Same Ideas; Different Stories

We're all looking at the same image. What do you see? It's inevitable that some, no doubt, will have different conclusions of what it could be; others may have similar views.  But no matter what, the perception of each individual is uniquely his/her own and nothing can detract from that.

So what's the point of this? Well, I've been asked for advice about this over the years and, recently, an aspiring author friend of mine called me with the same concern. He had finished his manuscript wanted to share it with a critique group but was worried that his idea might be stolen or plagiarised. I had to chuckle. He was calling from William Shakespeare's home town of Stratford Upon Avon, voicing his concerns about literary theft. The irony was not lost on me that  some conspiracy theorists have accused  Shakespeare of literally plagiarising the literary works of Christopher Marlowe.

Let me just say that plagiarism is an issue that should be taken seriously. Once your story is written, the IP belongs to you. However, can the idea for a story be stolen before it's written or published? For  example could an idea for a fantasy, sci-fi, romance or  even a biography be stolen? If that's one's fear, my suggestion is not to share the idea until you've written it into a story dated it, and emailed it to yourself or a lawyer if you want to engage one.

A well-respected award-winning author told me "Ideas are a dime a dozen. It's what you do with the idea that makes it your own." In other words, your original story can possibly be plagiarised but not the idea that inspired you.

When I was asked to pitch a story, the US publisher asked me to name books that my story could be compared to. My answer was it was Harry Potter meets Narnia with a twist of Monkey King. While most of those pitching were given a local contact to submit their completed manuscripts, the publisher gave me his  business card and asked me to contact him directly when the manuscript was finished.  You see, I stitched the concepts of wizardry, fantasy and myth  together to create my own original story (which I'm still writing) and it caught the publisher's imagination. 

Ideas have been shared for generations upon generations. If the concept of touch screen phones had not been floating around years ago, we might not even have Samsung, Huawei or Apple products today.  We'd all be using the same products from the same brand. How boring! And without the concept of diary-themed books like The Diary of Adrian Mole or The Diary of a Wimpy Kid,  we might not have the bestselling The Diary of Amos Lee series. 

Or would we even have the charming Prince Bear, Pauper Bear by Emily Lim just because Mark Twain developed that concept into The Prince and the Pauper well over a hundred years before she was born.

Even for non-fiction books, dozens of books have been written about famous sportsmen, actors, politicians and even the royals (But more on that later).

I'll give you an example of this. After Joseph Schooling won the Olympic medal in 2016, I wrote to his parents for permission to write a book about his Olympic journey. Permission was duly granted and I started writing Race to Rio: Joseph Schooling goes for Olympic Gold. But what I did not know at the time was that Times Publishing was in the midst of  publishing their own biography,  From Kid to King  by Marc Lim and  illustrated by Darel Seow. Both books are about the same subject, but both are written in different styles. One in verse; the other in prose. So did I plagiarise the idea. No. 

Ask yourself, did Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica plagiarise Star Trek's concept of conflicts in space? If so would that mean Marvel copied DC's  idea of superheroes saving the world?  And I guess Mission: Impossible  would then be guilty of ripping off  the spy genre from James Bond? 

When Prince William married Kate Middleton, there were a few picture books about the royal couple, but when they came to Singapore I decided to write a book about them too. I don’t have sole ownership on the idea about writing for royals, but my take on the subject  was my own: a story about the royals visiting Singapore with a surprise twist.

When I heard that Meghan Markle had adopted a shelter dog, I wanted to do a story about her dog Guy, and wouldn’t you know it, two other authors had the same idea and they published their books. The Duchess and Guy and  His Royal Dogness, Guy the Beagle.  My story The Royal Pup Pack: Party at the Palace was published in 2019. But before any of us wrote our books, Aby King wrote her book The Adventures of a Royal Dog. Did  I plagiarise the idea of a book about royal dogs. Did the other authors too? Absolutely not. The idea was in the public domain and our stories are totally different.

Well, if your fear is having your ideas copied, then my only advice is not to share your stories with anyone. Don't join any critique group. Don’t write. Don’t get your work published. Because if you worry about having your ideas stolen before you've written anything, you are focused on the wrong thing entirely.  Then when your book is published you'll worry that someone will plagiarise it.  Don't fret about things that may or may not happen, just write.
Is your ultimate goal about getting fame and glory for yourself or producing a good story? 

What should be your #1 priority is getting out the best story you can produce. Writing critique groups will help you test out your story. If someone wants to write a story with a similar concept to yours, so what. Your finished product will be totally different. Your writing styles will be totally different.  That is the amazing thing about creativity. There's enough room for everyone to share their stories about the same topic/genre in a public domain.

How many books are there out there about Princess Diana, the Queen, and Donald Trump?  Different books on the same subject provides the readers with a broader perspective on the subject matter. 

One does not have the right to tell someone what they should or should not write about. Writing is about inclusivity, not exclusivity. Writing community is about give and take, share and share a like.  Once your story is written it's yours. Don't be afraid to share your ideas, you may get some new ones. 

Speaking of which, I just got an idea to do a book about my dog, just like so many authors who've written about their own dogs. Not a new idea, but  I hope I'll make my story fun and original.

And by the way, to me, the only original book that has ever been written is the Bible, and even then there are so many different versions of it that have been published by different publishers.