Quote by KatarinaTechgoddess
I feel like I’ve read that story rather recently but for the life of me can’t recall exactly where. It’s gonna bug me now till I figure it out.
I had a marvelous idea for a story and then discovered over tea that my neighbor who is a children’s author was writing a series of books that was basically the gist of the story I was going to write. Now I’m wondering if I got the idea from her subconsciously or if we had a conversation where I wasn’t 100% tuned in (my ADHD can make it hard for me to focus at times). Regardless, I’m thrilled for her and bummed for me. Not that I have time to do justice to such a story but it would have been fun.
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I have an appointment today with the cancer doc to see if I get the “all clear” or whether another round of chemo is in my future. All good vibes welcome! Thanks!
Absolutely – good vibes from all of us, all day long!
Meanwhile, I once wrote a book about entrepreneurship (two actually, but this story relates to the first one). In it, I interviewed a woman by the name of Marci Lipman. She was a college drop-out who started by selling graphic art, framed and unframed, found she had an eye and talent for spotting good ones, and decided to make a business of it. She started making (having made) sweatshirts, sweaters, and t-shirts with eye-catching graphics that became immensely popular, which is quite an accomplishment in the incredibly competitive clothing business. Lady Jay still has a couple of her sweatshirts and they still look amazing, at least a decade later.
In my interview, I asked her about good ideas, and what you did if someone else had done your idea before. Her reply was, I found, immensely helpful.
"So it's been done before! So do it different, do it better! Everything's been done before. Don't let that stop you!"
An idea – for a story, an invention, a screenplay, a sweater – cannot be copyrighted, patented, or trademarked. It's only the specific expression or implementation that can be protected.
Moreover, as you have no intention of profiting from the idea, it would be difficult to sue for damages.
So I would say, Kat, that you should go ahead and write your version of that idea. If you want, you can tell your friend, or even acknowledge her idea in a prologue. If she objects, then don't, but foreswear for friendship, not for concern about copying.
As I said in both books on entrepreneurship: Good ideas are a dime a dozen; it's execution that pays the bills!
And you are outstanding at execution, my friend!