Ripping Off Plots!
(A Gothic Romeo & Juliet)
(A Gothic Romeo & Juliet)
Originality is Overrated
When designing a car, why stop to reinvent the wheel if someone else has already done all the research and done it better?
Why work when you don’t have to?
Why struggle trying to find a good story, and interesting characters, when the data on what people already like is right there in front of us?
When it comes to figuring out what is popular in a story, Hollywood has streamlined just about everything: plot, setting and character. A quick perusal of the top box office hits tells us point blank what stories the general public liked Best.
TOP 10 AMERICAN FILMS
(of all time)
1. Gone With the Wind (1939)
2. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
3. The Sound of Music (1965)
4. E. T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
5. The Ten Commandments (1956)
6. Titanic (1997)
7. Jaws (1975)
8. Doctor Zhivago (1965)
9. The Exorcist (1973)
10. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
The TOP 10 FILMS for 2010
Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland
Black Swan
Blue Valentine
Despicable Me
Easy A
The Ghost Writer (UK/Germ/Fr)
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1
How to Train Your Dragon
What does this list tell you?
-- In 2010, the viewers preferred Fantasies with a dark twist. Bad guys that weren't so bad, and good guys that weren't so good, endings that were more bitter-sweet than happy, and characters that made human mistakes then faced them, even if they didn't conquer them.
Why Not take advantage of all that plotting & character foot-work and write what people are already looking for only Better -- with SEX?
Ransacking & Renovation
-- Take a look at your personal DVD movie shelf. I bet there’s a whole bunch of movies that are (in your personal opinion,) that could have really used some Sex.
So, DO IT. Yank them off your movie shelf, and write them with SEX. And while you're at it, figure out the flaws in all those stories, and FIX them.
Plots that could have used one more twist.
The tragic ending that could have been happy.
Secondary characters that should have had their own story.
The Heroine the Hero should have preferred.
The Regency Romance that would have made a better Sci-Fi.
The Hero from one story that would have done better with the Heroine from another story entirely.
The TSTL* Heroine that should have been Kick-ass.
(*TSTL: Too Stupid To Live)
Once you've changed the setting, the genre, the characters’ names, appearances and their personal backgrounds… Voila! ~ Instant Brand New ORIGINAL Story!
How simple can you get?
“Wait a minute! Isn’t that STEALING?”
-----Original Message-----
I'm sorry but I think that's just wrong. Apart from copyright infringement issues it seems creatively sterile to me. I realize that every story ever told has already been written but to deliberately steal other people's ideas leaves me with a very nasty taste in my mouth.
-- Concerned about Copying
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Concerned,
- What is so terrible about finding a way to make what’s been proven to work, something already popular, something “Tried & True” – into something fresh?
Borrowing whole plots didn’t stop WEST SIDE STORY the Broadway play, (a direct and unashamed ‘Romeo & Juliet’ rip-off,) from being a tremendous hit, or the Broadway play CAMELOT, (a rip off of TS Elliot’s ‘Once & Future King’) or MY FAIR LADY, (a rip off of the Greek myth ‘Pygmalion’.)
Seriously, Hollywood ransacks and renovates all the time! There must be a million and one Frankenstein, Dracula, Phantom of the Opera, and Sherlock Holmes adaptations. The movie "UNDERWORLD" was openly marketed as a Gothic ‘Romeo & Juliet’. STAR WARS is a carbon copy of Kurosawa’s Samurai/Ninja movie ‘The Hidden Fortress’– including the comedic antics of two highly recognizable ‘Laurel & Hardy’ characters. (For goodness sake, they’re Still in Japanese costumes!)
In case you haven’t spotted it, Walt Disney ransacks and renovates EVERYBODY, and makes a ton of cash doing it too! Just about every single Walt Disney Adventure movie, from BEAUTY & THE BEAST to THE LION KING to HERCULES to MULAN to TARZAN was ransacked from elsewhere. TREASURE PLANET is a very unashamed rewrite of ‘Treasure Island’ – and one of my favorite movies.
The Original Romance?
NOT!
NOT!
Romance, erotic or otherwise, has only TWO plotlines, so it's kind of hard NOT to follow in someone else’s footsteps. In fact, how can you AVOID it? Really?
The “Happily Ever After” Romance Plotline
(Used in 1001 paperbacks)
The Lovers meet -- and have Issues.
The Lovers' Issues drive them apart.
The Lovers realize that they can't live without each other. "Oh no, it's Love!"
The Lovers battle odds to get back to each other -- fixing their Issues along the way.
He's forgiven, she's forgiven, everybody's forgiven... "I love you!" -- and they shack up together.
The “Romeo & Juliet” Tragic Romance Plotline
The Lovers meet -- and have Issues.
The Lovers' Issues drive them apart.
The Lovers realize that they can't live without each other. "Oh no, it's Love!"
The Lovers battle odds to get back to each other.
He dies, she dies -- and everybody cries over the cruelty of True Love.
The trick to making the well-worn Romance plot original is to ADD another whole Plotline (pick a genre, any genre.).
Romeo & Juliet + horrific disaster from old newspapers = TITANIC
Happily Ever After + High school in the American 50’s = GREASE
To be Perfectly Clear...
I am NOT saying you should copy anyone else's work.
I am NOT saying you should copy anyone else's work.
I am merely suggesting a way to jump-start a story by modeling it after a story that's already been proven to work, through popularity, then make extensive changes to disguise the original source.
As long as you shift genres, change the characters around a bit, and don't use any trademarked names or designations, you won't step on any copyrighted toes.
It’s not what you HAVE.
It’s what you DO with it.
It’s what you DO with it.
When it comes to making Original Fiction, it’s NOT how unique the plot is, it’s Your VISION of that plot that makes it fresh and different!
Alice in Wonderland + CyberPunk = THE MATRIX
Treasure Island + James Bond = NATIONAL TREASURE
Robinson Caruso + Space Aliens = ET
Romeo & Juliet + the Old South = GONE WITH THE WIND
Hollywood ransacks and renovates, then mixes and matches whole plotlines all the time. Look at all those box-office smashes. What other proof do you need?
Enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: As with all advice, take what you can use and throw out the rest. As a multi-published author, I have been taught some fairly rigid rules on what is publishable and what is not. If my rather straight-laced (and occasionally snotty,) advice does not suit your creative style, by all means, IGNORE IT.