Writers Worries: Someone Else Has My Writing Idea

by Cindy R. Williams

I am posting a series called "Writers Worries".  I plan on making the posts into an ebook in the future when I have enough of them written. (So . . . no taking the name of the idea.)

Which brings us to a bit writers worry.

Have you ever worried that someone else has your writing idea?

I had a writing professor tell my class that there are no new stories, just new characters living out those stories. That is what makes them different.

Here is what BEGINNING WRITERS ANSWER BOOK, by Jane Fiedmann has to say about this.

Your unlikely to duplicate another writer's work simply by using the same idea. Even if you use the exact same idea, you're sure to execute it differently. Writers have different styles, attitudes, voices, and approaches, and it's nearly impossible for two writers to execute the same idea in the same way or with the same slant.

So in short, the answer to that question is, "Stop worrying and write your story!"