"There's nothing new under the sun"

[Godly Paladin]

Man, I'm feeling this right now. Here's the situation. I've been slaving over a novel concept for a full year now; outlining, refining characters, writing scenes to get a feel. I've restarted several times from different angles, and the reason for all this is that I'm really enamored with this premise and what I've come up with. Dare I say I think it has commercial appeal if only my skills were sufficient. Then it all came crashing down the other day when I watched Equilibrium (Christian Bale, 2002). There's a lot of similarities. Not 1-to-1, but my concept also focuses on a soldier for an oppressive State who slowly comes to realize he's on the wrong side. (Yeah, there's a girl involved, too.) What I'm asking is this: it's very hard, if not impossible, to have a 100% unique concept for a story, but when do you just shrug and throw in the pen? How do you decide that your concept is too similar to pre-existing work? I don't want to waste my time on something that will be rejected as derivative.

Please advise.

[the_wolfs_howl]

Ouch, that's tough. I used to have this motto to be untypical, but after a couple years I realized that's basically impossible. What I try to do now is not care whether the premise is typical or not, just to write it well, have good characterization, etc. And I often find that even when the majority of it seems like "nothing new under the sun," there are little bits and pieces of it that are entirely my own.

One example would be the oldest story idea I ever had, which I'm still planning on making into a novel. Basically, it's your typical heir to the throne story, where the main character finds out he's the king's son and goes through an adventure to claim his throne. But I've managed to come up with some original stuff such as the main character finding out he's the heir at the beginning rather than the end (as it usually is in these kinds of stories, if you've noticed), the "usurper" of the throne actually being the firstborn son of the king, and so forth.
Another example is my dragon rider story that I'm putting up here. Dragon rider stories are rather typical as well, but in my story I managed to come up with slight differences such as the main dragon being sarcastic and playful, and the rider going through disturbing physical changes such as scales growing on his skin.

But of course it's not always sunshine and roses. I was preparing the story I'm going to write for my March 31 deadline, when lo and behold! I saw I Am Legend over Christmas break Okay, so a post-apocalyptic city under quarantine isn't so original after all.

I don't think it's necessary to "throw in the pen" if you're writing a "typical" story, as long as the idea really was yours to start with, and you feel strongly enough for your story. I think every author needs to be passionate about whatever story they might be writing, or the quality will suffer. You have to know that this story needs to be told. As long as you have that, and as long as you don't start intentionally borrowing ideas from the movie, I think you should just keep on writing and not worry about it.

I hope my waffling has helped at least a little bit ^^'

[Esoteric]

Equilibrium tells an interesting tale indeed, but the question is, does it tell exactly the same one that you want to?

In modern times it is extremely difficult, no impossible, to conjure up an original plot. Somebody out there has done something like it before. How many murder mysteries are there where someone gets poisoned? How many stories are there about robot-filled futures, or fantasy worlds with elves and dragons? More than can be counted.
Then how come books are still being written about these things? Because a good author doesn't rely on original plots. A good author relies on characters, emotion, and the little details that enrich an old idea to make it seem new and fresh. You could write fifty different stories about the same set of plot events, depending on what emotions/thoughts you're trying to convey, or what characters you choose to involve.

Since you began writing this story prior to watching the movie, it's safe to say it's not derivative, even if there are strong similarities. (I'm guessing your story doesn't include gun katas or saving a puppy from the sensory police, does it? ) I suppose I'm trying to say that while the core idea may be similar, there are lots of little details and characters which can be and probably are divergent (I don't remember there being a 'girl' in Eqilibrium, so that's different already). So don't throw down the pen. Equilibrium was not the first story about rebellions against oppressive states, nor will it be the last. If you feel the need to change a few things, then do so, but don't abandon an idea simply because something like it has been done before. Anybody looked at the shonen manga market lately? (Okay, maybe that last comment wasn't very encouraging. )

[animewarrior]

I'm not really much of a writer but I do love to read a fantasy novel. Maybe I'll write one once I get past high school. Anyways, your novel sounds downright fascinating to me. I don't care if it has similarties to some other movie or book. Everyone gets an inspiration from somewhere right? And as the others have said: "It's the CHARACTERS that make the story" I hope this verse also helps:

If any of you lacks wisdom, He should ask God, who gives genrously without finding fault or error, and it will be given to him/her. - James 1:5