My oldest son had taken an advanced placement class in high school in literature. His textbook was a paperback tome titled How to read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster. Once the class was over, he handed the book off to me and suggested I read it. That was back in the time I was devouring books like food. Sadly, once I started devoting my time to seriously writing, reading time became sparse.
But one idea in the book stayed with me. Basically, as Solomon said, there really is nothing new under the sun. Most story lines are a re-hashment of stories told and retold for centuries.
For example, let’s break down the story line of a famous movie to its most basic parts: Man comes into foreign environment, with designs to use said environment to his own gain. He meets a woman. learns to see the environment in a whole new light and ends up winning the girl and saving the environment.
It’s a story line from Avatar. It’s also the story line from Disney’s Pocahontas, Fern Gully, Wreck it Ralph, and half a dozen others you could think of. (Yeah, I watch a lot of movies. They’re like books, only visual.) Would it be a stretch to think Jurrasic Park is an example of this, only it gloriously back fires and the environment is saved by the man fleeing?
My husband and I were watching What’s Eating Gilbert Grape when I suddenly realized we were watching a remix of Rapunzel. My husband wasn’t buying it.
“Think about it:” I said. “The children are trapped in the house and can’t leave. They are only free to go after their mother dies. It’s Rapunzel!” As I’m typing this, I’ve figured out it’s also the plot line to a book I read as a teenager: Flowers in the Attic.
Is there anything wrong with rehashing a plot line? No. And unless you’re really cleaver and original, chances are people will see plot line similarities between your work and others. The key is making it your own. If someone says “Your story reminds me of…” take it to heart and look for ways to change it up. Add a plot twist, change someone’s role or personality. No one’s going to say “Wow! The movie Saw is just like Rapunzel, except at the end, Rapunzel’s still locked in the room!”
Yeah. Believe it or not, Rapunzel is the basics for a lot of horror movies and books. Things look a bit different when you take out the long hair and add a chainsaw, huh?