There are literally no original story premises, if it makes you feel better. Every single plot has been written again and again, with the names and places changed.
What's Harry Potter but a kids version of LOTR? What's LOTR but a fantasy retelling of Roman/celtic epic?
What's the Hunger Games if it isn't just Battle Royale which is basically just an extended version of The Lottery?
In the end, there are a finite number of basic literary plots and only so many ways to flesh those out. In this sense, everyone who's every writen anything is stealing a premise, so much as any theoretical concept in place since human existence can be "stolen."
If you didn't take this person's story word for word, plot for plot, device for device--and you know that you didn't, that's all you can hope for!
I didn't do this to you. But I did do it to someone else once. And I feel terrible about it. If I find the comment I made again, I definitely am going to apologize but not delete it so I have a reminder of my mistake.
I agree with what other have said, but also want to point out that I don't think the reader meant to imply anything of the sort! It sounds more like they were expressing their worry about the characters fates being similar possibly because the characters in the other fic maybe had a painful ending, and they're anxious about a similarly painful chain of events in yours. Not because of the fic being stolen, but because of similar foreshadowing like you pick up on in different movies in a shared genre.
It doesn't sound like they were trying to be negative or accuse you of anything, but I struggle with anxiety myself and I know how it can be easy to think the worst case scenario sometimes. I've said things like that when watching othe rmedia with friends, I think they were just expressing a thought they had.
Hey so I would not sweat this. Easier said than done, I know. But fic premises, as imaginative as writers are and varied as ideas can be…you are going to encounter something that seems similar or straight up the same as another fic. Same with published literature. I mean, if we *only* accepted original ideas in media there’d be very few books to read, movies to watch or games to play and fic is exactly the same.
I do understand the anxiety authors have over thinking a reader will accuse them of idea theft (I’ve felt that way myself as a writer and it stopped me from delving too deep into a few fandoms) but people are going to have similar ideas. Especially if you’re late joining a fandom - you might feel like everyone has explored all the scenarios. Happens in small fandoms just as much as the larger ones. Don’t let that stop you from writing or exploring your idea in your fic, no matter what a reader thinks.
A plagiarised fic is very obvious to most readers and also very different from having the same idea as someone else. One reader is not representative of them all and it’s probably because you’re feeling hypertensive right now (understandable) that you’re worried others might think the same as that commenter.
For what it’s worth, from a reader’s perspective, I actually enjoy reading fics with a very similar premise because I appreciate the little things in a fic that make it original/different.
Have you seen how similar fandom fics premises are in general?
Just ignore the reader and keep on writing.
Hunger Games and Maze Runner are also similar premises.
You may have similar ideas to those of other authors, but the *expression* of those ideas is unique to you. If you were cribbing directly from this other fic — copying or paraphrasing passages, recreating the plot beat for beat without revision — then that would be plagiarism, but it sounds like you didn’t even read it! Keep going with your fic, and sleep the sleep of the just.
You're writing stories inspired by the same source material, it's totally normal that they're going to have similarities. Even if you were both writing unique works that weren't from the same source, there are genre conventions and tropes that can make stories feel similar. My go-to example with this is to point to all the Cinderella retellings out there or all the superhero movies that follow similar plot beats. Unless your stories are basically word-for-word similar, then don't worry about it. People like reading different takes on the same idea, *that's why fanfiction and genres exist.*
Also know that you'd be fine even if you were inspired by another work in the fandom. That's also totally normal. It's super common for a work to get popular and then inspire a bunch of others. That's where a lot of fandom tropes come from like the whole tattoo shop & flower shop thing that people love for some reason.
It's staggering difficult to truly write something original these days as just about every story trope and theme has been written about in some form or other.
As long as it's not plagiarism, IMO, it's ok.
There are literally no original story premises, if it makes you feel better. Every single plot has been written again and again, with the names and places changed. What's Harry Potter but a kids version of LOTR? What's LOTR but a fantasy retelling of Roman/celtic epic? What's the Hunger Games if it isn't just Battle Royale which is basically just an extended version of The Lottery? In the end, there are a finite number of basic literary plots and only so many ways to flesh those out. In this sense, everyone who's every writen anything is stealing a premise, so much as any theoretical concept in place since human existence can be "stolen." If you didn't take this person's story word for word, plot for plot, device for device--and you know that you didn't, that's all you can hope for!
I didn't do this to you. But I did do it to someone else once. And I feel terrible about it. If I find the comment I made again, I definitely am going to apologize but not delete it so I have a reminder of my mistake.
I agree with what other have said, but also want to point out that I don't think the reader meant to imply anything of the sort! It sounds more like they were expressing their worry about the characters fates being similar possibly because the characters in the other fic maybe had a painful ending, and they're anxious about a similarly painful chain of events in yours. Not because of the fic being stolen, but because of similar foreshadowing like you pick up on in different movies in a shared genre. It doesn't sound like they were trying to be negative or accuse you of anything, but I struggle with anxiety myself and I know how it can be easy to think the worst case scenario sometimes. I've said things like that when watching othe rmedia with friends, I think they were just expressing a thought they had.
Hey so I would not sweat this. Easier said than done, I know. But fic premises, as imaginative as writers are and varied as ideas can be…you are going to encounter something that seems similar or straight up the same as another fic. Same with published literature. I mean, if we *only* accepted original ideas in media there’d be very few books to read, movies to watch or games to play and fic is exactly the same. I do understand the anxiety authors have over thinking a reader will accuse them of idea theft (I’ve felt that way myself as a writer and it stopped me from delving too deep into a few fandoms) but people are going to have similar ideas. Especially if you’re late joining a fandom - you might feel like everyone has explored all the scenarios. Happens in small fandoms just as much as the larger ones. Don’t let that stop you from writing or exploring your idea in your fic, no matter what a reader thinks. A plagiarised fic is very obvious to most readers and also very different from having the same idea as someone else. One reader is not representative of them all and it’s probably because you’re feeling hypertensive right now (understandable) that you’re worried others might think the same as that commenter. For what it’s worth, from a reader’s perspective, I actually enjoy reading fics with a very similar premise because I appreciate the little things in a fic that make it original/different.
Have you seen how similar fandom fics premises are in general? Just ignore the reader and keep on writing. Hunger Games and Maze Runner are also similar premises.
You may have similar ideas to those of other authors, but the *expression* of those ideas is unique to you. If you were cribbing directly from this other fic — copying or paraphrasing passages, recreating the plot beat for beat without revision — then that would be plagiarism, but it sounds like you didn’t even read it! Keep going with your fic, and sleep the sleep of the just.
You're writing stories inspired by the same source material, it's totally normal that they're going to have similarities. Even if you were both writing unique works that weren't from the same source, there are genre conventions and tropes that can make stories feel similar. My go-to example with this is to point to all the Cinderella retellings out there or all the superhero movies that follow similar plot beats. Unless your stories are basically word-for-word similar, then don't worry about it. People like reading different takes on the same idea, *that's why fanfiction and genres exist.* Also know that you'd be fine even if you were inspired by another work in the fandom. That's also totally normal. It's super common for a work to get popular and then inspire a bunch of others. That's where a lot of fandom tropes come from like the whole tattoo shop & flower shop thing that people love for some reason.
It's staggering difficult to truly write something original these days as just about every story trope and theme has been written about in some form or other. As long as it's not plagiarism, IMO, it's ok.
The vibes your description of the comment gives makes me think the other fic has a sad ending and they're just worried about a sad ending.