Hi, everyone! Hope you’re having a good week! This is the first in a series of common writer worries. I hate to see creative people fret about things unnecessarily, so I hope to put some of those anxieties to rest!
Newer writers, especially, worry about others stealing their plots or story ideas. Sometimes, they even ponder whether they should make beta readers sign non-disclosure agreements (not realizing, maybe, that the biggest struggle is to find beta readers who will read one’s work at all.) They put copyright lines at the bottom of every page of their work, which can look amateurish to potential employers or publishers.
Experienced authors rarely worry about others stealing their ideas. Here’s why.
1. Ideas are easy. Execution is hard.
Here’s what lots of us do. We get a brilliant idea…and then, after fifty or one hundred pages of writing, it feels like such a slog we’re tempted to pitch the whole thing and start something new. That’s because even if a premise is brilliant, a writer has to figure out a hundred little things to make it work. The expression “The Devil is in the details” is all too true.
2. Most writers like their own ideas better than other writers’ ideas.
Because a novel (or even a well-crafted short story) does take so much effort, writers rarely hear a sentence or two about someone else’s work and think, “That’s it! I’m going to write that whole novel!”
Most writers have about ten or so half-baked ideas floating around in their own heads, waiting to be written. There are all kinds of personal reasons why they’ve come up with these ideas. These stories have already taken root in each writer’s subconscious, and a new idea has almost no chance of supplanting it.
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3. Agents and publishers aren’t looking for ideas to steal.
Agents and editors are inundated with proposals and manuscripts, so they don’t even feel the temptation to take one person’s idea and get someone else to write it. If they encounter a great and sellable idea backed up by an equally great manuscript, they acquire it. If it’s a great idea but so-so writing, they’ll pass…but they might share some constructive feedback about the writing.
4. Ideas are not copyrightable.
Actual writing can be copyrighted. Premises and ideas can’t. For this reason, it’s better for writers to focus on the writing rather than on protecting the concept.
5. Most ideas aren’t that original, anyway.
I’ve blogged before about how other people have probably already written stories similar to yours, and that’s fine. I’ve noticed a tendency for newer writers to think they have a truly unique idea…simply because they haven’t read much in their own genre.
Many new writers put too much emphasis on coming up with a shockingly original concept, and not enough on the craft on writing. Coming up with a strong story structure and engaging, memorable characters…achieving a clear and evocative writing style…these things aren’t easy, and if a writer can achieve them, they’ll already stand out.
While the stealing of ideas isn’t a big issue, the stealing of finished work absolutely is. Book piracy is a serious issue, and it’s terribly unfair to writers and to the companies who invest in them.
Hopefully, though, this post will set writers’ minds at ease, so they won’t be shy about getting the feedback they need for their work.
Is this something you’ve worried about in the past…or worry about now? Have you had an experience that I haven’t covered? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading, and happy writing!
Years ago, I worked with a critique partner – we hadn’t met previously and emailed rough drafts on the same day, so there was zero chance that we’d ‘borrowed’ ideas, yet I was surprised to see her main characters were very similar to mine and so was her plot. In fact, it was rather eerie. After thinking about this, I realized that there were only so many types of stories and I also came to suspect that there is a ‘universal unconsciousness’ that many can tap into… and if we do, chances are that others will come up with the same general idea about the same time. Thus, I don’t worry about someone copying me.
Hi Jeanne! Yes! I have had experiences like that…including brainstorms where two people write down the exact same weird joke, word for word. I really do believe in that “universal unconsciousness” that you’re talking about…so glad you brought it up!
After acknowledging that a ‘universal unconsciousness’ most likely exists, it doesn’t seem like worrying about someone stealing an idea of mine is worth the effort.
Hope you’re having a great week.
I have to admit it took me a while to feel comfortable about sending more than 30 pages to an agent or publisher, but then I realized that no one else writes exactly like I do, no one else has my memories, experiences, or knows my characters as thoroughly as I do (and even they surprise me once in a while!). I still won’t send my entire manuscript on spec, though. An agent or publisher has to ask for it, then I have an email trail.
It’s really normal to worry about that at first! Now some publishing houses (including the one where I work) will only take complete manuscripts if the work is unagented. Basically, if we’re interested, we want to be able to read the whole thing without delay.
Nice to see you, PJ 🙂
Hello Bryn! This is something that I constantly worry about, so I really appreciate the blog post regarding it! I’m a nervous wreck anyways, so whenever I get a new idea that was inspired by a movie or show or another book, I get scared that I won’t put enough of my own twist on it and that it’ll basically be the exact same thing. Even if it wasn’t inspired by any one thing, I still worry about this.
But I once did find a quote that really helped me get over my initial fears about it and the gist of it was that essentially every idea has been done, but YOU haven’t written it yet. After finding that quote, I’ve still had the fear, but it isn’t as debilitating as it once was.
Thanks again for the post!
Hi Leah! It’s such a common fear. I completely agree with that quote you’ve mentioned. No two people are going to handle the same concept in the same way!
I don’t worry about someone stealing my ideas. I worry that my ideas are too similar to others’, and I’ll be accused of being a copy cat. Which is why I loved your other post saying it’s OK if my ideas aren’t 100% New and Unusual.
Hey there 🙂 The funny thing is, I don’t think most of us worry about it that much as readers! But when it’s our own work, all of the sudden we get really critical!
Thanks for the insights, Bryn! I shared a link to your post on my blog for Write it Wednesday.
Aww, thank you, friend! I appreciate that so much!
I’ve always appreciated your full left brain-right brain approach to writing: how you get the facts and generously share them with others while keeping a steady flow of new creative projects going. I imagine this feature is a huge relief to a lot of beginning writers. Thank you. Alarie
Ahh thank you Alarie! I really appreciate the kind words. I miss you!
Miss you already, too, but your posts will be even more wonderful to help ease the missing. Live big for me, too.
Hi Bryn. Just a little input on this subject. I was given this information by an agent when I wrote my first book. There are no new ideas. But it doesn’t matter. One hundred writers could come up with the same idea, at the same time, and not one of their stories would be the same. Each of us thinks and writes differently. Relax and enjoy your penning own version.
Hi, Sue! Yeah, I totally agree! Everyone handles stories so differently…and it’s really the way they’re handled that makes them great. Thanks for commenting!
Thanks for tackling this subject, Bryn. Like others, I worry about my own ideas being too similar or generic…that they’ve been done by others, and done better. I’ve struggled a lot with “writing voice” and what that really means both to a writer and to the story being written. (My husband and I recently had a pretty massive fight over “story vs. voice”…he maintains one thing, I maintain another, and since we have no knowledgeable 3rd party to consult, it’s been swept under the rug for the time being.) When it comes to story ideas, however, I adore ‘Beauty and the Beast’ in all its forms…have been a fan of the story since before Disney gave us Belle, Cogsworth and Lumiere. I love seeing/reading every new incarnation or take on the story; I enjoy when writers can put a new spin on this theme I love so much. James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’ also comes to mind…can anybody say ‘Pocahontas’? (I’m annoyed with that movie for so many reasons, but I won’t go any further.) I think I read once that there are, in the human experience, only seven or eight distinct stories…everything else is a take on those themes. That’s when writers shine. They take a theme, archetype, etc., and give it fresh life using their own ideas, In the end, stories are like fingerprints…we all have them, but they’re all unique at the same time.
Hi Lisa! How in the world did I not think of Pocahontas when I watched Avatar? For heaven’s sake! And oh my gosh, that’s the downside of being married to someone else who loves stories, right? I’ve had a few big arguments with Mr. Donovan over storytelling myself!
I love your fingerprint analogy.
I always said Avatar was Pocahontas meets Dances with Wolves – but it is totally different regardless of how much it resembles the earlier stories. AND who would have missed Avatar?
Great post Bryn. I really enjoyed this reminder to just relax and write. Have a great day!
Hi, Cheryl! Ah, thanks for the kind words. Have a great day yourself!
Hi Bryn,
Loved this post! It brings to mind when I’d purchased some pre-written Romance plots in the past from various places. While the plots may have all been different, the main themes ran through all of them – the main characters meet and either get along right away or it develops quickly, a problem comes up and they split, and finally one or both realize they can’t live without the other and all is resolved. Every set came with instructions to change the names, places, and problems that occur. The interesting thing is that once when I was searching Amazon, I came across a book that had the EXACT same title as, and was written EXACTLY according to, the plot – without much creativity added, I must say. That was when I stopped worrying about someone stealing my idea.
So yeah, even if someone has the same idea (even with the same pre-written plot) their story will be Nothing like what you can do with it. Don’t give it another second of thought – just write your story and even if someone does come up with a similar one, it’s not going to be the same. As the old song says, ‘Don’t worry. Be happy.’ 🙂
This is so true. Thank you for sharing.
I have a question about re-tooling my own ideas, plot lines or characters … I am nearly finished a fairly racy passionate romance. Is it acceptable to ‘clean’ it up and re-sell it as a ‘sweet romance’ either to the same publisher or a different one?
You’re so right…as a writer being stolen should be the least of your worries.