Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Related What would you do...

...if I sang out of tune?


no, but seriously.

What would you do if you had completed a fic, only to find that once it was ready to be posted, someone else had written a very similar fic, like extremely similar, and had started posting first?

For example, you wrote a fic about...Clark winning the lottery off of some ticket someone gave him for his birthday, only to find someone posting their story about Lois winning the lottery off of a ticket she bought on a whim - what would you do with your story at this point? Have two stories about winning lottery tickets on the boards at the same time? Wait to post yours? Never post yours at all?

Post it anyway. Because Clark isn't Lois and it probably isn't set during the same episode and we want to know what happens.

I'd first e-mail the author of the other fic to explain the situation and ask their permission for me to post my story. If they nixed the idea, I wouldn't post my piece. If they said they wouldn't mind my posting, I'd then ask them their preference of a posting schedule for my story, and again I would abide by their wishes. If they had no preference, I would wait until a month or two after their story had been completely posted before I began posting mine. I would also explain the complete situation in my FDK thread, and would link to the other author's story. If it seems as though I am treading overly carefully in this hypothetical situation, it is because I'm always petrified of unintentionally plagiarizing or seeming to plagiarize another author's work. (I say "unintentionally" because I would never knowingly plagiarize.)

Joy,
Lynn

I would post it anyway. Ten people can write a story with the same overall plot and the end results will all be different.

Joan

I agree with Joan. Just post it anyway and mention you have seen a similar story. You don't need someone else's permission to post on the boards. There must be more than a dozen Nightfall stories on the boards, all different.
Just my opinion.

Artemis

Another option (I thought of after posting before) is to ask a Beta to look at the two stories prior to posting. If they are really too similar perhaps the Beta and you can brainstorm on how to change your story to make it more unique. (I hate the thought of throwing away a perfectly good story. )

If you wrote your story completely unaware of the other story, you should be free plagiarism wise. (It should vary enough on its own that it would different from the other story, if this were the case.) Also, I'm sure the author would love the free publicity of a "great minds think alike" link to her story in your FDK thread.

I just posted a Prankster story last month based on a certain scene (you all know the one), and I'm posting ANOTHER one this month on the same scene. I also read a story recently by Sue on the same scene and am Betaing yet another on the same scene. All the stories are different. As Artemis said how many ASU rewrites are there out there? (ASU actually in itself was based on an old George Reeves "Adventures of Superman" episode).

Good luck! But I hope you post the story at some point, because Clark winning the lotto is still a different plot than Lois doing so, or at least it should be since they are different people with different motivations and desires, right?

Thanks all for your replies.

The story isn't actually about winning the lottery, of course; it is emotionally charged, however.

Maybe I should wait until the other author finishes posting before I post my own. My story has been done for a few months, and I'm just waiting for my betas to finish up the last bit. And yes, I was completely unaware of the other author's story.

Thanks for the encouragement to post. I will email the other author just out of courtesy before I add my story.

My earlier reply was made with the assumption that the two stories were, in your words, "extremely similar." To me, that entails not just major plot points being similar, but also that the two stories have similar tones, similar character motivations, similar minor plot points, etc. That is, I had assumed that the two stories were similar enough that someone reading them would think that one story was, in fact, plagiarized from the other. Of course, if the stories aren't really extremely similar (as I interpreted the phrase), then I would agree with the other FoLCs who replied to your earlier query, that you should post your story.

It really all depends on just how similar the two stories are.

Joy,
Lynn

I guess by "extremely similar" I meant the plot, which isn't just a re-hash of an episode or a general storyline that has been previously explored in other fics. It's just a very specific turn of events that we both explore, albeit for different characters, in different universes.

I'm not so worried that it will be thought of as plagiarism as much as I don't want there to be an overkill on the topic, or for people to be weary of reading this certain plot. I also hope that it won't be looked on as a copycat, but there is only so much I can do about that. I will have to explain in the author's note preceding the post, as suggested.

I think the comment every author fears most is, 'this story is just like ...'

I doubt the similarities are as strong as you think - it's possible someone reading both stories wouldn't give more than a passing thought to their similarities.

I've often thought it would be a fascinating exercise to give a group of writers quite definite guidelines and then see the different stories that are produced.

I would go ahead and post. Perhaps you could include an author's note something like this - 'After writing my story, I realised [...] by [...] has certain similarities in plot. That story did not influence my story.'

Corrina.

This sounds like the makings of a good "Guess the author" challenge.

Joy,
Lynn

I am counting on you to come post a comment on my story, once it's posted, and letting me know what you think.

Either way, I will go ahead and post; 65,000 words is a lot to just throw away.

Hmmm... That sounds like the start of a good challenge: Clark gets just such a winning lottery ticket from someone (Martha?), with the stipulation that if he does win, he must spend the winnings on himself. That is, he is not allowed to donate it to charity, to use it to buy anyone else a gift, or to invest it. He must spend it on something that he wants. What would it be? Let's say he won $50,000 -- a lot of money, but not enough to buy a house in Metropolis.

Would it be OK with you, magical, if I posted that as a fanfic challenge (with appropriate acknowledgements, of course)? I'd post it as a "100 things..." type challenge, so each respondent could just add a sentence or two about their ideas for what Clark might buy. You had indicated that you were using this just as an illustration, and that your story isn't really about this topic.

Joy,
Lynn

I had a thought along that line too, and yes, that was just an example, not what my actual story is about, so having said all that, please feel free to post that as a challenge. It would be fun to see what FoLCs could come up with.

Thanks, magical. I've posted the challenge, along with a few possible answers to it. I am eager to see what answers everyone else comes up with.

Joy,
Lynn

You should definitely post. To have spent that much time working on something, it would be a shame to not set it free. If anyone squawks, you have your betas to vouch for you. They know just how long you've been working on your story and that it predates the other.

We would always encourage you to post, magical. As so many others have noted, there may be plot similarities but two different authors mean two different stories.

If it was me, I'd probably add a note to the start of the story when I posted, lightheartedly noting that we have a GMTA situation, but that would be it.

So...have at it!

LabRat :-)

We did exactly that a number of years back, FM. It was a whole lot of fun. Would be nice to have another GTA event - the time is ripe with so many authors who weren't around last time.

LabRat :-)

Post!!

There's no such thing as a new story. Heck, all we do here on fanfic is take an idea and appropriate the characters for our own ends... In my opinion, "strikingly similar" is something a teacher says when he hands out the study guide for a test and says you better do it because the test will be exactly the same just with different numbers... :p A story is always different-- new writing style, new results, new character interactions. Boiled down to it, they're all essentially the same. So I'm in the post-it camp.

I definitely will post, and thank you guys for your encouragement. Once it posts, you will see why I balked, initially.