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Not this question again!!!

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spikeman4444

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I know I have seen hundreds of threads on this topic already, but this is slightly a different question. So the basic question is this, since there are no original ideas and every story already exists, can I take a concept that has already been done and do it again only differently?

The Westing Game was written over 30 years ago, and I basically want to write a YA mystery about a group of teens competing to inherit a billionaire's fortune. They all receive a Willy Wonka type lucky invitation to arrive at this mansion and the games begin, hilarity ensues and yada yada...

Now, this has already been done in the aforementioned book, and done very well at that. So, would I be foolish to try to write a story using a very similar premise? I know it all comes down to execution, and people will say, write it and see what happens, but I sincerely do not want to waste months of my time if agents will read the query and say, oh boy this sounds familiar, and junk pile it instantly.

Your thoughts?
 

Thomas Vail

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Write it, and make sure that some of your readers who critique it have also read 'The Westing Game.' If their response is, 'you're working title for this doesn't happen to be, 'The Besting Game,' does it?' then you might have a problem.

Your question can't really be answered until you write it, because it will all be down to execution. There's a lot of room for variation and subversion in the base premise, and unless there's such a similarity that readers can guess every plot twist a chapter in advance because you're following that close to another book, the fact that something already exists shouldn't hold you back.
 

andiwrite

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Just make the details different. You said it's a competition, correct? What type of competition? Are there any unique twists you can add?

I always have this concern when I start a new story. But I find that just in the process of writing it, I get new ideas and move in new directions, and that ends up changing it away from the original vision. Often quite a bit.

I say just start working on it, and let it take you wherever it takes you. By the time you're done, it might be unrecognizable anyway.
 

Sonsofthepharaohs

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Honest answer? I've never heard of the book you mention, but the premise sounds so tired and cliche, just thinking about it bored me. I wouldn't even finish reading the blurb, let alone open the book once I knew what it was about, but then again... I generally don't read YA. I'm sure I used to enjoy stories like this as a teen, and if it had a kinda Christopher Pike twist I'm sure it could be great. But if I was an agent, there would need to be something twisty and hooky for me to resist an eyeroll, because it does sound very done before.

Sorry for bluntness. I just got up and haven't finished my tea yet :)
 

Thuro

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A long time ago I was designing a story that was largely original but the first opening arc felt rather close to Firefly. I dropped it like a burning coal. In retrospect I could have gone through with it and just spiced it up a bit.

Long story short. The same premise doesn't the same story all the time.
 

jaksen

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And how many stories/novels exist about an apprentice witch/wizard/sorcerer are there? Or a school for witches? A school for wizards? A school for sorcerers?

Or a school for space cadets, one of whom is going to save the universe? Or an apprentice warrior - in space, or back a thousand years - who is going to save their village/kingdom/country?

When I read your premise, I immediately thought of 'Ten Little Indians,' which has an entirely different plotline, but does have a group of people on an island who have been set up to - do something.

The same basic idea can be refit in a dozen or more different ways. If this weren't true, how many romance books would we have? (Instead of hundreds published every year, many of which have the same basic theme, but handled by diff. authors in diff ways?)

Write your story.
 

Jamesaritchie

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The question is whether you can add something original to the idea, and whether you can do it better than anyone else has?
 

Jamesaritchie

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And how many stories/novels exist about an apprentice witch/wizard/sorcerer are there? Or a school for witches? A school for wizards? A school for sorcerers?

.

Yes, but Rowling brought in some seriously original elements, and did it all better than anyone before her had.

Any idea, however cliched, is a wonderful idea, if you can add some originality, if you can do it better than anyone before you did, and if you write well enough.

That a lot of if's , but it's the job we all have, so one way or another, we have to try.
 

Kolta

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I know it all comes down to execution, and people will say, write it and see what happens, but I sincerely do not want to waste months of my time if agents will read the query and say, oh boy this sounds familiar, and junk pile it instantly.

It's only a waste of time if enough details are simply going to be swapped out here and there in an effort to hide how similar it is to other works.

Your characters alone are going to be bringing plenty of their own issues to the table and shape the story in ways that can't be imagined right now until anything gets written.

If your query gets instantly passed over because of a familiar concept, it will most likely be because it never went anywhere beyond group of teens compete for a fortune. Whatever's happening beneath all that is going to go into the query. But if that too happens to look too familiar, then it might very well be months of wasted time.
 

spikeman4444

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When I read your premise, I immediately thought of 'Ten Little Indians,' which has an entirely different plotline, but does have a group of people on an island who have been set up to - do something.

The same basic idea can be refit in a dozen or more different ways. If this weren't true, how many romance books would we have? (Instead of hundreds published every year, many of which have the same basic theme, but handled by diff. authors in diff ways?)

Write your story.

So strange that you mention this. My girlfriend was just telling me last night about 'ten little Indians' and I had never heard of it before, but that's immediately what she thought of when I told her the premise for my story. I thought Westing Game was the more popular story but perhaps I am wrong because nobody seems to know about it.

I appreciate the responses. Either way, I have several months of editing my current ms ahead of me anyway, so there is no need for me to worry just yet about this other idea.
 

andiwrite

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For the record, I've never heard of the Westing Game and would have thought your idea was original had it been presented to me.
 

Thomas Vail

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The question is whether you can add something original to the idea, and whether you can do it better than anyone else has?
Indeed, it doesn't matter how tired and worn a cliche or premise is - if you can do something entertaining with it, it's a worthwhile endeavor.
 

ArcticFox

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I know both The Westing Game and Ten Little Indians. I own a copy of both! I think your premise is not too tired if you spice it up. The Westing Game had a variety of ages and types competing and not just teens, so that right there creates a different dynamic within the characters. I say go for it. I for one love both stories and am not averse to reading something well done on the same lines.
 

spikeman4444

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I know both The Westing Game and Ten Little Indians. I own a copy of both! I think your premise is not too tired if you spice it up. The Westing Game had a variety of ages and types competing and not just teens, so that right there creates a different dynamic within the characters. I say go for it. I for one love both stories and am not averse to reading something well done on the same lines.

thanks for the input! Indeed it will not be the same story as those, especially since I've never read Ten Little Indians, and I haven't read The Westing Game for at least 15 years. So I think I may go for it.
 

Ken

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no umpa lumpas plz

ps Using a premise is fine for the most part, I suppose.
Consider Jurassic Park. Do something quite similar to that and you might encounter difficulty? So it depends.
The one you mention has been done so repeatedly that I doubt there'd be an issue so long as you just nab the basic premise.
It's almost a trope.
 
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Tyler Silvaris

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Such stories are written over and over again because they ring true to the human spirit. They are retellings of the mythologies upon which our cultures were built on over thousands of years.

Study mythologies of the world and you'll find that a great many of them have a Flood Myth. Without getting into the weird theological debates of this, the fact that people around the world developed the same story shows that the concepts of these tales are universal.

In some versions, the hero is an old man struggle against the ridicule of his peers. In others, the hero is a warrior demi-god. Both stories are based on the idea that a terrible cataclysm threatens the world and the MC must face impossible odds to save those closest to them.

Sound familiar? How about nearly every disaster movie since Twister? All versions with the same base, but they are very different stories in the end. Some of them were actually stories worth watching.

Write your story, aware of the direction you're going with, and just be true to that story. If you are, then it will not be a boring re-hash. It will be your story.
 

Once!

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You could always tweak some of the details ...

An organisation fronting the cash and not a billionaire.

A big brother/ Truman Show/ Running Man type of televised show.

The contestants could all be billionaires looking for something that money can't buy - say eternal life or happiness or fame.

There might be no cash prize at the end - the experience is more important than riches.

The contestants might start killing each other.

Set it on board a luxury liner. Or a company jet. Or a tropical island. Or ...

And so on. I think the trick is not to write The Westing Game 2. Instead use the basic premise as a springboard for your own imagination. The basic premise is so well used that I don't think anyone could complain. We've already mentioned Willy Wonka, Ten Little Indians. I'd add Brewster's Millions to that list.

Why not write it? If you know that Westing Game is an influence you should be able to avoid copying it.
 
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