BookwormA

Forgive my spelling, I'm still waking up.

Okay. I don't know if anyone here has read Tamara Pierce's "Protector of the Small" or the "Lioness Rampant" series, but they are about girls who overcome great odds and hardships to become knights.

I've recently started a story, where the main character is a girl. Knighthood is not her goal, but one of the steps to becoming what she wants to be. I'm also afraid of ending copying her characters too much. The girl is friends with the Prince, like in the Lioness Rampant Series. Also, there is a God and Goddess that they worship, one more for males than females and vice versa.

Is that Plagiarism that it's a similar idea of a girl achieving something that normally only boys were accepted to become, as well as copying a similar feel of time?

Thanks

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mammamaia

it's not plagiarism if you don't copy others' characters/settings/plots too closely, but it's not likely to get you published...

to interest publishers [and readers], you'll have to come up with something fresh, different enough to not make the reader immediately think of all those who've gone down that road ahead of you...

sure, there are plenty of near-clones on the shelves, from a variety of authors... but, if you want to be a writer, why not be a really good one and rely on your own imagination rather than latch onto others' coattails?

it's a fact that there are only 3 totally original plot concepts and a finite number of basic story lines... good writers don't let that stop them from doing the same old/same old in new and fairly unique ways...

so, put your talent to the test and see if you can't come up with something that hasn't been so done to death yet, ok?... give that tired old plot some new twists, a wild new setting, eccentric new characters for the reader to go, 'Wow, that's cool!' over...

love and hugs, maia

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Kelhanion

mammamaia had some good points. Maybe you could twist the setting eg. by changing the gender roles: make women the knights (and alter the defition of a knight) and make a young boy to pursue that womanly career. That could definately raise some interesting social issues.

That would of course change your genre from (realistic?) medieval to fantasy of some kind.

Just making wild suggestions. You should of course write something you feel comfortable with.

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demonic_harmonic

One thing: do NOT have this situation: a young girl sets out to accomplish her goals, and a young rich man falls in love with her, but she does not love him back. they go through alot together, and she ends up falling in love anyway.


please.


spare us all. and most importantly, spare yourself.


and dont have the girl and her guy friend fall in love, either. its just too cliche. if you want any love in it, then find an original way to do it. or have it already set up as the story opens, so everyone already knows who is with who. that way, you can avoid the expected lovey dovey angst scenes between unrequited love.

Talia_Brie

It's not plagiarism, but as everyone has said, it's not exactly original either. If you see the similarities, chances are so will a lot of other people. And while plenty of writers make an entire career of writing the same book over and over (Ray Feist, Elisabeth Moon), they don't often make careers writing someone else's book over and over.

To be brutal, I'd say discard this idea completely. It's not original enough, and and changes you make re: genders and things will not be wholesale enough to make the book stand on its own.

You need to believe in yourself, and your ability to make something fresh, rather than rely on something that you see as similar to another work.

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Capulet

Do you know how many "fighter versus wizard' stories have been published over the years? TONS!

If you like the storyline, then go forward with it. If you're worried that some of your specific plot line and terminology overlaps with another popular author, then play around with it.

Does she have to become a knight? If so, do you have to call it a "knight"? It sounds like the essence of the plot device is that she needs to overcome the adversity of gender politics to achieve a goal a girl normally wouldn't be able to accomplish.

Instead of a knight she could aspire to become one of the king's private guard, steward of the castle, council elder, or even a member of the dreaded, mystical and mysterious Vandicalinators!!! OoOoOoOoo

Analyze what the goals and themes of your story are, and tweak the specifics of your story elements to make it unique and special.

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Pats

Capulet is making an interesting point. Especially wether you have to call it being a "knight." My sone is in love with Kathryn Lasky's, Guardians of Ga'Hoole series.

I mean, who's ever heard of a Guardian of Ga'Hoole? Nobody. And the kids eat her books up!

Pats---the one what thinks Ga'Hoole sounds like something an owl would say

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