Friday, June 13, 2008

Chopped

I've decided to cut a bit from my thesis. I put it in, tweaked it a bit, thinking that it was a good fit. Then, I changed my mind. Deb's comment about what my thesis is about got the proverbial wheels turning. I can see the theme she pointed out, and now I'm seeing another which is more of a magical realism theme, and which fits all of the stories, with the exception of The Unusual Life of William H. June.

There's also another factor at work, the soon-to-be-arriving movie, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which is based on a short story that Jenny recommended I read when I was telling her about June. The timing is kinda funny and I'm thinking that maybe since there's another, much more well-known, story along the same lines that's about to be very prominent, it wouldn't hurt to shelf mine for a bit.

So, here's a question: You're in the midst of working on a story or novel when you discover another story/novel that's already published and remarkably similar to yours. What do you do?

3 comments:

The One and Only John said...

Accuse the bastards of stealing your idea.

Jenny Maloney said...

You wait a second...because you've sent me into a little bit of a panic since I've read the story (or pieces of it) and I don't want you to cut it yet because I have an idea that would take too long to go into.

And to answer your question: check my blog in a day or two because you've reminded me of something...

And on that vague note, I shall leave you.

Ali said...

John - I should've guessed. However, I have no minions, etc. to enforce the accusation.

Jenny - Now I'm quite intriqued. Hrm... Alright, I'll reserve judgement on the story until after I've heard your fantastico idea :)