Writing question: How do you handle finding out your story idea has already been written?
The other day I posted this:
Earlier this week, per THR:
Liv Tyler and Patrick Wilson have been cast in the suspense film “The Ledge” from first-time writer-director Matthew Chapman.
The actors join Terrence Howard and Charlie Hunnam in the story of a man (Hunnam) standing on a high-rise ledge who insists he must jump by noon as the policeman below (Howard) tries to manage the situation.
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“ ‘The Ledge’ examines the different and sometimes dangerous beliefs people adopt as a means of surviving emotional trauma,” Chapman said.
That provoked this comment from Nicholas:
Dammit. I’ve had a concept similar to this for about a year or two now. Took place entirely on a ledge and everything. Oh well… It was something I probably wasn’t going to write to begin with. It’s still annoying when someone beats you to it.
Annoying? Oh, yes. And it can be much worse. What if you spend 6 months writing a spec script only to discover a week before your agents are set to go out with it to buyers, someone else sells a similar project? That’s what happened to Siegel & Myers back in 1989. We had written a comedy spec about a couple who adopt the child from hell. Then Problem Child sold:
A young boy is just short of a monster. He is adopted by a loving man and his wacky wife. The laughs keep coming as the boy pushes them to the limits.
We sent out our script. Same response all over town. “Sorry, same story.”
It can be maddening.
I’m sure many GITS readers have similar stories, working on something only to discover a similar project sells. Or you find there’s something already in development. Or an idea you have on your back burner and that gets sold out from under you.
So my question is this: How do you handle it when you find out your story has basically been blown out of the water by another project?
Feel free to post your sob stories here as well.
And Nicholas: I very much feel your pain.
UPDATE: In comments, Nick said this:
But one positive I took away from it — my ideas are in line with what Hollywood is currently looking for. Made me smile, actually.
That is one positive a writer can take from such an experience — and it’s not a small thing. If your goal is to sell a mainstream, commercial spec script to a major movie studio, you need all the confidence you can muster in every story you choose to write. And if you’ve had a few (or more) ideas that you find either selling or already on development slates, that should encourage you per your own creative instincts.
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