Friday, January 27, 2012

A Unique Idea That Has Been Done Before

When I began my first MS, I was so excited to write a unique vampire novel, something different from all the others out there. Every idea I came up with I jumped online and searched to make sure it was unique. Being that so many people write very successful vampire stories, I wanted something that would grab someones attention, make them say-Hey, this is different. And I did it, or so I thought...
I live in Oklahoma, so my MCs live in Oklahoma-nothing special there, someone's already done it
I come from a few different nationalities, Irish, Polish, Czech, Dutch, Native American and German. So, I thought, Irish vampires, that's not something people do-I was wrong on that one.
I even recently decided my vamps needed to be called another name, everyone uses vampire these days; so why not use an Irish word to name my vampires-oh, wait, apparently thats been done as well....

In discovering this new information, just today in fact, I got a little discouraged. It''s depressing to learn that your genious is really that of another who has come before you. After a mini pity party, and some sulking I got over it. I realized that books written in the same genre, especially with the same paranormal aspect, are going to have simlarities, that's just the way the writing world works. But, my book does have a scientifc aspect that I have yet to find, so, there's my unique idea. I was planning and hoping for more than one thing, but aside from some plotting that is unique, there is only one thing. I can live with it. My story has not lost any greatness because of someone else already having some concepts that I have. It is still my story and the plot and characters are still mine.

So, anyone else ever have this happen? Ever thought you were coming up with something completely original, only to find out it's already been done? How did it make you feel?  How did you move past it?

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