way you choose to do it. Not everyone's going to come up with a brilliantly original idea, but you shouldn't take someone else's. You might as well not write at all in that case.

I hate it the most when someone points out how much something of your own creation reminds them of something you've never heard of.

Sure, everything may have been done sometime before, but I'd really not like to know about it. It upsets me when others point such things out...makes me feel unoriginal, like others will notice it and think my story's just a copy. arggghh.

1. Forums are not to be used to post stories.
2. All discussions, language and content, must be suitable for teens.
3. The owner/moderator(s) of this forum is solely responsible for content posted within this area.
4. All forum abuse must be reported to the moderator(s).

1. Forum admin/moderator
2. Fanatic (on site for more than 2 years)
3. Fan (on site for more than a year)
4. Regular (on site for more than 6 months)
5. Camper (on site for more than a month)
6. Apprentice (on site for more than a week)
7. Newbie (on site for less than a week)