I'm not delusional about the nature of the science fiction novel I'm (very) slowly working on. A brief run down might be as follows:
- Set 10's of millennia in Human's future but in a neighbouring galaxy
- Discovery of ancient artifact
- Artifact turns violent on the discoverers
- More discoveries by different people
- Non-human race who built them come back to claim ownership of the galaxy from inhabitants (through violence, they believed they "owned" it and placed beacons when they left due to their own reasons)
- Seriously technologically advanced
- Benevolent race who lived around the same time appear to aid humans as they foresaw this happening
- Bilbo Baggins lives happily ever after to the end of his days.
This isn't a review of my particular story/plot, but I was wondering if it's really so bad to end up (by accident, you might say) with a plot that, while unique, has been done similarly before? Even though I feel I could do my particular idea justice, I can't help but notice it becoming more and more generic as I think about it.
Should I try to differentiate it as much as possible to the "generic" or just get on with it?
Answer
Everything has been done before. Seriously. I've taken two Ancient Literature courses and it's amazing how many plots are basically recycled versions of older plots. Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Twilight, Harry Potter - their plots all model older books and plays from hundreds of years ago. Even parts of the Bible are found in manuscripts that predate Christianity by many many years. As long as the plot isn't a carbon copy of another book, you're pretty much good to go.
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