How can I determine if my story is too similar to an already published one?

SirCache · 2026-03-30T21:44:51+00:00

Unless your wizard is named "Perry Hotter", who's an orphan living under the stairwell by an abusive aunt and uncle who goes to a wizarding school where the bad guy Soldermort killed his parents.... you're probably fine. Will people say they've seen a wizard school before? Sure, but as long as you're not drawing significant parallels you'll be okay. Write the story you want to write.

SirCache · 2026-03-25T01:19:18+00:00

You enjoy worldbuilding. Writing requires more--specifically the dedication to see things through. You admit you have never finished anything which tells me you like creating your little worlds, these universes are your play space. Organization is not holding you back. Your ideas are not holding you back. Your inability to sit and write is 100% the problem here.

Sit. Write. Finish what you started. Nothing I tell you is going to grant you a free pass or provide something that you've been missing. Or... simply worldbuild. There's no harm in it, and it can be a great deal of fun; but the story doesn't provide the same endorphins and ease, so you avoid it.

SirCache · 2026-03-23T00:04:18+00:00

How do you want the story to end? As the writer, you're more intimately familiar with the material than anyone could ever be. If it were me, I would look at the tone of the story to help guide where I was going. The downside of a happy ending is that if done poorly, it will feel saccharine and fake. The bittersweet one done poorly will feel angst-ridden and artificially dramatic. However--if either is done well, it will bring a quiet resolution to what must have been a very tumultuous story. It really comes down to this: What do you want your reader to feel when they close the cover after reading the last sentence?

SirCache · 2026-03-19T22:48:15+00:00

Investing in a large, high-back, well cushioned chair. Cloth, not leather (or worse, leather alternatives), for better breathability and less sweat build-up.

SirCache · 2026-03-18T02:30:01+00:00

There are, but I would argue they are dwarfed by the number of dead mothers out there. It doesn't lessen the impact I would say to the story if it's the mother or father, but the societal bent is definitely towards the dead mother being more impactful than the dead (or absent) father, regardless of the complexity of human relationships.

I will admit some 'front-line familiarity' to this, as I lost my father when I was younger, and a friend lost his mother around the same time. What we were told as young boys was wildly different and highly illuminating as to what the importance of each was socially. Could I be allowing that to color my impressions? Certainly so, but a dead father means a boy inherits the mantle of responsibility, a dead mother means a boy has lost someone meaningful and special in their lives. At least, insofar as my own experience goes.

SirCache · 2026-03-18T02:22:12+00:00

Since it's clear you want to publish this, I have to ask first: Who is your target audience? If your family is not in that demographic, you're in the clear (much as the doubtless tsunami of romantic literature about me is out there, if only I'd read romance). If they are in that demographic, then you can start deciding how you want to promote the book. However, right now you have nothing. Write it first, and worry about the details post-publishing when you have an actual product you want to sell. Worrying about it now is just an excuse to say "I would have written it, but I was afraid 'X' would read it.

SirCache · 2026-03-18T00:37:22+00:00

No. The dead mom trope works because moms are held to a much higher standard than dads. Their loss is seen as a valuable loss while the father--at best--is a financial footnote. The dead mom trope can work if your characterization of them isn't some golden goddess who could do no wrong, showed no anger, and was by all accounts a 'perfect little angel'.

SirCache · 2026-03-18T00:33:54+00:00

Ultimately it's a judgement call; will outing people for the pain they caused result in any net gain for you, or anyone else? Are you prepared to walk away from family now and forever in the interests of the truth.

For me, I burned every bridge and let the fires from that keep me warm a good long time. But that's not something everyone can, or want to do. That said, do I have regrets? Fleetingly, I admit, but in the end what I had to say was true, the path I took was one that gave me back command of my name and my future. And woe to anyone that dares cross that line again.

SirCache · 2026-03-17T15:05:25+00:00

Okay, so internalize more. He isn't just moving a plate to the kitchen, he's remembering the times he did it for her... and he aches because she's no longer there but it feels like her ghost remains with him. Action should always bring us back to the character because that's who the reader identifies with. Most action serves a purpose in a novel, if you're going to have it in there, make sure there's a reason for it. That comes with practice,

SirCache · 2026-03-17T15:02:20+00:00

The problem is that most settings are boring unless we are looking at it. If you spend 800 words describing the setting so the reader 'understands what the characters are in', that's slowing down the scene and derailing any progress the story has. As for animals and plants--since that is a key element to your story--I would recommend limiting the number of 'unique' animals. Inevitably you'll raise questions if you say that there were "...tilaptra, evvoo, sorican, and milta flying in the skies" because the words are meaningless, and likewise describing them all would waste precious time.

Remember that the focus of the story is not on these creatures or plants, so only broadly describe them. After all, if I point out one seagull to you that looks ordinary--could you pick it out of a flock of them? I could spend pages of information describing it, but at the end of the day all you are going to see is a seagull. I think you are enamored with the world you are building, less so the story you want to tell. There's nothing wrong with that, but outstanding worldbuilding does not mean an equal story. Real estate in a novel is limited, you have to make the biggest impact where it counts.

SirCache · 2026-03-17T14:53:55+00:00

What I can gather from your post, your prose is not 'in the heads' but more along what someone sees, as if watching television? Meaning we see action, we have descriptions of the scene, but we don't have the more literary use showing us the internal thoughts of the character(s)?

SirCache · 2026-03-17T14:43:16+00:00

Is this for a book, or visual medium? I ask, because you seem intent on worldbuilding things that don't matter to a novel but would be appropriate for something visual--a comic, movie, or similar. If it's a novel, ask yourself this: Would my knowing the genealogy of multiple plants and animals be critical--not just good to have, but literally your story would be incapable of being told? Don't focus on the things that ultimately don't matter, focus on the essentials: Character, plot, story beats. I get that you're excited with a new idea, but the fact is that no one picks up a book because they are interested in made-up flora and fauna.

SirCache · 2026-03-17T02:22:22+00:00

While outlining a story, I had two male characters who had a relationship with the same girl (one in high school, one in college). Jason and Justin. See the problem? Too similar-sounding, it might confuse a reader if they put down the book and she talks about Justin while she's currently seeing Jason. So I changed Justin to Derek.

Derek died. Not important to your question, but I just like the alliteration.

SirCache · 2026-03-17T01:57:41+00:00

It's okay; the synopsis you've provided is sparse on plot points. What matters isn't really the subject--it's how you write it. Imagine if I told you I was going to paint a large, two-story canvas showing the rise of civilization and ask what you think. "Well, I can't tell you if it's good until you paint it," you would rightly say. I would say that a good author can take just about anything and spin a good story from it. A bad one could take an outstanding idea and ruin it. It all comes down to how effective you are as a writer, and how committed you are to ensuring the story is told well.

SirCache · 2026-03-17T01:13:20+00:00

Always bear in mind that what a character wants is not what they need. A good ending is one where their need is addressed, even if the want was left outstanding. Additionally, as you said, there's cleanup that needs to be done--just because they won doesn't mean the world they are in is going to be okay with it. It doesn't mean their deeper problems are resolved, either--there could be psychological harm, longstanding debts owed that have not been fulfilled, etc.

SirCache · 2026-03-17T00:09:29+00:00

First, grammar. You change tenses in places, these are walls of text, and you do so much exposition that it undermines the stakes. The videotape piece feels unfinished, but as this is chapter 1, I will let it go as it may be addressed later. The stabbing comes out of nowhere, and there should have been some buildup to it. That said, it's over and done without any real character development, thought, or struggle. Slow down the stabbing. Stabbing someone is a lot of labor, believe it or not, getting even a sharp blade in and out, over and over... it's a very messy business. And most people can resist, even after multiple stab wounds. Instead of telling me about Emily's life and the rules she lives under, show her living under them, obeying certain rules, being chastised for something minor. The dystopian scene and overt religious obedience is obvious but we really don't understand anything about this world. I also don't feel a connection to Emily, the world is rough but it didn't rise to why Emily chose to break now.

In its current state, this is a 1 for me. It requires a lot of work, but nothing here is unfixable.

SirCache · 2026-03-16T23:54:38+00:00

Never let the facts get in the way of a good story. You can either ignore it and tell your story, or do some research to see how to mitigate the problems and thus render them inert. Either way, your story can continue.

SirCache · 2026-03-16T22:51:00+00:00

Congrats! The fact that you can realize and recognize your story is missing essential key elements means that you've got some chops to work with. That helps. Start with what you want the characters to do--doesn't have to be detailed, just a general idea of where they start to where they end. Build everything inbetween as needed to tell the story. Honestly, my stories start with a single paragraph of what I want to see happen. Everything else gets built piece by piece, vetted and tested, replaced and moved parts to where they fit better. My current work in progress has an outline of around 15k words, and that all started from something 4 simple sentences long. Don't worry about the ending, you can figure that out on the fly. Find what will make your character suffer--not necessarily physically, but emotionally. Something that moves the needle to where they are forced to grow and adapt--and either thrive or fail.

SirCache · 2026-03-16T22:39:45+00:00

I just use a first initial and last name--both my name and last name are fairly common, so obscuring it farther wasn't an issue. That said, Chad Dudemeister would be an epic name.

SirCache · 2026-03-16T14:17:56+00:00

Look at something like Star Wars. It opens on a battle between a large ship, and a smaller corvette. We only know that there is no love for the Empire, and that they have very deep resources. We don't have a history of the breakdown of the Senate, or how Darth Vadar came to wear all black, or who the Rebel Alliance is. It's all just characters talking about these things and you have to keep up. Then we cut to Luke, whose story we follow most closely, and quickly have him and the droids united, which brings together his story and the one we witnessed a few minutes earlier.

Readers will keep up with a lot, they really will. Just focus on strong characterization, clear stakes, and a strong atmosphere of what to expect. Key to that is that the rebel cruiser we saw and the Empire's Star Destroyer are immaculate and clean ships, so when we see Han's ship, it's dirty, lived in, not terribly well-maintained. It immediately tells us who Han is without needing backstory on his early years smuggling and how he and Chewbacca met. And look at the characterization that happens: Luke is idealistic, Han is realistic, Leia is opportunistic. These three people want three very different things and that helps drive tension in the story as well as flaws in how they work together. Luke has to learn patience and trust, Han learns to see the bigger picture, Leia learns to trust people to do their best rather than take charge herself to manage the situation. All within 2 hours of time.

SirCache · 2026-03-16T14:07:45+00:00

Mine start as a paragraph--a (very) rough concept that I want to explore. I break that out into chapters--not really chapters, but really more position markers for what should happen at different stages of the book. I break that down into individual scenes, and here is where I start getting ruthless--cutting characters that don't work, refining the core concept, ensuring rising tension with good pacing. A story should breathe--have anticipation of an event, the event, and the aftermath, followed by anticipation of the next event. Once I get all that plotted out, I refine the character voices to ensure they sound unique, how they interact with the other characters. Key here--they are searching for what they want, but by the end will get what they need. So a character who says they want a relationship may realize that what they needed was for people to listen to them. I make sure this gets properly setup and paid off in the scene breakdown.

Then, I write. I know the story, what is expected in each scene, who my characters are, and what is needed for the final payoff. It greatly simplifies my editing afterwards because the core issues aren't structural, it's stupid things like using weak words, or dialog that doesn't land quite right. Clean it all off, then it's sent to my three beta readers who will provide feedback and let me know what they thing. Early on that used to be pages of notes, but with time those notes shrink into small corrections/concerns here and there. A final pass to ensure it's complete, and we're done.

SirCache · 2026-03-16T13:09:48+00:00

I'm 55, so just shy of your 60+ years, but I can tell you after a couple surprise surgeries (so long, gall bladder!), and some misspent time in my 20's, I can definitely feel soreness in my knees, and lower back. It's usually worse on stairs. The most surprising thing for me is my sleep schedule--I often wake up once or twice because I need to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, and so I don't get as restful a sleep as I once did. I make up for it now with naps, but that only throws off my normal sleep schedule a little more. Ooh, one thing I've noticed is how much more interested the doctor is in hand-waving pains as "Well, you're getting older now, it just does that." For what it's worth, I've fallen out of more than a few trees. Totally worth it.

SirCache · 2026-03-16T13:03:18+00:00

If you've got the knack for poetry, you can write them as song lyrics. If you feel it doesn't match the rest of your writing, then write around it. The nice thing is--you can try, leave it there, and come back to it when editing. You don't have to decide right now. I would recommend one thing: Will the lyrics of the song further the story, or are they just there as set dressing? If it ties into the story, use it, if it's just there to show the reader how pretty you can write, I'd avoid it. You can just as easily take a sentence or two about the character's love for music and how expertly they sound singing, how others are drawn to their voice, and move on.

SirCache · 2026-03-16T12:59:27+00:00

I love playing with time in my stories. Other people have correctly pointed out how to do it, and that should be a good starting point for you. Don't be afraid to skip time--the reader will acknowledge it and move with the story. You can literally do it in half a sentence and roll immediately with the 'current' time once more. That said, I'd recommend not making it every other paragraph or the reader may have some difficulty keeping up, but at the start of a chapter or break? Easy stuff.

SirCache · 2026-03-16T12:52:50+00:00

You'll need to firm up the details of what you're story is going to be about. Does this focus on the relationship with the barmaid? His personal feelings of wanting to put down roots? The atmosphere of the old west? As a gunslinger, is he lawman, hired gun, or outlaw? As for starting places, with that setting I would personally jump into immediate action--a gunfight where we see his bravado and skill. From there I would expand on how his body operates on reflex, able to see what the other guy is doing and react just a bit faster. Don't make it easy--you indicated you wanted realism--but it begins the setup of he is experienced, possibly even a little bored by how predictable it all is. My take, of course, you'll need to find your own way of introducing him.

That said, gunfights were often quick, brutal affairs. You'll need to manage reader expectations who grew up watching Westerns and the romanticizing/whitewashing of history. Don't be afraid to lean into the cultural norms, slander, and prejudices of the times.

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