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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/38005
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/38005
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

A story is like a person. Many people lead similar lives and yet each person we meet is unique. Every fireman we meet is a different fireman. Every nurse is a different nurse. Every teacher is a different teacher. Every cop is a different cop.

Even when they fall into stereotypical behaviors -- even if the firmen all keep dalmatians and the cops all eat donuts -- they are still unique individual people. The ones we know, we recognize. When we meet another, they are not the same person, through their life and work may be very similar. A stranger from the next firehouse is not your fireman buddy, even if they wear the same hat, support the same teams, drink the same beer, and live on the same street.

We meet each story as we meet each person. They may take a familiar form, have a familiar plot and setting and crisis and resolution, but they are unique stories and we recognize them a such.

But when we meet a story that is trying to be another story in disguise, we are not fooled. When we meet a story that is aping another story, we see through the deception. This is not a matter of degrees. It can't be decided by counting plot points or by doing side by side character and event comparisons. It is a matter of character. It is not quantifiable, but it is instantly recognizable. (Somehow, I think, we recognize the pale imitation even when we have not seen the original, just as we would recognize a wax work as wax even if we had never met the real person.)

Is your story to similar to a published work. Does it feel similar? Does it feel derivative? Does it feel like pastiche? It is really all about authenticity and authenticity is a property of the whole not the parts.

Original score: 11