Every time I come up with an idea, it's taken. Like my mutant; a human-shaped girl with fins on her arms and a scaly body. And the worst part is, people are saying, This is so original and Very unique.
I once designed a character named Shiloh Warner, who traveled in an RV to her concerts. And then, just to be sure she wasn't already made by another author, I Googled her, only to find out there was an actual, living Shiloh Warner, who traveled in an RV to her concerts! And, her little brother had the same name as the little brother in my book.
I know there are people out there who copy other people all the time. On purpose. They know what they're doing, and they don't have enough sense to be unique. Me? I try. I work my ass off, and every- thing I do has already been done.
Maybe I should become just another bumbling copycat. Then maybe I would, by total fluke, stumble onto an idea that is, in all actuality, really mine! Maybe that's where all the brains are at in this horridly difficult hobby. Why did I continue after I'd started? I swear, if one more of my characters becomes a famous icon, I'm pushing my computer off the right side of my desk and right into the trash can beside it.
Well, okay, maybe that's a bit extreme, but it's also been a temptation on several accounts. Like the time my fabulous plot also magically ended up online. I don't know, maybe I'm a telepath or something; and I'm far overdue to tell the world to F off and respect my Goddamn ideas, because they're all I've got and I don't give a shyt about theirs.
Eight o'clock? Good. Bedtime.
I once designed a character named Shiloh Warner, who traveled in an RV to her concerts. And then, just to be sure she wasn't already made by another author, I Googled her, only to find out there was an actual, living Shiloh Warner, who traveled in an RV to her concerts! And, her little brother had the same name as the little brother in my book.
I know there are people out there who copy other people all the time. On purpose. They know what they're doing, and they don't have enough sense to be unique. Me? I try. I work my ass off, and every- thing I do has already been done.
Maybe I should become just another bumbling copycat. Then maybe I would, by total fluke, stumble onto an idea that is, in all actuality, really mine! Maybe that's where all the brains are at in this horridly difficult hobby. Why did I continue after I'd started? I swear, if one more of my characters becomes a famous icon, I'm pushing my computer off the right side of my desk and right into the trash can beside it.
Well, okay, maybe that's a bit extreme, but it's also been a temptation on several accounts. Like the time my fabulous plot also magically ended up online. I don't know, maybe I'm a telepath or something; and I'm far overdue to tell the world to F off and respect my Goddamn ideas, because they're all I've got and I don't give a shyt about theirs.
Eight o'clock? Good. Bedtime.
That happens to me, too. I guess it happens to everyone. Yesterday I was looking up a name that I thought I had come up with myself, only to find out that it was both a real French name but also the name of some kind of medical device for lady-parts. (Word to the wise: never accidentally Google Image Search an unfamiliar word.)
ReplyDeleteI know it’s tempting to give up, but if you do, a truly original idea might pass you by! (I’m still waiting for a great idea to come to me . . . )
Coming across Tinkerbell was a total mistake for me, actually. I was trying to come up with a bold new book for my character to read in the book, and I called it The Rise And Fall Of Mae Whitman's Hierarchy. Then of course, as I always do, I googled the name Mae Whitman and she was the voice actress for Tinkerbell. I YouTube'd it because I was tired of not knowing what people meant when they said it, and I just fell so much in love with it. (I actually own one of the movies now! Yay!)
DeleteIt is tempting...I think I might have original ideas now, but I'm scared to think of them or write them down because I'm scared they'll someday be famous because of somebody else! Gah!