The author of Ecclesiastes had it right when he said there is nothing new under the sun. That fact came home to me this past week when my daughter alerted me to a new novel that has a very similar theme to my newest novel, Who Stirs Up the Sea! The heroines in both novels take a DNA test with their book club “just for fun” and discover, to their shock, that they are not who they thought they were! Surprise DNA test results have been the theme in many novels, but the book club connection was such a specific detail that it took me by surprise!
Honestly, I was just grateful that my book came out five months before this newer book so that nobody would think I’d stolen my idea from this far-more-famous author, Anna Quindlen. But you see, this isn’t the first time something like this has happened to me. In fact it’s happened several times because…yep, there truly is nothing new under the sun. And as my husband says, “Brilliant minds think alike!” 🙂
Back in 1995 as I was finishing the edits on A Vow to Cherish, I opened up Good Housekeeping Magazine one day and read an excerpt from a new novel called The Notebook from a then unheard of writer named Nicholas Sparks. Just like my novel, The Notebook had a main character with Alzheimer’s Disease! Our novels both released in January 1996, and both inspired movies, but of course, The Notebook went on to become a huge NYT bestseller and an iconic movie. Thankfully, if anything, I think The Notebook‘s success helped my book’s sales, and sparked interest in the topic of dementia.
The same thing happened with my second novel, In the Still of Night, which was about a rape that results in pregnancy. My novel was released in March 1997, and the very next month, Francine Rivers’s novel The Atonement Child was published. Of course, there’s no way either of us could have known we were writing such similar books. Of course, Francine’s book sold a TON more copies than mine because she already had a name, but Library Journal reviewed our books together, noting the similarities and giving both novels very nice reviews. I’d venture to say that, again, I actually benefited from having a novel similar to someone else’s.
A few years later, as I started work on a new novel with the topic of organ donation, I discovered that a close writer friend of mine was working on a book with the same topic. Our novels had a similar theme to a movie, but no one could accuse us of “stealing” anything beyond the basic premise from the film because the idea for the movie came from the same place we got our ideas—a story that happened in real life. News stories are the inspiration for many books and movies. My friend and I compared notes, and honestly, our books were as different as they could possibly be, but the cover copy may have looked quite similar to readers.
As a VERY slow writer, I am sometimes concerned about my ideas getting “stolen” by a faster writer who might beat me to the punch. It would be unethical for anyone to do that, of course, but I imagine it does happen sometimes. And remember, brilliant minds think alike. Besides, mere ideas can’t be copyrighted.
But because the two writers are unique individuals with their own worldview, life experiences, and writing style, their books will naturally be very different, even when the plot and themes may share similarities.
If you are a writer and God has given you a story to tell, tell it as only you can tell it. It may have similarities to books you’ve read before or have yet to discover; the short synopses may be nearly identical. But because God created you with a distinctive voice, unique life circumstances, and a way of telling the story that will resonate with certain readers, your story will be as individual as a snowflake, and as different from my story as you and I are from each other.
A few practical suggestions if you’re writing a story and discover there’s already a story out there with a similar plot or theme. Change every aspect you can possibly change. Try:
•switching the roles of the hero and heroine
•placing your characters in a different era
•setting the story in a different locale
•writing from a different point of view—first person instead of third, etc.
•giving your characters’ totally different occupations, if possible
•changing the characters’ backstory
•making the secondary characters unique and memorable
Don’t be discouraged if your idea shows up in a book with someone else’s name on the cover. Write your story anyway. After all, there really is nothing new under the sun.
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So very true, Deb. Loved walking back down memory lane with these books—and seeing how God has blessed you with great ideas through the years. Give two writers the same basic novel premise, and you will still end up with two different and unique stories.Same trope, perhaps, but very unique. Unless of course they’re reading over your shoulder, then all bets are off! 🤣
Thanks, Tammy. And sometimes there’s nothing better than another author looking over your shoulder…like when you are critiquing me! ❤️
What interesting information about the challenges writers face! I am not a writer, could never do what you do, but I have noticed that the same themes, tropes, ideas seem to come in clusters. Sometimes I will seek out books that sound similar to ones I have enjoyed, but you are right that authors’styles, perspectives change the story.
However, an author I have read for maybe 20 years had a very successful series that ended with book 16, was alerted by a reader to someone who had taken whole sections of her books and published with very minor changes. She told her publisher, who took action, but I never heard the final outcome. Best wishes as you tackle so many challenges to create your books. I have been buying the books in your current series. Will start reading soon.
It really is interesting to see how storylines and genres come and go. Thanks, Betty!
I resonate with this post! When my first Christian romance was in the publishing pipeline, I read a book that coincidentally had all of these similarities to my book: Both heroines were redheads named Kate, both traveled to a small town to assist a grandparent, both fell in love with former hockey players. It was crazy! There was nothing I could do except smile, shake my head, and surrender to “there’s nothing new under the sun”. 🙂
Once, I had a reader reach out to alert me to the fact that an author had stolen the ideas from one of my books and plagiarized me. But, when I looked into it further, it wasn’t that. It was simply the type of similarities that naturally happen between books.
That is wild, Becky! Those are pretty distinct similarities!
It’s amazing how often this happens! Does it sometimes make you wonder if the Lord is trying to get that same story out there in as many different ways and appealing to as many different people as possible?
I think that’s a great way to look at it, D’Ann!
I’ve got to read Still of the night.
Thank you. I hope you enjoy it.
Great post, Deb! There’s nothing new under the sun and there are no new plots (so I’ve read in books about plotting! LOL). I agree with the other commenter who mentioned these ideas, similar book and movies, seem to come in clusters. Thank you for sharing about your books that have similar plots to Francine Rivers and Nicolas Sparks. If great minds think alike, then you have a very great mind, indeed! (I already knew that!)
Beth
Awww, I love that, Elizabeth! And yes, I’m in VERY good company! 🙂