forum Accidentally made my plot too similar to an existing story?

Started July 25, 2018 by @nuetella

tune

So here's my problem: I've came up with a plot that I really want to write, but I'm also now realising it's very very similar to an existing book, and I'm wondering if there's any way I can still do it without it being way too close, or if I should just give up and throw it out.

For a little bit of background, the story I intended to write was intended for a visual novel format (basically, think a text story that has music, character sprites, ect. accompanying it, and often has choices you can make that influence the ending you get in the end) and follows a young girl struggling to deal with the sudden death of her best friend, who she relied on heavily (to an admittedly unhealthy extent at times), and is now finding it hard to function in her daily life without her. She doesn't have to worry about this for long though; because not long after her death, her deceased friend begins reappearing in her life again - this time, as a 'ghost' who's only visible to her. Everything seems like it's back to normal again (even if only she can see her friend anymore) but the cracks start coming through when it becomes increasingly apparent that her friend has absolutely no intentions of resting in peace and letting her moving on, and even starts pressuring her to sabotage potential new friendships and chances.
If I go with the visual novel format, there'll probably be various endings, based on the choices you make and whether the protagonist is willing to let herself move on or not.

..so that was all well and good until I remembered a book from my childhood, Vicky Angel, that has a super similar premise - a girls' best friend dies suddenly, said best friend starts manifesting as a ghost and kinda keeps manipulating her life from beyond the grave. Ack.

So, sorry for the long explanation but my basic question is: D'you think there's potential to tell this story and change it up enough so it's not similar enough to raise an eyebrow, but not so different that it's completely unlike the original concept? and also, does having it be a visual novel and not a traditional book like Vicky Angel help at all in making it different?

I haven't read Vicky Angel, but I really like the sound of your book! I think it would definitely help if it was a visual book more then a traditional book. I totally understand the struggle of making sure something isn't like an already existing story!

I like taking elements from different stories, and placing them in my stories. For example, my official novel is similar to Chronicles of Narnia, my fanfic has some elements from Lion King, despite being an Fire Emblem fanfic.

Yeah, my first 'story' was a cross between Narnia and My Little Pony.

I work as a primary school librarian, and just reading your plot I thought, "I wonder if the book the OP thinks this is similar to is that one by Jacqueline Wilson". And sure enough, it was that one. I've only read the blurb of Vicky Angel but they do sound very similar, and what you don't want is people having read Wilson's work reading the blurb of yours and going, 'Hey, this sounds really familiar…"

I think having it in visual format is a good start for a change (as well as having different endings), but you might need more than that to differentiate your book. Here's one idea: instead of having the live friend being the one that relied on the deceased one, what would happen if you swapped it around? Then you have a live friend who, though she misses her friend, no longer has the burden of trying to fix all her friend's problems until hey, guess who shows up as a ghost, has no intention of moving on, and still needs help?

That's only one idea. I think your general plot idea can still work, but you will need to make it clearly distinct from Wilson's existing work.