Plagiarism vs Inspiration: How to NOT Rip Off Other Stories (Writing Advice)
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- Опубликовано: 27 авг 2024
- Learn how to drawn inspiration from other stories without creating rip-offs. Examples from Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Jurassic Park, Squid Game, and more!
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' I steal from every single movie - ever made ' A quote by quentin tarantino that suits well here❤😅
Yep, and he weaves all those ideas into something unique
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty
"First create a fanfic, then originalize it" - seems like an efficient method
@@Conserpov50 Shades of Grey was originally a Twilight fanfiction.
@@kebabs9106 I've read novels and series that did not surpass their source material, but given the bar set that's no great insult. I've read novels and series that surpassed the source material to the point of practically inventing new genres (according to some fans).
The quoted source material was not a high bar and does not inspire confidence.
@@kebabs9106and it didn’t turn out to be very good, did it?
Tarantino said that if he really liked one cool scene or one character in some movie, he'd be inspired to expand it into a whole other movie ("Make the movie we've never seen before because you haven't made it").
Which seems to be a technique that works quite well.
It's like fanfiction, but taken to another level.
Oh my God that’s beautiful.
Django Unchained (2012) is really a prequel to Shaft (1971), with Brunehilde's last name and the presence of Samuel L Jackson being nods to both.
The goon that gets clapped in act one? I’ll make a film where a goon inspired by the goon deals with his own mortality and how he comes to terms with it.
same with music. Make the song that you want to listen to but doesn't exist yet because you haven't made it.
Exactly! Thats how cool crossovers and stuff gets made!
When I was a kid, basically my stories where just Halo with different names. Which is a bit hilarious since Halo is basically just a mash up of Stargate, Starship Troopers, and Alien
Haha my first story was a blatant rip-off of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The games of that era were inspiring
It would be real interesting to see a Halo like story but instead of just the Covenant and UNSC, show the independent humans and aliens that broke off from their mega-sized factions to fight evil without major help and explored whatever was left by past civilizations that the Covenant stand-ins are fighting for. One anime short, 1337, explored a family of Spartans raised by an AI mother that stayed out of the war.
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty Mine is Dx2
Good points all, but don't forget about Larry Niven's Ringworld.
His Kzinti "proud warrior race" cat people even wind up in Star Trek.
Heck, my writing project is basically a love letter to many of my favorite FPS games. XD
I get more inspiration from characters than stories. I like to imagine "How would this person with this personality react in this world."
When I was young I played Barbie dolls with a bunch of Kens as the A- Team. All their personalities were so distinct and I loved it.
❤
@racheltheradiant4675
We have the same thought process.
- future novelist and mangaka from Asia.
I didn't have kens but joes...I convinced my sister to play spy/superhero doll game combining my doll with her barbie...it was really fun playing with them...
I use a similar philosophy
@@tonuahmed4227 I wouldn't be surprised to learn if there was an actual secret agent Barbie doll tbh.
Plagiarism is a symptom not a problem. It shows your underlying theme is lacking. If your theme is novel, you can't plagiarize even if you want to. Theme paints everything in a different light. The same line from another story would have a different meaning in yours.
Well, A fistful of dollars proved that theme is not enough if you copy paste the plot.
@@SmokingBirdsIndeed. However, there are some stories that you can copy the premise, but write your own story.
Hunger Games is a perfect example of it.
@@SmokingBirds I don't know about that, a theme completely changes a story, even if the plot is similar to others. Setting, tone, character, etc.
@@channel45853 Exactly. Treasure Planet's multiple iterations may have the same beginning but are completely different because of the contents of the story, even beloved for different reasons despite riding the same wave.
I don't know, themes are great but some creators pry go back and look back at stories with similar themes for ideas. Creativity isn't an anti-social construct
The part about nothing being 100% original is beyond true. Back in 2016, I had made a few original characters and their plots. Later, in 2020, I started studying Hamlet and realised how the basic premise was the same as that of my characters (evil uncle murders his own brother and takes the throne from his nephew, while being interested in the nephew's mother). I brought that up with someone, expressing my concerns because of the similarity and if I could even write my story anymore, the person responded with the same concept of nothing being completely original, and said that Lion King itself was basically Hamlet with lions. In 2016, I hadn't read Hamlet or even watched Lion King to draw this premise from, it made me realise how people can come up with the exact same premise on their own, and do something different with it
To answer today's question, for one of my stories, I have drawn inspiration from the 1942 Portuguese film O Pátio das Cantigas, a lighthearted comedy about a group of Portuguese neighbours and their relationships. The film is a classic of Portuguese cinema
This is indeed a strange feeling! When I watched a CN cartoon of giant robots (MegaXLR?) with my godchildren, I always joked that it would be more interesting if it were mobile cities in a post-apocalypse scenario and the cities were in a unified effort against the Kaijus. A few years ago there was a movie called Mortal Engines with an aesthetic very close to what I imagined based on a book from the 2000s! This type of Synchronicity has become more and more frequent with the opening of mass communications. I hope that you are still building your work, even if it is not the watershed you imagined.
@@xenogate Wow, definitely a strange feeling, thanks for sharing that! And yes, I'm still builing on my work, I have since grown the overall world it's set in, so the Hamlet plot line is no longer the main focus, but it's still there. I mostly do fantasy and historical fiction, I'm focusing on the latter while I build my fantasy world in the background
As long as you don’t copy quotes, setting, etc. you are fine.
Hamlet was taken from a previous story and Shakespeare isn’t rising from the dead to sue you.
Lmao my first story was basically like this. Evil uncle poisons the King, his own brother, but it's exposed and executed for treason. Then, his son follows on his footsteps and also attempts to overthrow the recently crowned King, his cousin (Who happens to be the main character). The MC manages to escape and lives in exile for 5 years until he returns and slay the usurper in a duel.
@@mvmsma Wow, sounds like an awesome story!!! My MC also manages to get his throne back from the usurper and was in exiled for a while! But not in a duel, more of a good old storming of the palace with his supporters
A wandering lone wolf survivalist shows up to a theme park that is controlled by two dinosaur families. He maniplulates the dinosaurs into fighting each other before being beaten up, and eventually battling the dinosaurs himself.
I love how you’re mine thinks lol😅😅
Mind
I'll pay to watch that.
This. One of my biggest anxiety since I was a kid until now is that the work that I poured my heart and soul into making ends up similar to someone else’s. And it happens way too darn often.
No matter how much I touch up my own story to differentiate it to the original creator’s. It would still upset me greatly that my work is not unique
I absolutely get what you’re saying. It has happened to me too ever since I started writing my own novel. My book is about royal houses at war, which people will inevitably compare to stories like Game of Thrones and Dune, and while I did get a lot of inspiration from those two, eventually I just found my own voice. The fundamental message and purpose of my story is different, the characters are different, the universe is different and the way I go about telling the story is different. Eventually, you just have to stop torturing yourself over not being able to be 100% original. It’s more about execution and adding your own themes and messages to what might be a common plot.
I absolutely love Alice in Borderland and Squid Game. Even though I noticed the obvious similarities between the two they felt so different. Good examples there.
Same here. Loved them both. Still need to fire up AiB Season 2
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty it's great! Definitely worth your time. Keep up the good work!
What’s funny is that The World Ends with You predates Alice in Borderland.
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty Worth noting that the manga the AiB show is based off of came out in 2010.
Battle royal is actually really primal concept that has revamped again in this decade...Japan were first to modernize it with the "battle royal"...unless someone else also did it that I forgot...
This is what I needed to hear.
I've wanted to be a novelist since i was in elementary school, and im inspired by Neil Gaiman, Poe, Lovecraft, and Tolkien, but I had struggled with worry that my story ideas were too similar to others to where it once slowed my writing progress, but now I've made some peace with it, realizing that everything has been done and what matters is how it is done in your own voice, which has gradually got me back on my writing track, where I should be publishing some of my stuff this year
Hey that's great. Hope it goes well 🍀
I'm just leaving a comment in case you decide to come back and share your work.
Also, I wish you luck.
I've had a story idea bouncing in my head for a good while but can never find the motivation and I worry that I won't be able to create the emotional impact I want the story to have.
Leaving a comment so I remember this. If I find out the title when it is published I will definitely get it.
@@DeetotheDubs Look, I’m writing a story now and have been for like a year and a half (ish) and I am having major writers block currently. I don’t seem to be following this advice myself but I would say if you enjoy writing. Do it. (Cliche I know) but if you write what you truly want to write then it will feel genuine to the audience/readers. You aren’t the next Tolkien, Rowling, Allen Poe, Lovecraft, blah blah blah. You won’t be. But don’t TRY to be. Be unique in every way you can. And I think people will care. They don’t want middle earth and a band of hobbits fighting against evil _again_. They want *new*
However, if you read all of this: take my advice with a grain of salt. I have no idea what I’m talking about. Either way hope I could help in some way.
@user-iv1db1yc9u Oh, that's the worst place in town; Writer's Block 😅 Been there.
Thank you. Sometimes, the cliche at the right time is the right thing. I appreciate the suggestion/advice.
If you need or want someone to bounce ideas off of, I could do with more writing types in my social circle.
Edit: missed a word
I have a short story in an upcoming collection that I started writing after watching "American Graffiti." It's set entirely in a 1950s-style diner. My sister, at the time, was a waitress at a '50s diner in town called Xan's Diner, complete with a soda fountain, soda jerk, jukebox filled with 50s' music, black and white tile floors, raised booths, and red vinyl seats. It was a kitschy cool place.
Awesome! Congrats on getting it published
Of mice and men is probably the most profound experience I’ve had reading a book. I read it in high school and the necessary unavoidable tragedy of it all made me openly weep on its last pages. Inconsolably and alone. As a consequence, when I’m writing close man-to-man relationships, I always go to how Steinbeck did it because he introduced, prepared and executed that relationship so so well.
I hope Tolkein doesn't mind i was inspired by the balrog lol since its not plot heavy its not plagarism lol
This reminds me of the Eragon book series. When I read the books, all I could think about was Star Wars because the plot was exactly the same. But the author pulled from multiple sources by incorporating fantasy like dragons and magical races. It’s basically Star Wars meets Lord of the Rings.
But a couple of other fantasy series are like that beside the end is quiet different. -The Villain is not even Eragon 's father in the end. - Star Wars is inspired by other sources as well (Dune, Valerian, maybe John Carter as well).
@@sawanna508 I actually have been thinking about this quite a bit lately.
Back in the 1970's, Fox & Lucasfilm attempted to file a lawsuit against the makers of Battlestar Galactica over allegations of plagiarism. (This went on for years until eventually settling out of court.)
But, if you consider that the original Star Wars is really just the plot of Kurosawa's Hidden Fortress with a bit of The Dam Busters (1955) tossed in at the end for the trench run, all the glaring Dune series rip-offs in Star Wars grow louder and louder.
It comes to me that, in our current day and age, that deciding factor on plagiarism vs inspiration often comes down to which party is capable of throwing the most lawyer money at a court case to leverage a party towards settling.
Children will typically favor the franchises that they were exposed to at an earlier age, growing up to accept their childhood favorites as the pavlovian-response approved originals, while eschewing earlier works that challenge their comfort zones.
Star Wars, as George has openly stated, is based on the classic heroes journey, and takes influence from Flash Gordon, Odyssey (the old Greek story), among others. Writing is just a constant cycle of being inspired by writers before and a combination of unique perspectives.
@@DarkAshenfall Yeah, but when you read Dune Messiah you can see the actual chapters he lifted some of the most classic scenes from, and then he continued to modify the Star Wars to look just like Dune as Frank Herbert wrote more and more books. Jabba went from being a bipedal walrus man in the 1976 novelization, to a worm-guy on a rolly cart after God Emperor came out in 1980. He couldn't make a good movie after.
@@thomriley1036 I haven't read all those Dune books, so I am uncertain of the scenes you speak of. As for the walrus/worm-man change, to be fair anthropomorphising animals into humanoid aliens is always low-tier sci-fi in my opinion. It shows a lack of creativity to just fall back on animals. As for the worm-man, as Brandon mentioned in this video, using something from another story is not strictly a bad thing. Jabba is nothing like the Leto II to boot. Also, the Hutts are not human's changed into "worms". They are a distinct alien race. Leto II and Jabba share only moderately similar cosmetic appearances. Nothing else about them is remotely the same. You can't hold Jabba's appearance change against Lucas. George did his due diligence and made Jabba a unique entity entirely his own character.
the story that is by far my biggest inspiration is Antigone by Sophocles. Idk why, but I found it uniquely fascinating, that the entire tragedy ensues simply because the people dont understand each other and realize crucial info too late. It's not the cheap "people aren't talking to each other like adults" trope we know from so many movies, but rather people talk, just they dont understand where the other is coming from.
That's an interesting interpretation. To me, the tragedy is in the character of Antigone herself -- she's willing to completely defy the will of her uncle, losing her bethrothed, her station, and her life, all to see her brother properly buried. Not because she agrees with what her brother did, but because it was the will of the gods, and their law was higher than any mortal king's spite. She truly believed she had no options, especially once her sister (the only member of her immediate family she had left) refused to help her. It wasn't that her uncle the King didn't understand her, he outright believed he had the divine right to deny someone proper burial, even to the length of uncovering the body every time it was discovered, and posting guards. His own son calls him out on his arrogance, remarking 'you'd make a fine king of a desert island.' Her sister and betrothed both understood what she was doing, and why, and encouraged her not to continue to honor the fallen.
Antigone is a martyr of faith, whose death is even more insulting that her uncle thought by burying her alive with a little food and water meant her death wasn't his fault. The story is both a morality tale of honoring the laws of the gods over men, but also cautionary to those in power to remember they're mortal and aren't above the gods.
@@heatherwind Yes, although I wouldn't call her the tragic character. Mostly, in greek works, the tragic character is the one who does something wrong and then pays for it dearly, like Oedipus, Orestes, etc. (Philoktetes being a notable exception), whereas Antigone was quite strong in her resolve from beginning to end. Kreon, to me, seems the much more conflicted character, even more so considering that Antigone is basically family, but he does it out of upholding the laws of men which he deems his duty. He doesnt make an exception for her (because he believes that everyone is equal before the law) and his strict adherence to law is what bites him in the ass, not his arrogance, I would say. And what you said in the end is also true, which is why I believe that Kreon is the main tragic character: The Greeks liked there to be a lesson in their tragedies, and there isn't much of a lesson to be learned from Antigone.
I realized back in high school that it’s ultimately impossible to create something 100% original. So we can only take concepts and ideas and merge them together these days to create something “new.”
Kaiji is my favourite manga and anime. It really gives you a lot of inspo as it gave to Squid Game. I'm currently reading a spin-off series of it which has Ichijou (an antagonist of Kaiji in S2) as its main character.
Totally recommend it!
I need to check it out. Love the subgenre. Check out the Zero Escape video games if you haven’t already
The story of Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is something I've drawn inspiration from a lot.
The story of two nations fighting each other for centuries with no victor, and the people of each nation are only soldiers born and raised to fight in the endless war.
I really liked that concept, so I made that a very rough outline for my story.
Wow, I was not expecting to find another Xenoblade fan here. Xenoblade has been a big inspiration for me in my writing and Xenoblade 3 especially.
Fantastic video, Brandon. One of my biggest problems as a writer has always been the pressure to create something 100 per cent original and desperately trying to avoid ANY inspiration because I thought that would make me a plagiarist.
Thanks! And yeah the pressure to be original is REAL but you gotta remember you're chasing the impossible
Guillermo Del Toro said that there aren't original stories. What makes them original is the storyteller. Like Brandon said, give different storytellers the same premise to work with, and they'll write their own stories
There are only seven basic plot types that exist anyways. Most media and creative works in regards to writing are just variations, retellings and remixing of them over and over again.
Most of all, "The Hero's Journey" template basically underlies every single good story ever told since Homer's Iliad and The Odyssey during Classical Greece, right up to the modern day.
I am a screenwriter, and I think every writer’s first script should be their own riff on Reservoir Dogs
I write screenplays, and my thoughts are that everyone's 1st script should be a version of Tarantino's 1st film.
Wow. I'm so original. But kidding aside, even Tarantino riffed off of "City on Fire" from 1987.
@@DatsWhatXiSaid Your comment makes me want to support the Hollywood CEOs instead of the writers.
Or City on Fire?
@@DatsWhatXiSaid Don't know about City of Fire, but it's an "unofficial remake" of Kansas City Confidential from 1952.
One very annoying thing is when you honestly discover plagiarism in ur initial ideas. At times, I've not even gotten to the page because plenty has been done already.
Thanks for the great video as always.
Yeah unfortunately that happens sometimes. A brilliant idea sparks within your mind, then someone points out that it's already been done
I think it's a mistake to throw away the whole idea. After all, something in your mind attached to it. You may as well see if the borrowed idea leads you somewhere unique. Some of the best fiction out there began that way, from Shakespeare to Tolkien to all the films in this video. Audiences don't necessarily want a completely unique idea. They connect to familiarity as much as writers. The originality isn't in where you start, it's in where you go.
@@rottensquid yeh I do agree. Sometimes I reimagine how i could reframe an idea. Or salvage parts to merge into others. I just consider too much about making something lesser than my influences.
@@gtube6913 I know that pain all too well. We'll never live up to our influences, anymore than they lived up to theirs. The point isn't to be as good as them. The point is to do your thing. And the way to do that is follow your instinct, even if it leads you to "copy" them. The biggest hurdle in creativity is when we think like a critic rather than an artist. Critical assessment has its place, but that place comes AFTER inspiration, not before it. What shuts us down is when we criticize our stuff before we've started. Let it out, let it flow. Let yourself be an inflated ego for a bit. Pretend you're a genius, and that everything you do is gold. You can re-put the inner critic on it later. But it'll probably be better than you think. And I usually find that once it's out, getting it from a mess to something magical always takes less effort than you think. Sometimes, it's just that one key edit that makes all the difference.
That is a big mistake. Most Isekai anime and romance novels rip off and steal from each other all the time, so it's ok for you to do it too.
I would also suggest reading widely (and more generally, consuming all arts widely). This will give you the broadest base for inspiration.
Read, grab real life inspiration, etc.
@@jonathandixon1305Especially reading up on history and reading the headlines. There’s always bound to be an inspiration there somewhere like the Bruiser Brody Stabbing Incident.
Kaiji Ultimate Survivor is one of my favorite anime of all time and when I watched Squid Game I instantly knew it heavily drew from it.
I didn't like Squid Game all that much. Felt that Kaiji's (the character's) complexity was fragmented into three characters: Gi Hun (gambling addict adrenaline junkie), San Woo (smart strategist) and Ali (naive childlike person). None of those characters felt that rich to me whereas Kaiji's brilliance (to me at least) is in how all 3 aspects of the protagonist struggle against each other constantly. He isn't someone who is cold and does selfish things without a second thought nor is he a pure person who never thinks of betraying someone.
A video on this topic would be very interesting. Contradicting struggles in a character's mind
Nice vid as always
I need to check out Kaiji. I love the Death Game subgenre (ever play the video game Virtue's Last Reward?) and I feel like I should check out one of its chief inspirations.
And I'll keep that "Splitting one character into multiple parts" topic in mind. Thanks!
@@WriterBrandonMcNultywow I honestly didn’t expect an Uchikoshi reference!😂
I read this as 'Kaiju' and was hoping that meant there was some kind of kaiju/monster survival story with humans and monsters having to work together to survive really nasty humans and monsters
@@MegaKnight2012 so like Digimon?
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty You should definitely watch/read Kaiji. Compared to it, Squid Game feels very underwhelming, the characters have very little agency in the games that they play, while in Kaiji it's the difficult decisions that the protagonist has to make make for a really engaging story.
I've been struggling with this for a long time with my own writing ever since 2006.
I'm writing an adventure-fantasy inspired book drawing inspiration from Indiana Jones, The Mummy, Uncharted, and DnD. While the search is the main focus, there's also a subplot with the main character dealing with trama from the war he was in and how it relates to him now.
My wife has pushed me to be as original as possible and I'm hoping I'm on the right path with my book.
I always like to flip basic concepts into something completely different too.
In high school, I frequently wrote very bleak, disturbing or horror-based short stories for my homework or assessments. So my English teacher asked me to write a story about hope for once. And so I wrote a short horror story about a woman named “Hope”.
I think this applies to any other ideas too. Maybe write a zombie apocalypse story but the virus actually improves people’s health and the “survivors” just don’t understand - like the unused ending for I Am Legend.
I'd say I've drawn most inspiration from Percy Jackson, mostly the writing style that focuses heavily on the voice of the main character, that witty and colloquial teenage point of view that lends itself so well to the main character of my superhero story.
Thank you for bringing this up. I love Tolkien and Lewis, but when I write, I try and be extra careful not to copy, though I will often find myself comparing my two stories to Lord of the Rings and Narnia.
I have been getting better, though. I learned this quote: "of course it has been told before-but not by you.'
Not going to lie. I once did a short called 'Inspirational Source Material' because the vampire villain literally used the plot from 'Salem's Lot' on a town, only to have them quickly figure it out because they read the book too. They quickly deal with the vampire because of it.
It was a rather unconventional use of plagiarism.
Huh, I wonder if you could publish that under a sort of satire.
One of my stories I'm most looking forward to writing is the result of playing a video game, seeing a minor character who was interesting, and thinking "What if that was the main character of a story?" The story I came up with is very different than what was in the game, and it serves mostly as backstory rather than plot, so I'm confident that it's not plagiarism. It's amazing how many good story ideas come from asking "What if?"
What's one story you've drawn inspiration from? Let us know!
So, for me, I wrote a flash fiction back in college inspired by Owl City's Fireflies and Toy Story and entered it in our annual writing contest.
It placed 5th, and I got a check of $10!
I have not written any stories but I do like your content and each of my friends have written a story. If I were to write a story I would be inspired by Matthew Reilly or Shad Brooks, both Australian sci fi / fantasy authors.
With the current story I'm writing I took inspiration from a lot of different places, but currently the story I've taken the most inspiration from is Persepolis Rising by James S.A. Corey, as well as several of their other novels
My medieval fantasy series has 3 main inspirations, Assassin's Creed, Elder Scrolls and The Legend of Zelda
The goonies
Kotor 1 and 2 definitely inspired me as a young writer. Just finished a more detailed outline and got nervous that the hero twist is just too much like Revan. Made me nervous.
Ooh I like that. KOTOR is definitely one of my inspirations
@@SEmme-ov6yy thank you so much. Writing is hard and scary and any positive reinforcement really does go a long way. Thank you.
Walt Disney built an empire on plagiarism.
In regards to public domain IP, it was like going to a potluck without bringing food, but still eating everything.
I liked the bit about drawing from numerous sources. When taking fairy tales and folklore class, my classmates got annoyed that I would draw my stories from non-western sources, but I honestly had a blast because I like reading books that are different
A short story I wrote for a self-published sci-fi anthology already had the built-in idea of "Man's search for extraterrestrial life is futile" and put in the thought of "What if we found something?" for my first ever attempt at a horror. I took some inspiration from Lovecraft and the Expanse series, and it worked really well.
My current novel, which I hope to shop around to publishers when I'm done with the current draft, is mostly inspired by Final Fantasy, actually.
One of the ways I try to avoid plagiarism is by looking at a concept and seeing how I can improve it, or fleshing out ideas that I like more that the original creator didn’t prioritize as much.
The primary catalyst for my writing has been the Iron Lords faction from Destiny. I adored the idea of a grounded space crusader faction, but was disappointed with how little they were used in the games’ overall story. So for my story, I’m making a new faction inspired by that idea, but given much more focus.
I Just cant rip off a series
A story that I take inspiration of for all of my own stories is One Piece, I is my favorite story / show / manga / whatever, of all time and has so many themes and elements that it is hard not to take inspiration from it
Ordered Entry Wounds last night because your videos are really inspiring for my plans to write horror 👍👍👍
Same here!
I'm 3/4 of the way through Entry Wounds and am enjoying every single page of it!
Wow, thank you all for checking out Entry Wounds and for the kind words! Please leave Amazon reviews when you finish--those are a huge help.
Best of luck with your stories!
@@WriterBrandonMcNultyi bought Bad Parts!
Yeah, Another things is that the same idea or concept can be interpreted and executed differently depending on the author, like for example if you tell someone to make a story about dracula, someone might make a horror story like the original, other a romance like twightlight, someone else an action movie like dracula untold, or sony would make a kids story like hotel transilvania or a comedy like reinfield.
Yep, and even within the different genres, authors can tell the story using different tones, pacing, etc. Many ways to stamp your work
I've always subscribed to the idea that if you "steal" ideas from a bunch of thing you love and mash them together into something of your own, then you've alredy taken that first leap into making something new.
Also, don't be afraid to admit and be proud of your influences and inspirations. Some of the best writers *ever* basically bragged about the ideas they ripped and remixed into their work in a unique way and nobody thinks any less of them.
a good example of #5 is Tarantino's RESERVOIR DOGS which was inspired by a CITY ON FIRE scene - but takes that idea and makes it an entire movie.
For my superhero concept, I've drawn inspiration from X-Men, the game Infamous, and Insomniac Spider-Man. For one of my fantasy stories, I want to research Final Fantasy XVI & Final Fantasy IX.
I recently wrote a story about a woman locked in a basement while robots tried to extermine people. It felt like a rip off of Terminator and 10 Cloverfield lane
This is an interesting bit. A few years ago, myself and a friend participated in a role playing game. From there we started writing stories centered around our characters in the game. Effectively we’ve used the scaffolding of the RPG setting as a starting point, but grown and expanded nearly every aspect of it to suit our stories. Some aspects come from other media. For example, one of the magic wielding character uses his magic in a similar way to how the Wheel of Time series has channellers. Meanwhile our treatment of cybernetics, bionics, and nanotechnology are all lifted from standard tropes on the subject.
I've only recently started exploring writing, I'm definitely a beginner and your videos are great man. Whenever I write a short story, I can't help but reference the story of Final Fantasy 10 all the time. But I'm also very inspired by the way you write these videos. IF i were to ever make video tutorials of some kind, I'd be drawing inspiration from your videos for sure.
very good tips. I am basically doing this.
My additional recommendations:
1. Not simply take something but think about it first. Ask Questions like: Makes this sense? How would I react in such a situation? Does this reminds me on other things? What would be better ways to do that? Both for the character and for you as the writer.
2. Watch and read from a variety of time periods. You can use a certain style from one time period, but it is useful to understand where does the stuff you like came from.
3. Remember other things about a work you like besides the work itself. What was your situation when you discovered the work? Where was ist shown? When? What other things related to it did you do?
4. Look at cool stuff from a franchise the original authors discarded or refuse to aknowledge anymore. For example, you may like Street Fighter. There was a certain life action movie most people hated. Are there things you can salvage from it?
5. Look at other people with similar "problems" like you. For example you want to bring back a certain nostalgic feeling from video games from the 80s and 90s? Do not only look at the games. Look like stuff like Vaporwave etc.
6. Deconstruct the Paths your favourite authors took. For example Dragon Ball: Son Goku is basically superman. Superman on the other hand is a reversed John Carter. And from John Carter, we got other things like Dune, Star Wars, Flash Gordon etc. And John Carter heavily draws from theosophy which in turn draws heavily from buddhism. In Dragon Ball now, the world building is extremely buddhist as well. Their whole alien race cosmology is extremely buddhist. Now, with a bit of research, you looked at one work and found more than 7 other works to look into.
Reading up on history, looking up news headlines of current events and checking up on interviews helps as well.
I got one right now.
A boxer gets brutally stabbed in the showers by another boxer who had planned to kill him and the stabbed boxer dies while the killer got away with murder thanks to help from the promoter covering it up; the witnesses getting their subpoenas after the trial ended. Leaving a devastated son whom now wants to avenge his father’s death by going after the people involved in the murder and grows up to undertake his personal mission against them.
If you know your pro wrestling, that’s basically what happened with Bruiser Brody in real life except for the revenge part and it’s against a different backdrop profession wise. Sort of a fix-it story for those who’d want to see a version of the story with a slightly happier ending.
The RUclips algorithm seems like it's reading my mind. I was going through some minor issue that was complicating my creative foundations and drawing the line from bootleg to inspiration in one of my WIP stories.
Thanks, RUclips and thanks, Brandon.
One of the best ways I've studied as a composer is by transcribing a piece, recording all instruments into my DAW using samples etc, then using the exact same instrumentation to write my own piece in a style similar to the track I've transcribed. Possibly the first time I did this was using a track from Inside Man (Terence Blanchard) called 'Dalton's World,' where I made a short piano improvisation and orchestrated/arranged it in a style and orchestration similar to that track. I felt myself improving as I did it! When I then began work on videogames I'd be given temp tracks by Jerry Goldsmith or whoever else and did the same thing. There's a fairly popular quote, "good artists copy; great artists steal" - often attributed to Picasso though I first heard it from Stravinsky. I think following the footsteps of great artists first, learning the craft to the point of it becoming ingrained in your thinking and then writing based on your then-improved intuition is the way to go.
I'm not sure what the writing equivalent to that is - I read that Tarantino would, early on, transcribe conversations from film in an effort to understand dialogue better himself, so perhaps it's worth a shot? Can't say for sure that it'd help as much as transcribing music does, but it certainly wouldn't hurt!
As a composer myself, I think a lot of it has to do with "craft." While we always want to think of ourselves as Beethoven-esque benevolent artists, we might be more like craftsman. Your exercises there are akin to a pianist playing Hanon exercises over and over. Sure, it's not quite "music" yet, but you are building a foundation of skill that allows you to express something in a more sophisticated way. When all that comes together, that's when the greatest art is produced.
@@stefanswanson874 Yeah I agree. If somebody told me to improvise or write in a style I have next to no familiarity with (eg hip hop), it'd likely sound either completely off or incredibly derivative of a particular artist. After running through enough exercises like the ones mentioned above and immersing myself in the culture, spending hopefully at least many months listening to a variety of its sounds (+gathering experience writing), I figure I should be able to sit down and follow my intuition, and hopefully write something that naturally represents myself as an artist.
It's different to having a director give you a temp track and, after three attempts at creating something more original, resigning to a more similar sound - more long term I think, but more personal and rewarding.
Massive respect to those who seem to naturally just come up with such original ideas and change the course of human culture though!
As a musician, I can say that this applies to music as well. There's nothing truly original or, as Ecclesiastes puts it, "there's nothing new under the sun." With that being said, inspiration is important for making something original.
I probably drew most of my inspiration for my Wandering Wizard story from The Dresden Files, but from what I gather, most of what I was inspired to do was fairly generic fantasy kitchen sink urban fantasy setting rather than something unique to the Dresden Files. My main character was originally inspired from a character from a webcomic, but went through so much changes that the the connection is little more than a piece of trivia at this point.
Really glad that you made a video like this, this I really need to know and I remember writing most of your notes in my notebook but I lost it so now I’m getting a new one.
I'm pulling similar story beats in my book to a lot of stories that I love, but it's working really well without feeling like I'm ripping off those other stories. The way I'm killing off an important character takes inspiration from how *that death* was handled in How to Train Your Dragon 2 and the way the characters interacted shortly before that death
Sounds like you've got a good handle on things. And thanks for the reminder to check out HTTYD2. I've been on a Dreamworks kick lately (The Bad Guys and Puss in Boots 2 blew me away), so I need to check out more of their stuff
@@WriterBrandonMcNultyAlso try Shrek 2, Kung Fu Panda 2, and Madagascar 2. They're all good movies from what I've heard. (DreamWorks excels at sequels.)
And also, if you liked Puss in Boots, I'd recommend Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse.
The first story I remember writing (back in high school) was styled after Horace Miner's "Body Ritual among the Nacirema". The basic concept (an outside observer analyzing a culture, and spelling certain key words backwards) was lifted wholesale, but the rest of it was my own, analyzing (and satirizing) aspects of my own high school's culture.
That's cool! I remember that story.
I took inspiration from many stories I liked. I'm writing a fantasy/sci fi - story.
For the beginning I took inspiration from. Avatar the last airbender. I started with a small group of friends and let them discover this big fantasy world, with keeping mayor future events in mind, so that I can give them an early and proper build up.
I also took inspiration from the series Supernatural. I loved the whole angel/demon/archangel and god - stuff and wanted to include something like that.
I used the concept of immortality and the werewolf designs from Underworld, the concept of a world with a dangerously powerful being from Batman v Superman, the emotional story construction and the detail in character development from Breaking Bad, the basis for my magic system from the videogame Dark Souls and a few interesting twists, I came up with myself.
I also think it really helps, if you have something in your story, that you've never seen before. It prevents you from doubting your story and motivates you to keep on writing :D
I’ve taken inspiration from the Belgariad series, the ascendance trilogy, and the Hobbit.
I combined these ideas to give me a basic setting for my own original story.
I later found out that I totally accidentally ripped off Avatar: the last airbender, so I changed a LOT.
I can now introduce a book that I am working on, “the Mage”.
A story about a boy who lives as a farmhand who is taken away by the prince of his nation.
He is introduced to the idea of magic, and is later found out to be the reincarnation of the legendary hero, the Mage.
I'm glad you covered Alice in Borderland. Love the show and manga, the writing there is insane
Yes!! I do too. Both the manga and the show were excellently written. One of my favorites.
Yeah you are right but the show is not so good. Trashy acting and actors not able to convey the emotional message through it all, is probably the reason why I hated the Netflix adaptation.
@@MynameisS_A completely disagree, the acting was great IMO. I think the emotional messages were slightly better in the manga but only b/c they have the advantage of illustrating thought processes
James Somerton could learn a thing or two from this.
I’m writing a short film about a woman who has a dog but she doesn’t take out her dog on walks due to her agoraphobia/fear of going outside and a few films and short films that tackle anxiety trauma and agoraphobia have inspired me make this short. Here’s a list of some movies and short films that gave me inspiration for my short film.
Puss in boots the last wish.
Homebound.
The woman in the window.
The spider within.
The 5th Element has always been one that inspires me into writing. I can identify so many elements (no pun intended) from other movies in it but it feels so much like its own thing that I always try to watch it whenever I have writer's block. It is in my personal list for top ten favorite films.
Im really inspired by Jane Austen, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. I also like the idea of taking an American film or tv show then combining it with a very British (as I’m from Britain) genre, style and theme. I also do a technique I saw on RUclips somewhere call the story smoothie or story cocktail where you list 2 to 5 stories/genres etc to make a fresh concept.
One of the things that inspires me most is places with unique ambiance. Going to somewhere notable, like crossing a huge suspension bridge or seeing unusual architecture like a Zaha Hadid or Frank Lloyd Wright building, or even a place like an art gallery that just has a particularly strong vibe, makes me start to imagine what amazing things might happen there. I once took an airport taxi from Haneda airport on Tokyo bay up into the mountains of Nagano, leaving the airport around 1 AM, winding through the expressways, underpasses and fast roads of central Tokyo and out into the countryside; dawn was breaking as we passed through a ravine with a jagged peak, which was absolutely spectacular. Later this experience, mixed with elemets from _The Transporter, Drive, Fast and Furious_ films and many classic car chase films, inspired a trilogy of novels about a freelance getaway driver team caught up in a Yakuza power struggle.
I plan on making a story that draws inspiration from a number of different stories. I don’t want to say exactly what the story is gonna be about so I’m just gonna name the stories that are inspiring them. There’s elements from “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and “Lord of The Rings”. Those are the 2 big ones that play a big part in the inspiration.
You can also get inspiration from your own audience. I remember a forum about The Purge, where people discussed many aspects that the movie left out. When i saw the 2nd Purge movie, it touched most of the points from that forum.
I planned to make a story about a depressed failed young wizard who got entangled in summoning of eldritch aliens. Yes, I got the inspiration from Half Life (video game) and Berserk (manga).
LOL Im literally playing Half Life right now while reading this on my phone. Tbh I wouldn't make the association if you didnt mention it, I think the regular guy thrown into the middle of an interdimensional conflict is a fairly common trope.
@@AndersonMallonyMALLONY-EricCF I don't know why did I choose that theme. Probably because I like "The right man in the wrong place" trope more, instead of "The chosen one" trope.
@@alvianekka80
“Right man in the wrong place” is a superior trope to the “chosen one” trope.
@@Wiki1184 based Unforeseen Consequences vs. cringe Prophesied Destiny
After discovering ur channel Brandon , my perspective has change of looking at movies🌸😊( Sorry if my english is wrong coz i m from non english speaking country INDIA!!!)
Greetings from Pennsylvania! How's it going there?
Thrilled to hear that the videos are helping! Best of luck with your writing
@@tuojiangoman3228 Hlo brother, we are having a monsoon season currently in our country, as you may not know here in my country we have separate season fir rain. Also there has been little unrest in one state but guess what there is always a silver lining on every cloud !!!!🥰
@@vipulparmar6974 Thanks for telling me!
This was the first video in ages where I agreed with every single word. I had a professor in college who always hammered originality on us, never using what we'd read or watched, and I found pure originality to be impossible.
But I appreciate the idea that every writer brings a unique perspective to their stories, that make them different from everything around them. Well done.
This was very helpful. The number 1 thing I fear as a practicing writer is that people will call my story a rip-off
I’m taking inspiration in my debut novel which is currently a work in progress from one scene squid game in which my characters are knocked out with a gas in a Chevy suv in the middle of the night while most of it takes inspiration from Beneath , The Enceladus mission and A thunder on Neptune
I am currently working on a novella, that is basically a re-telling of The Lion King, combined with Game of Thrones, which burrows the basic plotline of the former, but takes place in a grimdark fantasy world with Elvens, featuring a female villain protagonist who goes on a negative character arc
Biggest inspirations for the story I'm currently working on:
1. Dune
2. The Elder Scrolls
3. Slavic mythology and Slavic history, specifically the Republic of Novgorod
4. North African history
5. Tiny sprinkles of The Inheritance Cycle
I get inspiration from plenty of video games, helps me make my own characters.
1:18 "I call it, Billy and the Cloneasaurus!"
I think Gurren Lagann and Kipo and age of wonderbeasts is a good example how execution is much more important than the premise in terms of what is plagiarism or not. At the first glance, they have exactly the same premises, word-to-word: humans are forced to live under the ground in future postacopalyptic world for a long period of time, the main character discovers surface world by accident and turns out it is inhabited by some kind of mutated beasts, then main character goes to adventure to find his/her father. However, how plot and characters develop is COMPLETELY different, with different decisions, themes, morals, plot twists. Two autors came up with the same idea and created a completely different shows.
That kinda inspires me to not be afraid of the ideas what might be already used in another story.
I’m drawing a lot of inspiration from the show arrow. My character is a soldier who went MIA for 4 years and eventually was found, returned home, and becomes a vigilante/superhero. Not sure if you’re familiar with the show but that baseline is similar but also has its differences.
My friend and I have been working on our own comic/graphic novel project for awhile now. The inspirations were a cross between a sci-fi original movie called Dead 7, the 2016 Suicude Squad, and Shin Godzilla
So my first story in my detective series I took a short mystery I read as a kid, kept the criminals’ MO and I just expanded the story. In short a man uses his son as a distraction at a museum while he steals a diamond and then cleverly conceals it (not going to say where) and a search of his house uncovers the hiding place. I changed the distraction, the location, added new characters, a full fleshed out story and some world-building. The only things really left from the original story are how the diamond (and I changed it to two) is stolen and where it is hidden.
I have purchased a copy of Entry Wounds and it is added to my “to read” pile, so it just needs to wait until it is chosen. I might read it while I am on holiday later this year.
Don't worry. I've always been taught at school that plagiarism is the dirtiest thing people do. I come up with my own stories inspired from anime and manga. I just finished writing the 2nd chapter of my story the other day. I realized it's hard to come up with writing a next chapter.
Same
the Christmas Carol is quite the gift that keeps on giving
I've drawn inspiration from the Tower and the Hive series from Anne McCaffrey, which is about people with psychic abilities like telepathy and telekinesis. I loved those books.
I think the stories that have most influenced my stories so far is game of thrones, Star Wars lord of the rings and superheroes (both dc and marvel)
The fact that you included Alice in Borderland is legendary 🤗
I loved AiB. Need to check out Season 2
Every story and character I have ever liked and are memorable inspire me. When writing I am not aiming to create something original. That's impossible. Instead I desire to create something that is mine. My world(s). My characters. My rules. Much like a building a snowman or a sandcastle, every writer has to start somewhere.
My fantasy book draws a lot of inspiration from Lotr and Aragon. (Both the movies and the books.) The protagonist is a Queen, but she's similar to the movie version of Aragorn, in the fact she doesn't want to be Queen. She's also similar to Aragon, as she has the ability to communicate mentally and emotionally with Dragons, but only those of her family can do it. She also has another name, that she isn't told about until she's in her early twenties. Much like Aragorn being given the name Estel, (Hope) when Elrond became his foster Father. The main difference between her and Aragorn, is the fact she isn't the only one in her family unaware of her real name.
I’ve written a script that combines elements of “Drive” and “Thief”. Both great neo noir films, but what I took from each was vastly different
Im currently writing a BUNCH of stories, but my main one at the moment is about two boys that get struck by lightning while on a car chase and become immortal, and your videos are helping me so much with my stories! You are my favourite youtuber for improving my writing! 🎉❤
THE BRAINSTORMING BULLET POINTS WORK! IDEAS ARE COMING IN LIKE CRAZY! EVERY TIME I WRITE AN IDEA DOWN, IT INSPIRES A NEW IDEA TO FORM!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Yojimbo was itself an uncredited remake of Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest.
I really focus on isolation and the effects of it. Whether that's a goal of the character to be left alone or the character is trying to survive isolation. (I. E. The Grey, Riddick, any Jack London story, Mad Max, many versions of Conan, the Hulk comics, etc.) I was really worried about plagiarizing. But looking back on them, many of them pull from common sources including classic myths and historical accounts of exile and isolation. I didn't realize this until last year, and that freed me up tremendously.
Sword of Shannara is an interesting example - it follows Lord of the Rings pretty much beat for beat and some people criticize it for that, but I think what saves it is the twist that the whole story is set in the future instead of the past, and that unique kernel allowed it to grow into a whole universe that is indisputably its own thing.
The first book of The Wheel of Time is like that, too. The first half is as close to copy/paste I've ever seen in a novel.
my story is based off so many different things. Example: my main character came to me after watching Matilda. My story is a superhero sci fi
Hey, Brandon, I just found your channel last week, and I've basically been mainlining all your videos 😅. Could you possibly make a video on writing characters that are immortal? Obviously, these characters have unique traits, emotions (or lack thereof) and motivations. I'd love to hear your thoughts on how to craft them. Keep up the great work!
I'll add this to my request list. Thanks!
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty Thank you!
Nice subject:
It would make and interesting video.
My input on this; when writing characters that are immortal you should ask yourself some questions:
1. Do I need an immortal character in my narrative?
Because of their trait these characters are generally hard to pull and pose some difficulties during story development. Therefore if they only serve as the “cool factor” or are a “storytelling shortcut/ plot armor” there is always a better way you can take.
2. Is their immortality conditional or unconditional?
Is there a way to circumvent/ null the immortal status or is immortality absolute. In other words is there an Achilles heel or not. That question must really be answered if you are planning to make your villain an immortal because then you will have are really hard time to deal with the problem of their defeat.
3. As an in universe law, immortality is inherent or attainable?
If immortality is inherent or a unique-one time event/ accident then the number of immortals in your story are finite. If immortality is attainable via some prerequisites then you will have to think of a way to limit access to that ability.
4. What handicaps and limitations should I impose on a characters that bears such a strong ability?
These can be “handicaps” due to personality features, how much is the character involved in the story (protagonist vs secondary character), if immortality is permanent or not, e.t.c. The rule of thumb is that the more absolute the trait, the less involved should the character be in story.
5. How will I write a consistent character of this type?
A character that has attained this feature recently is quite different from a character that has lived for 1.000.000 years with this ability. A character that is naturally immortal treats this status differently than a character that has acquired it at some point in life, due to different understanding of the flow of time. A virtuous character with this trait poses entirely different challenges in storytelling from a corrupt character with the same trait.
6. What purpose will this character serve in the story?
Such characters can make wise consultants, scary antagonist, “deus ex machina” resolvers, tragic figures, messengers of morals or can just be an anthropomorphism of “forces of nature” (ex. imagine you are writing gravity as a human being).
7. How will I conclude the characters arc?
That is a tricky one because it depends on the narrative and should feel natural and organic. For instance, if you write an immortal super-villain and because you have written yourself in a corner you are forced to introduce a weakness in the final chapter without foreshadowing then that is bad writing. If, on the other hand, the character chooses love over immortality (ex. Arwen from lord of the rings) that feels smooth and shows character development.
@@kostasl1808 I actually plan on including three immortal villains in my story, two of which I am actually borrowing from the famous internet horror artist, Trevor Henderson, and the other is based on those other two villains (Cartoon Cat and Cartoon Dog) mixed with the concept of the Venom symbiote from Spider Man 3, the two ideas being merged to create my own Cartoon Monster OC: the Cartoon Blob, a genetically engineered creature created by an organization known as the Cryptid Containment and Research Organization, in an attempt to create a bioweapon to counter the likes of Cartoon Cat and Cartoon Dog, and other Cartoon Monsters (regardless of whether or not the “others” in question are actually aggressive/malevolent, as the whole major motivation behind the creation of C.C.R.O. is to try and exterminate all cryptids to get rid of potential threats to humanity, regardless of if those cryptids are actually threats, which in a majority of cases is not true, with wendigo, the Maryland Goatman, and certain Cartoon Monsters being a few notable exceptions, as well as dogmen and occasionally rakes, and that last one is more dependent on the individual member of the species. Funnily enough, I think Cartoon Cat, Cartoon Dog, and Cartoon Blob are sort of going to be the villains that stick out the most mainly due to their cartoonish “eviler than thou” dynamic and the fact that in a world where basically everyone else has a clear motive and reasonable explanation as to why they are the way they are, the motives of these three characters is kept ambiguous, which is partially to keep it true to what the creator of Cartoon Cat and Cartoon Dog has revealed. There’s also Cartoon Cat having an comical yet horrifyingly calm attitude towards everything, a la characters like Bill Cipher and Big Jack Horner. There’s that Cartoon Cat’s reluctant slave, Cartoon Mouse, eventually becomes bold enough to start standing up to Cartoon Cat, who acts more or less like a egotist, going as far as referring to himself with titles like “The King of Horror” and constantly making smug remarks about how his kind are immortal, which he considers a blessing and a curse because that means Cartoon Dog, Cartoon Mouse, and the Cartoon Blob can also never die.
Amazing explanation. I took the drug use from Dune, basic Sci-Fi elements, Multiple view-points from Legend, and added fantasy species to form one Sci-Fi novel.
I remembered Cosmanaut mentioning Winter Soldier is the same plot to Metal Gear…
It blew my mind and Winter Soldier is one of the best MCU movies.
The audio of these videos could make an amazing podcast, I certainly would listen to it!
Thanks!
I drew inspiration from Devil May Cry, Bayonetta, and Star Wars. One of my proudest works is about a cocky smart ass who finds out he’s the son of the Devil and he gets caught up in a war between angels and demons that’s been raging on since the fall of Babylon in 540 AD (Yeah, I took some historical liberties with this story). But here’s the kicker, in this story, demons are good and angels are evil.
Funny thing is that I had a idea for a story, to which then I started watching a tv show which turned out to have a very similar plot. Normally I wasn't trying to copy them as I had the idea before watching it. But what makes it worse is that I started taking inspiration from them, which makes it look more like a copy than it should
Last year, I've drawn inspiration from The Wizard of Oz and The Nutcracker to write a short story called Peppermint Village for my little cousin. It has a strong fantasy theme and a great plot. After reading it to my cousin, she thought it was good.
Dragon ball has been a big inspiration for my story but basically anything and everything I watch inspires my stories like one time I made a short story inspired by the John Wick specifically the pencil story in the movie and ran with that for my short story
I'm writing a sci-fi story, but I've drawn my inspiration from expedition reports about the heroic age of antarctic exploration
Nice! I binged a bunch of mountaineering documentaries last year. None were set in Antarctica, but the things people do for survival in cold/desolate areas are incredible
Merging different ideas is one of my favorite writing techniques outside of deconstructions and subversions of genres. One story that i hope would be my "magnum opus" is a combination of Action, Horror, Noir, Western, Dark Fantasy, Space Opera, Occult, Supernatural and "hip hop" aesthetics, and also chaotically good characters that later turn into morally ambiguous. (Yes it's really that crazy.)
Deconstruction is simple. Take the premise and slowly destroy it with your own image.
@@jonathandixon1305 yes.
@@4TypeWriter It’s what I’m doing right now, and the results are staggering! It’s not completely alien, but imagine what Blizzard did to Starship Trooper for StarCraft. Also, massive upgrades!
This was very helpful. The Yu-gi-oh! Card game has an archetype known as HERO that have cards based on superheroes ( and variations thereof) that utilize the game’s Fusion mechanic. I’ve worked on making stories inspired by that off and on for years.
Different stories I have obviously have different inspirations, but if one has the most clear cut inspiration. It's "Locus" a scifi/lovecraft inspired setting where a secretive agency protects the world from mysterious otherworldly entities, forces, and anomalous or cursed objects. It obviously takes from lovecraft in some areas, but also the community fan universe of the SCP foundation.
Honestly what I really feel concerned about is not a legitimate plagiarism issue, but just someone online claiming that I copied someone else.
The sad truth is that some rando with a twitter account or a RUclips channel could start making claims with one sentence, and that will have a far more reaching effect and be seen by more people than the novel I spent months writing and researching.
Someone can completely ignore all the decisive character design I have done and make a one or two sentence summary of my story comparing it to something else and completely sink my book because no one else bothered to read both stories and stand up to say how different they are.
I'm not worried about legal repercussions; I'm worried about social media vigilantes.
You are worrying over nothing. I would be more concerned about actual legal stuff instead of what some random unintelligent troll on Twitter who knows nothing about the literary arts has to say.
Twitter is a complete cesspit of a website anyway.