Why I’m Not Afraid Of Another Writer Stealing My Story Ideas
A story is so much more than just an idea…
I know some writers who are overly protective of every idea that they have. I’m not one of those writers. I have a lot of ideas, and I’m pretty sure that other people might sometimes just happen to have similar ideas as me. The way I see it is that it’s not about the idea, it’s about the execution of the idea. The idea is just the premise of the story, but if the plot and the characters are different then it will be a different story!
There are some film examples that I can think of where the films were released the same year and were very similar ideas, but the audiences enjoyed both movies and both movies were financially successful. Proof that it’s okay to have multiple people work on and then profit off of similar ideas. Proof also that even when the idea is similar, the stories can still be different.
In 1998, both Deep Impact (5/8/1998) and Armageddon (7/1/1998) were released. Both films were science fiction disaster films, Deep Impact was about a comet set to collide with earth and Armageddon was about an asteroid set to collide with earth. Deep Impact grossed $349.5 million and Armageddon grossed $553.7 million.
In 2011, both No Strings Attached (1/21/2011) and Friends With Benefits (7/22/2011) were released. Both films were romantic comedies about friends who agreed to having sex with each other without being in a relationship. No Strings Attached grossed $149.2 million and Friends With Benefits grossed $150.4 million.
As a writer, it is important to protect your written stories and get credit for the stories that you work hard to create. One of the best way to protect your work is by copywriting it. If you write scripts, they can also be registered with the Writer’s Guild of America (WGA), either with the Writer’s Guild of America East (WGAE) or Writer’s Guild of America West (WGAW), dependent on if you are on the East Coast or on the West Coast.
Copywriting and registering your written stories is a good idea. However, only an idea can’t be copywritten or registered. Therefore, if you have an idea, it’s a good idea to develop your idea into a full story, write it down, and then do whatever you need to do to protect your story!
