It’s no
secret that I love Stephen King’s work. On Writing is my new bible, and I waited
(and waited and waited and waited) with breathless anticipation for each new
installment of the Dark Tower Series
to be released.
It’s also no
secret that I am writing a thriller/novel/really long story about a woman lost
in the woods.
On Thursday I
was at the library and decided to look for Under
the Dome – a novel of King's I have started to read twice but just couldn’t
get in to. The only King on the shelf
was The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. I picked it up and started thumbing through
the pages. Now, it’s been years since I had a copy of The Girl in my hot little hands. It was printed in 1999, and I suppose that’s
about when I read it too – I usually grab them when they are fresh off the press (less 11/22/63 and the aforementioned
Dome).
All I really
remembered about this story was that a little girl (Trisha) got lost in the woods and that flying, biting insects tormented her throughout the entire story. That angle was so real that I itched
for weeks after turning over the last page.
I also recalled this to be one of my favorites, so I checked it out and
started reading that night. About two
chapters in, I said, “Uh oh.” The story was sounding familiar. As I turned the final page, I felt a sense of shock.
My own
story is very, very similar…too similar in some parts.
One could
argue that being lost in the woods is the same – or at least comparable –
regardless of the person, place, or time.
Trees are trees and terror is terror, right?
My question
is one of plagiarism. That ugly word popped
into my head when I read an almost identical sentence only a few pages into the
book. Then another, and another, then more.
If...ok, ok...When my story gets published, who’s to say my ideas are really mine. Does the love of a particular author's writing style sink into the subconscious of another or merely influence them? How close it too close? How does one prove that an idea really is original? Or, just as Hollywood remakes nearly every
one of my favorite movies (and usually ruins them – Clash of the Titans, anyone?),
are there no New Ideas anymore?
I guess I will crack open On Writing and see what the King has to say about it.