Plagiarism vs Inspiration: How to NOT Rip Off Other Stories (Writing Advice)

[@vipulparmar6974]

' I steal from every single movie - ever made ' A quote by quentin tarantino that suits well here❤😅

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Yep, and he weaves all those ideas into something unique

[@Conserpov]

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty "First create a fanfic, then originalize it" - seems like an efficient method

[@kebabs9106]

​@@Conserpov50 Shades of Grey was originally a Twilight fanfiction.

[@aaronleverton4221]

@@kebabs9106 I've read novels and series that did not surpass their source material, but given the bar set that's no great insult. I've read novels and series that surpassed the source material to the point of practically inventing new genres (according to some fans). The quoted source material was not a high bar and does not inspire confidence.

[@genoob5843]

@@kebabs9106and it didn’t turn out to be very good, did it?

[@Conserpov]

Tarantino said that if he really liked one cool scene or one character in some movie, he'd be inspired to expand it into a whole other movie ("Make the movie we've never seen before because you haven't made it"). Which seems to be a technique that works quite well. It's like fanfiction, but taken to another level.

[@allykins1767]

Oh my God that’s beautiful.

[@thomriley1036]

Django Unchained (2012) is really a prequel to Shaft (1971), with Brunehilde's last name and the presence of Samuel L Jackson being nods to both.

[@rayvenkman2087]

The goon that gets clapped in act one? I’ll make a film where a goon inspired by the goon deals with his own mortality and how he comes to terms with it.

[@VincentStevenStudio]

same with music. Make the song that you want to listen to but doesn't exist yet because you haven't made it.

[@coolconeysarecool8910]

Exactly! Thats how cool crossovers and stuff gets made!

[@kevingluys3063]

When I was a kid, basically my stories where just Halo with different names. Which is a bit hilarious since Halo is basically just a mash up of Stargate, Starship Troopers, and Alien

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Haha my first story was a blatant rip-off of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The games of that era were inspiring

[@MegaKnight2012]

It would be real interesting to see a Halo like story but instead of just the Covenant and UNSC, show the independent humans and aliens that broke off from their mega-sized factions to fight evil without major help and explored whatever was left by past civilizations that the Covenant stand-ins are fighting for. One anime short, 1337, explored a family of Spartans raised by an AI mother that stayed out of the war.

[@KingofGoatsGGG]

​@@WriterBrandonMcNulty Mine is Dx2

[@thomriley1036]

Good points all, but don't forget about Larry Niven's Ringworld. His Kzinti "proud warrior race" cat people even wind up in Star Trek.

[@ldragon2515]

Heck, my writing project is basically a love letter to many of my favorite FPS games. XD

[@racheltheradiant4675]

I get more inspiration from characters than stories. I like to imagine "How would this person with this personality react in this world." When I was young I played Barbie dolls with a bunch of Kens as the A- Team. All their personalities were so distinct and I loved it.

[@Truckkun5]

❤

[@reichen609]

@racheltheradiant4675 We have the same thought process. - future novelist and mangaka from Asia.

[@tonuahmed4227]

I didn't have kens but joes...I convinced my sister to play spy/superhero doll game combining my doll with her barbie...it was really fun playing with them...

[@N_DAnimationEnthusiast]

I use a similar philosophy

[@Ultra_DuDu]

@@tonuahmed4227 I wouldn't be surprised to learn if there was an actual secret agent Barbie doll tbh.

[@AryaCyrus]

Plagiarism is a symptom not a problem. It shows your underlying theme is lacking. If your theme is novel, you can't plagiarize even if you want to. Theme paints everything in a different light. The same line from another story would have a different meaning in yours.

[@SmokingBirds]

Well, A fistful of dollars proved that theme is not enough if you copy paste the plot.

[@jonathandixon1305]

@@SmokingBirdsIndeed. However, there are some stories that you can copy the premise, but write your own story. Hunger Games is a perfect example of it.

[@channel45853]

@@SmokingBirds I don't know about that, a theme completely changes a story, even if the plot is similar to others. Setting, tone, character, etc.

[@lunarshadow5584]

@@channel45853 Exactly. Treasure Planet's multiple iterations may have the same beginning but are completely different because of the contents of the story, even beloved for different reasons despite riding the same wave.

[@magicmoonmonke]

I don't know, themes are great but some creators pry go back and look back at stories with similar themes for ideas. Creativity isn't an anti-social construct

[@T_C_R]

The part about nothing being 100% original is beyond true. Back in 2016, I had made a few original characters and their plots. Later, in 2020, I started studying Hamlet and realised how the basic premise was the same as that of my characters (evil uncle murders his own brother and takes the throne from his nephew, while being interested in the nephew's mother). I brought that up with someone, expressing my concerns because of the similarity and if I could even write my story anymore, the person responded with the same concept of nothing being completely original, and said that Lion King itself was basically Hamlet with lions. In 2016, I hadn't read Hamlet or even watched Lion King to draw this premise from, it made me realise how people can come up with the exact same premise on their own, and do something different with it To answer today's question, for one of my stories, I have drawn inspiration from the 1942 Portuguese film O Pátio das Cantigas, a lighthearted comedy about a group of Portuguese neighbours and their relationships. The film is a classic of Portuguese cinema

[@noshowmen]

This is indeed a strange feeling! When I watched a CN cartoon of giant robots (MegaXLR?) with my godchildren, I always joked that it would be more interesting if it were mobile cities in a post-apocalypse scenario and the cities were in a unified effort against the Kaijus. A few years ago there was a movie called Mortal Engines with an aesthetic very close to what I imagined based on a book from the 2000s! This type of Synchronicity has become more and more frequent with the opening of mass communications. I hope that you are still building your work, even if it is not the watershed you imagined.

[@T_C_R]

@@noshowmen Wow, definitely a strange feeling, thanks for sharing that! And yes, I'm still builing on my work, I have since grown the overall world it's set in, so the Hamlet plot line is no longer the main focus, but it's still there. I mostly do fantasy and historical fiction, I'm focusing on the latter while I build my fantasy world in the background

[@jonathandixon1305]

As long as you don’t copy quotes, setting, etc. you are fine. Hamlet was taken from a previous story and Shakespeare isn’t rising from the dead to sue you.

[@CenturionMariusVinicius]

Lmao my first story was basically like this. Evil uncle poisons the King, his own brother, but it's exposed and executed for treason. Then, his son follows on his footsteps and also attempts to overthrow the recently crowned King, his cousin (Who happens to be the main character). The MC manages to escape and lives in exile for 5 years until he returns and slay the usurper in a duel.

[@T_C_R]

@@CenturionMariusVinicius Wow, sounds like an awesome story!!! My MC also manages to get his throne back from the usurper and was in exiled for a while! But not in a duel, more of a good old storming of the palace with his supporters

[@Nightmarc369]

This is what I needed to hear. I've wanted to be a novelist since i was in elementary school, and im inspired by Neil Gaiman, Poe, Lovecraft, and Tolkien, but I had struggled with worry that my story ideas were too similar to others to where it once slowed my writing progress, but now I've made some peace with it, realizing that everything has been done and what matters is how it is done in your own voice, which has gradually got me back on my writing track, where I should be publishing some of my stuff this year

[@gaiusfulmen]

Hey that's great. Hope it goes well 🍀

[@DeetotheDubs]

I'm just leaving a comment in case you decide to come back and share your work. Also, I wish you luck. I've had a story idea bouncing in my head for a good while but can never find the motivation and I worry that I won't be able to create the emotional impact I want the story to have.

[@eMAyeX16]

Leaving a comment so I remember this. If I find out the title when it is published I will definitely get it.

[@eMAyeX16]

@@DeetotheDubs Look, I’m writing a story now and have been for like a year and a half (ish) and I am having major writers block currently. I don’t seem to be following this advice myself but I would say if you enjoy writing. Do it. (Cliche I know) but if you write what you truly want to write then it will feel genuine to the audience/readers. You aren’t the next Tolkien, Rowling, Allen Poe, Lovecraft, blah blah blah. You won’t be. But don’t TRY to be. Be unique in every way you can. And I think people will care. They don’t want middle earth and a band of hobbits fighting against evil _again_. They want *new* However, if you read all of this: take my advice with a grain of salt. I have no idea what I’m talking about. Either way hope I could help in some way.

[@DeetotheDubs]

@user-iv1db1yc9u Oh, that's the worst place in town; Writer's Block 😅 Been there. Thank you. Sometimes, the cliche at the right time is the right thing. I appreciate the suggestion/advice. If you need or want someone to bounce ideas off of, I could do with more writing types in my social circle. Edit: missed a word

[@GimmeBooks95]

A wandering lone wolf survivalist shows up to a theme park that is controlled by two dinosaur families. He maniplulates the dinosaurs into fighting each other before being beaten up, and eventually battling the dinosaurs himself.

[@lacoycooks2825]

I love how you’re mine thinks lol😅😅

[@lacoycooks2825]

Mind

[@WellWisdom.]

I'll pay to watch that.

[@ngoctrand.6032]

This. One of my biggest anxiety since I was a kid until now is that the work that I poured my heart and soul into making ends up similar to someone else’s. And it happens way too darn often. No matter how much I touch up my own story to differentiate it to the original creator’s. It would still upset me greatly that my work is not unique

[@gabesantamaria3805]

I absolutely get what you’re saying. It has happened to me too ever since I started writing my own novel. My book is about royal houses at war, which people will inevitably compare to stories like Game of Thrones and Dune, and while I did get a lot of inspiration from those two, eventually I just found my own voice. The fundamental message and purpose of my story is different, the characters are different, the universe is different and the way I go about telling the story is different. Eventually, you just have to stop torturing yourself over not being able to be 100% original. It’s more about execution and adding your own themes and messages to what might be a common plot.

[@AnthonyLeighDunstan]

Of mice and men is probably the most profound experience I’ve had reading a book. I read it in high school and the necessary unavoidable tragedy of it all made me openly weep on its last pages. Inconsolably and alone. As a consequence, when I’m writing close man-to-man relationships, I always go to how Steinbeck did it because he introduced, prepared and executed that relationship so so well.

[@CircmcisionIsChi1dAbus3]

I hope Tolkein doesn't mind i was inspired by the balrog lol since its not plot heavy its not plagarism lol

[@yesspazsmith9895]

I have a short story in an upcoming collection that I started writing after watching "American Graffiti." It's set entirely in a 1950s-style diner. My sister, at the time, was a waitress at a '50s diner in town called Xan's Diner, complete with a soda fountain, soda jerk, jukebox filled with 50s' music, black and white tile floors, raised booths, and red vinyl seats. It was a kitschy cool place.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Awesome! Congrats on getting it published

[@whosaidthat84]

I absolutely love Alice in Borderland and Squid Game. Even though I noticed the obvious similarities between the two they felt so different. Good examples there.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Same here. Loved them both. Still need to fire up AiB Season 2

[@whosaidthat84]

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty it's great! Definitely worth your time. Keep up the good work!

[@pn2294]

What’s funny is that The World Ends with You predates Alice in Borderland.

[@virvum_cypher]

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty Worth noting that the manga the AiB show is based off of came out in 2010.

[@tonuahmed4227]

Battle royal is actually really primal concept that has revamped again in this decade...Japan were first to modernize it with the "battle royal"...unless someone else also did it that I forgot...

[@thomasmann4536]

the story that is by far my biggest inspiration is Antigone by Sophocles. Idk why, but I found it uniquely fascinating, that the entire tragedy ensues simply because the people dont understand each other and realize crucial info too late. It's not the cheap "people aren't talking to each other like adults" trope we know from so many movies, but rather people talk, just they dont understand where the other is coming from.

[@heatherwind]

That's an interesting interpretation. To me, the tragedy is in the character of Antigone herself -- she's willing to completely defy the will of her uncle, losing her bethrothed, her station, and her life, all to see her brother properly buried. Not because she agrees with what her brother did, but because it was the will of the gods, and their law was higher than any mortal king's spite. She truly believed she had no options, especially once her sister (the only member of her immediate family she had left) refused to help her. It wasn't that her uncle the King didn't understand her, he outright believed he had the divine right to deny someone proper burial, even to the length of uncovering the body every time it was discovered, and posting guards. His own son calls him out on his arrogance, remarking 'you'd make a fine king of a desert island.' Her sister and betrothed both understood what she was doing, and why, and encouraged her not to continue to honor the fallen. Antigone is a martyr of faith, whose death is even more insulting that her uncle thought by burying her alive with a little food and water meant her death wasn't his fault. The story is both a morality tale of honoring the laws of the gods over men, but also cautionary to those in power to remember they're mortal and aren't above the gods.

[@thomasmann4536]

@@heatherwind Yes, although I wouldn't call her the tragic character. Mostly, in greek works, the tragic character is the one who does something wrong and then pays for it dearly, like Oedipus, Orestes, etc. (Philoktetes being a notable exception), whereas Antigone was quite strong in her resolve from beginning to end. Kreon, to me, seems the much more conflicted character, even more so considering that Antigone is basically family, but he does it out of upholding the laws of men which he deems his duty. He doesnt make an exception for her (because he believes that everyone is equal before the law) and his strict adherence to law is what bites him in the ass, not his arrogance, I would say. And what you said in the end is also true, which is why I believe that Kreon is the main tragic character: The Greeks liked there to be a lesson in their tragedies, and there isn't much of a lesson to be learned from Antigone.

[@LuisRodriguez-xj8pu]

This reminds me of the Eragon book series. When I read the books, all I could think about was Star Wars because the plot was exactly the same. But the author pulled from multiple sources by incorporating fantasy like dragons and magical races. It’s basically Star Wars meets Lord of the Rings.

[@sawanna508]

But a couple of other fantasy series are like that beside the end is quiet different. -The Villain is not even Eragon 's father in the end. - Star Wars is inspired by other sources as well (Dune, Valerian, maybe John Carter as well).

[@thomriley1036]

​@@sawanna508 I actually have been thinking about this quite a bit lately. Back in the 1970's, Fox & Lucasfilm attempted to file a lawsuit against the makers of Battlestar Galactica over allegations of plagiarism. (This went on for years until eventually settling out of court.) But, if you consider that the original Star Wars is really just the plot of Kurosawa's Hidden Fortress with a bit of The Dam Busters (1955) tossed in at the end for the trench run, all the glaring Dune series rip-offs in Star Wars grow louder and louder. It comes to me that, in our current day and age, that deciding factor on plagiarism vs inspiration often comes down to which party is capable of throwing the most lawyer money at a court case to leverage a party towards settling. Children will typically favor the franchises that they were exposed to at an earlier age, growing up to accept their childhood favorites as the pavlovian-response approved originals, while eschewing earlier works that challenge their comfort zones.

[@DarkAshenfall]

Star Wars, as George has openly stated, is based on the classic heroes journey, and takes influence from Flash Gordon, Odyssey (the old Greek story), among others. Writing is just a constant cycle of being inspired by writers before and a combination of unique perspectives.

[@thomriley1036]

@@DarkAshenfall Yeah, but when you read Dune Messiah you can see the actual chapters he lifted some of the most classic scenes from, and then he continued to modify the Star Wars to look just like Dune as Frank Herbert wrote more and more books. Jabba went from being a bipedal walrus man in the 1976 novelization, to a worm-guy on a rolly cart after God Emperor came out in 1980. He couldn't make a good movie after.

[@DarkAshenfall]

@@thomriley1036 I haven't read all those Dune books, so I am uncertain of the scenes you speak of. As for the walrus/worm-man change, to be fair anthropomorphising animals into humanoid aliens is always low-tier sci-fi in my opinion. It shows a lack of creativity to just fall back on animals. As for the worm-man, as Brandon mentioned in this video, using something from another story is not strictly a bad thing. Jabba is nothing like the Leto II to boot. Also, the Hutts are not human's changed into "worms". They are a distinct alien race. Leto II and Jabba share only moderately similar cosmetic appearances. Nothing else about them is remotely the same. You can't hold Jabba's appearance change against Lucas. George did his due diligence and made Jabba a unique entity entirely his own character.

[@turkishissunlanguage]

Kaiji is my favourite manga and anime. It really gives you a lot of inspo as it gave to Squid Game. I'm currently reading a spin-off series of it which has Ichijou (an antagonist of Kaiji in S2) as its main character. Totally recommend it!

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

I need to check it out. Love the subgenre. Check out the Zero Escape video games if you haven’t already

[@LunrFox]

The story of Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is something I've drawn inspiration from a lot. The story of two nations fighting each other for centuries with no victor, and the people of each nation are only soldiers born and raised to fight in the endless war. I really liked that concept, so I made that a very rough outline for my story.

[@keelami8688]

Wow, I was not expecting to find another Xenoblade fan here. Xenoblade has been a big inspiration for me in my writing and Xenoblade 3 especially.

[@tudorturcu1563]

Fantastic video, Brandon. One of my biggest problems as a writer has always been the pressure to create something 100 per cent original and desperately trying to avoid ANY inspiration because I thought that would make me a plagiarist.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Thanks! And yeah the pressure to be original is REAL but you gotta remember you're chasing the impossible

[@MegaKnight2012]

Guillermo Del Toro said that there aren't original stories. What makes them original is the storyteller. Like Brandon said, give different storytellers the same premise to work with, and they'll write their own stories

[@unicorntomboy9736]

There are only seven basic plot types that exist anyways. Most media and creative works in regards to writing are just variations, retellings and remixing of them over and over again. Most of all, "The Hero's Journey" template basically underlies every single good story ever told since Homer's Iliad and The Odyssey during Classical Greece, right up to the modern day.

[@jonahduesman4779]

I'm somewhat new to the channel and this month I really got insecure about my writing thinking I am not original or I'm just copying other stories but this video really makes me feel a lot better thx 👍

[@gtube6913]

One very annoying thing is when you honestly discover plagiarism in ur initial ideas. At times, I've not even gotten to the page because plenty has been done already. Thanks for the great video as always.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Yeah unfortunately that happens sometimes. A brilliant idea sparks within your mind, then someone points out that it's already been done

[@rottensquid]

I think it's a mistake to throw away the whole idea. After all, something in your mind attached to it. You may as well see if the borrowed idea leads you somewhere unique. Some of the best fiction out there began that way, from Shakespeare to Tolkien to all the films in this video. Audiences don't necessarily want a completely unique idea. They connect to familiarity as much as writers. The originality isn't in where you start, it's in where you go.

[@gtube6913]

@@rottensquid yeh I do agree. Sometimes I reimagine how i could reframe an idea. Or salvage parts to merge into others. I just consider too much about making something lesser than my influences.

[@rottensquid]

@@gtube6913 I know that pain all too well. We'll never live up to our influences, anymore than they lived up to theirs. The point isn't to be as good as them. The point is to do your thing. And the way to do that is follow your instinct, even if it leads you to "copy" them. The biggest hurdle in creativity is when we think like a critic rather than an artist. Critical assessment has its place, but that place comes AFTER inspiration, not before it. What shuts us down is when we criticize our stuff before we've started. Let it out, let it flow. Let yourself be an inflated ego for a bit. Pretend you're a genius, and that everything you do is gold. You can re-put the inner critic on it later. But it'll probably be better than you think. And I usually find that once it's out, getting it from a mess to something magical always takes less effort than you think. Sometimes, it's just that one key edit that makes all the difference.

[@unicorntomboy9736]

That is a big mistake. Most Isekai anime and romance novels rip off and steal from each other all the time, so it's ok for you to do it too.

[@JuanFelipeCalle]

I would also suggest reading widely (and more generally, consuming all arts widely). This will give you the broadest base for inspiration.

[@jonathandixon1305]

Read, grab real life inspiration, etc.

[@rayvenkman2087]

@@jonathandixon1305Especially reading up on history and reading the headlines. There’s always bound to be an inspiration there somewhere like the Bruiser Brody Stabbing Incident.

[@MrGreaves]

I always like to flip basic concepts into something completely different too. In high school, I frequently wrote very bleak, disturbing or horror-based short stories for my homework or assessments. So my English teacher asked me to write a story about hope for once. And so I wrote a short horror story about a woman named “Hope”. I think this applies to any other ideas too. Maybe write a zombie apocalypse story but the virus actually improves people’s health and the “survivors” just don’t understand - like the unused ending for I Am Legend.

[@helenakrieger5880]

Thank you for bringing this up. I love Tolkien and Lewis, but when I write, I try and be extra careful not to copy, though I will often find myself comparing my two stories to Lord of the Rings and Narnia. I have been getting better, though. I learned this quote: "of course it has been told before-but not by you.'

[@StudentGamer47]

I've been struggling with this for a long time with my own writing ever since 2006. I'm writing an adventure-fantasy inspired book drawing inspiration from Indiana Jones, The Mummy, Uncharted, and DnD. While the search is the main focus, there's also a subplot with the main character dealing with trama from the war he was in and how it relates to him now. My wife has pushed me to be as original as possible and I'm hoping I'm on the right path with my book.

[@StormsofPeril]

THE BRAINSTORMING BULLET POINTS WORK! IDEAS ARE COMING IN LIKE CRAZY! EVERY TIME I WRITE AN IDEA DOWN, IT INSPIRES A NEW IDEA TO FORM!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

[@LexVanguard2004]

I'd say I've drawn most inspiration from Percy Jackson, mostly the writing style that focuses heavily on the voice of the main character, that witty and colloquial teenage point of view that lends itself so well to the main character of my superhero story.

[@DaveCaveDrawsArchives]

I've only recently started exploring writing, I'm definitely a beginner and your videos are great man. Whenever I write a short story, I can't help but reference the story of Final Fantasy 10 all the time. But I'm also very inspired by the way you write these videos. IF i were to ever make video tutorials of some kind, I'd be drawing inspiration from your videos for sure.

[@filipvadas7602]

I've always subscribed to the idea that if you "steal" ideas from a bunch of thing you love and mash them together into something of your own, then you've alredy taken that first leap into making something new. Also, don't be afraid to admit and be proud of your influences and inspirations. Some of the best writers *ever* basically bragged about the ideas they ripped and remixed into their work in a unique way and nobody thinks any less of them.

[@E_V878]

Kaiji Ultimate Survivor is one of my favorite anime of all time and when I watched Squid Game I instantly knew it heavily drew from it. I didn't like Squid Game all that much. Felt that Kaiji's (the character's) complexity was fragmented into three characters: Gi Hun (gambling addict adrenaline junkie), San Woo (smart strategist) and Ali (naive childlike person). None of those characters felt that rich to me whereas Kaiji's brilliance (to me at least) is in how all 3 aspects of the protagonist struggle against each other constantly. He isn't someone who is cold and does selfish things without a second thought nor is he a pure person who never thinks of betraying someone. A video on this topic would be very interesting. Contradicting struggles in a character's mind Nice vid as always

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

I need to check out Kaiji. I love the Death Game subgenre (ever play the video game Virtue's Last Reward?) and I feel like I should check out one of its chief inspirations. And I'll keep that "Splitting one character into multiple parts" topic in mind. Thanks!

[@pn2294]

@@WriterBrandonMcNultywow I honestly didn’t expect an Uchikoshi reference!😂

[@MegaKnight2012]

I read this as 'Kaiju' and was hoping that meant there was some kind of kaiju/monster survival story with humans and monsters having to work together to survive really nasty humans and monsters

[@pn2294]

@@MegaKnight2012 so like Digimon?

[@gamedev_zombie]

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty You should definitely watch/read Kaiji. Compared to it, Squid Game feels very underwhelming, the characters have very little agency in the games that they play, while in Kaiji it's the difficult decisions that the protagonist has to make make for a really engaging story.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

What's one story you've drawn inspiration from? Let us know!

[@jacindaellison3363]

So, for me, I wrote a flash fiction back in college inspired by Owl City's Fireflies and Toy Story and entered it in our annual writing contest. It placed 5th, and I got a check of $10!

[@ligh7foo7]

I have not written any stories but I do like your content and each of my friends have written a story. If I were to write a story I would be inspired by Matthew Reilly or Shad Brooks, both Australian sci fi / fantasy authors.

[@therealsirchewy]

With the current story I'm writing I took inspiration from a lot of different places, but currently the story I've taken the most inspiration from is Persepolis Rising by James S.A. Corey, as well as several of their other novels

[@lyka1392]

My medieval fantasy series has 3 main inspirations, Assassin's Creed, Elder Scrolls and The Legend of Zelda

[@bluedacooldude]

The goonies

[@AlvinFlang69420]

I am a screenwriter, and I think every writer’s first script should be their own riff on Reservoir Dogs

[@DatsWhatXiSaid]

I write screenplays, and my thoughts are that everyone's 1st script should be a version of Tarantino's 1st film. Wow. I'm so original. But kidding aside, even Tarantino riffed off of "City on Fire" from 1987.

[@MK_ULTRA420]

@@DatsWhatXiSaid Your comment makes me want to support the Hollywood CEOs instead of the writers.

[@ernststravoblofeld]

Or City on Fire?

[@Boomgoesthedynamite12]

​@@DatsWhatXiSaid Don't know about City of Fire, but it's an "unofficial remake" of Kansas City Confidential from 1952.

[@BryGoose]

Kotor 1 and 2 definitely inspired me as a young writer. Just finished a more detailed outline and got nervous that the hero twist is just too much like Revan. Made me nervous.

[@SEmme-ov6yy]

Ooh I like that. KOTOR is definitely one of my inspirations

[@BryGoose]

@@SEmme-ov6yy thank you so much. Writing is hard and scary and any positive reinforcement really does go a long way. Thank you.

[@Doo-topia]

Ordered Entry Wounds last night because your videos are really inspiring for my plans to write horror 👍👍👍

[@DavidCaissy]

Same here!

[@petehealy9819]

I'm 3/4 of the way through Entry Wounds and am enjoying every single page of it!

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Wow, thank you all for checking out Entry Wounds and for the kind words! Please leave Amazon reviews when you finish--those are a huge help. Best of luck with your stories!

[@derekhandson351]

​@@WriterBrandonMcNultyi bought Bad Parts!

[@Sci-Fi_Freak_YT]

I realized back in high school that it’s ultimately impossible to create something 100% original. So we can only take concepts and ideas and merge them together these days to create something “new.”

[@rogeras5966]

Yeah, Another things is that the same idea or concept can be interpreted and executed differently depending on the author, like for example if you tell someone to make a story about dracula, someone might make a horror story like the original, other a romance like twightlight, someone else an action movie like dracula untold, or sony would make a kids story like hotel transilvania or a comedy like reinfield.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Yep, and even within the different genres, authors can tell the story using different tones, pacing, etc. Many ways to stamp your work

[@DiMono]

One of my stories I'm most looking forward to writing is the result of playing a video game, seeing a minor character who was interesting, and thinking "What if that was the main character of a story?" The story I came up with is very different than what was in the game, and it serves mostly as backstory rather than plot, so I'm confident that it's not plagiarism. It's amazing how many good story ideas come from asking "What if?"

[@HikariKobayashi]

A short story I wrote for a self-published sci-fi anthology already had the built-in idea of "Man's search for extraterrestrial life is futile" and put in the thought of "What if we found something?" for my first ever attempt at a horror. I took some inspiration from Lovecraft and the Expanse series, and it worked really well. My current novel, which I hope to shop around to publishers when I'm done with the current draft, is mostly inspired by Final Fantasy, actually.

[@ninjxxitty]

For a long time i used my inspiration of other people music to be that sort of launch pad for a fresh new song but it wasnt just about creating the song what it was also about to me was learning about what works and doesnt work and trying to figure out why. The more indpiration i took from something else the more i made sure to add unique creative and experimental elements to the song to not only understand how the music which inspired me works but as a vehicle to propell my own ideas in a less invested way. Now i typically create my own music with next to 0 intentional inspiration. What i make comes from me. But its because of my ability to learn and understand music as a creator that enables me to express myself fluently.

[@RaveBomb]

This is an interesting bit. A few years ago, myself and a friend participated in a role playing game. From there we started writing stories centered around our characters in the game. Effectively we’ve used the scaffolding of the RPG setting as a starting point, but grown and expanded nearly every aspect of it to suit our stories. Some aspects come from other media. For example, one of the magic wielding character uses his magic in a similar way to how the Wheel of Time series has channellers. Meanwhile our treatment of cybernetics, bionics, and nanotechnology are all lifted from standard tropes on the subject.

[@rishoutfield2043]

This was the first video in ages where I agreed with every single word. I had a professor in college who always hammered originality on us, never using what we'd read or watched, and I found pure originality to be impossible. But I appreciate the idea that every writer brings a unique perspective to their stories, that make them different from everything around them. Well done.

[@giantslayer9335]

One of the ways I try to avoid plagiarism is by looking at a concept and seeing how I can improve it, or fleshing out ideas that I like more that the original creator didn’t prioritize as much. The primary catalyst for my writing has been the Iron Lords faction from Destiny. I adored the idea of a grounded space crusader faction, but was disappointed with how little they were used in the games’ overall story. So for my story, I’m making a new faction inspired by that idea, but given much more focus.

[@dark_nightwing_xl2797]

I Just cant rip off a series

[@lordmarcel902]

I took inspiration from many stories I liked. I'm writing a fantasy/sci fi - story. For the beginning I took inspiration from. Avatar the last airbender. I started with a small group of friends and let them discover this big fantasy world, with keeping mayor future events in mind, so that I can give them an early and proper build up. I also took inspiration from the series Supernatural. I loved the whole angel/demon/archangel and god - stuff and wanted to include something like that. I used the concept of immortality and the werewolf designs from Underworld, the concept of a world with a dangerously powerful being from Batman v Superman, the emotional story construction and the detail in character development from Breaking Bad, the basis for my magic system from the videogame Dark Souls and a few interesting twists, I came up with myself. I also think it really helps, if you have something in your story, that you've never seen before. It prevents you from doubting your story and motivates you to keep on writing :D

[@evanbarkman5786]

I probably drew most of my inspiration for my Wandering Wizard story from The Dresden Files, but from what I gather, most of what I was inspired to do was fairly generic fantasy kitchen sink urban fantasy setting rather than something unique to the Dresden Files. My main character was originally inspired from a character from a webcomic, but went through so much changes that the the connection is little more than a piece of trivia at this point.

[@emilybowne6043]

I liked the bit about drawing from numerous sources. When taking fairy tales and folklore class, my classmates got annoyed that I would draw my stories from non-western sources, but I honestly had a blast because I like reading books that are different

[@NOTA_Productions]

A story that I take inspiration of for all of my own stories is One Piece, I is my favorite story / show / manga / whatever, of all time and has so many themes and elements that it is hard not to take inspiration from it

[@TreyStation64]

For my superhero concept, I've drawn inspiration from X-Men, the game Infamous, and Insomniac Spider-Man. For one of my fantasy stories, I want to research Final Fantasy XVI & Final Fantasy IX.

[@indyvoter3134]

a good example of #5 is Tarantino's RESERVOIR DOGS which was inspired by a CITY ON FIRE scene - but takes that idea and makes it an entire movie.

[@corey_clip]

I'm pulling similar story beats in my book to a lot of stories that I love, but it's working really well without feeling like I'm ripping off those other stories. The way I'm killing off an important character takes inspiration from how *that death* was handled in How to Train Your Dragon 2 and the way the characters interacted shortly before that death

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Sounds like you've got a good handle on things. And thanks for the reminder to check out HTTYD2. I've been on a Dreamworks kick lately (The Bad Guys and Puss in Boots 2 blew me away), so I need to check out more of their stuff

[@me-myself-i787]

​@@WriterBrandonMcNultyAlso try Shrek 2, Kung Fu Panda 2, and Madagascar 2. They're all good movies from what I've heard. (DreamWorks excels at sequels.) And also, if you liked Puss in Boots, I'd recommend Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse.

[@DarinMcGrew]

The first story I remember writing (back in high school) was styled after Horace Miner's "Body Ritual among the Nacirema". The basic concept (an outside observer analyzing a culture, and spelling certain key words backwards) was lifted wholesale, but the rest of it was my own, analyzing (and satirizing) aspects of my own high school's culture.

[@errantwinds-up8uu]

That's cool! I remember that story.

[@Maddolis]

One of the best ways I've studied as a composer is by transcribing a piece, recording all instruments into my DAW using samples etc, then using the exact same instrumentation to write my own piece in a style similar to the track I've transcribed. Possibly the first time I did this was using a track from Inside Man (Terence Blanchard) called 'Dalton's World,' where I made a short piano improvisation and orchestrated/arranged it in a style and orchestration similar to that track. I felt myself improving as I did it! When I then began work on videogames I'd be given temp tracks by Jerry Goldsmith or whoever else and did the same thing. There's a fairly popular quote, "good artists copy; great artists steal" - often attributed to Picasso though I first heard it from Stravinsky. I think following the footsteps of great artists first, learning the craft to the point of it becoming ingrained in your thinking and then writing based on your then-improved intuition is the way to go. I'm not sure what the writing equivalent to that is - I read that Tarantino would, early on, transcribe conversations from film in an effort to understand dialogue better himself, so perhaps it's worth a shot? Can't say for sure that it'd help as much as transcribing music does, but it certainly wouldn't hurt!

[@stefanswanson874]

As a composer myself, I think a lot of it has to do with "craft." While we always want to think of ourselves as Beethoven-esque benevolent artists, we might be more like craftsman. Your exercises there are akin to a pianist playing Hanon exercises over and over. Sure, it's not quite "music" yet, but you are building a foundation of skill that allows you to express something in a more sophisticated way. When all that comes together, that's when the greatest art is produced.

[@Maddolis]

@@stefanswanson874 Yeah I agree. If somebody told me to improvise or write in a style I have next to no familiarity with (eg hip hop), it'd likely sound either completely off or incredibly derivative of a particular artist. After running through enough exercises like the ones mentioned above and immersing myself in the culture, spending hopefully at least many months listening to a variety of its sounds (+gathering experience writing), I figure I should be able to sit down and follow my intuition, and hopefully write something that naturally represents myself as an artist. It's different to having a director give you a temp track and, after three attempts at creating something more original, resigning to a more similar sound - more long term I think, but more personal and rewarding. Massive respect to those who seem to naturally just come up with such original ideas and change the course of human culture though!

[@lacrartezorok4975]

You can also get inspiration from your own audience. I remember a forum about The Purge, where people discussed many aspects that the movie left out. When i saw the 2nd Purge movie, it touched most of the points from that forum.

[@the3dr4wingki1d4]

Man, i always feel a fear when writing a manga im trying to create, i took no inspiration but i feel fear that mi idea was already written from someone

[@humaneshadow300]

Same

[@PresidentHotdog]

Great video Brandon. Insightful and entertaining. My current WIP is a sunshine noir that draws inspiration from 30s and 40s crime noir books like 'The Butterfly' by James M. Cain, but also from other media like 'The Big Lebowski,' and the video game 'Disco Elysium.' I've never worried about plagerism because I pull from so many places, putting the kind of character you wouldn’t normally expect in familiar noir situations that would, in the past call for a hard boiled private investigator or a treacherous blonde bombshell.

[@sjlees]

Im really inspired by Jane Austen, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. I also like the idea of taking an American film or tv show then combining it with a very British (as I’m from Britain) genre, style and theme. I also do a technique I saw on KZbin somewhere call the story smoothie or story cocktail where you list 2 to 5 stories/genres etc to make a fresh concept.

[@bucksdiaryfan]

Outstanding explanation. I especially liked how you said nothing is original. Its that way in music, in stories, in art, etc. And your explanation is also why I have no problem with Tarantino or George Lucas lifting elements from other movies, because they are essentially creating a montage that adds up to a new telling of each story.

[@SSJKamui]

very good tips. I am basically doing this. My additional recommendations: 1. Not simply take something but think about it first. Ask Questions like: Makes this sense? How would I react in such a situation? Does this reminds me on other things? What would be better ways to do that? Both for the character and for you as the writer. 2. Watch and read from a variety of time periods. You can use a certain style from one time period, but it is useful to understand where does the stuff you like came from. 3. Remember other things about a work you like besides the work itself. What was your situation when you discovered the work? Where was ist shown? When? What other things related to it did you do? 4. Look at cool stuff from a franchise the original authors discarded or refuse to aknowledge anymore. For example, you may like Street Fighter. There was a certain life action movie most people hated. Are there things you can salvage from it? 5. Look at other people with similar "problems" like you. For example you want to bring back a certain nostalgic feeling from video games from the 80s and 90s? Do not only look at the games. Look like stuff like Vaporwave etc. 6. Deconstruct the Paths your favourite authors took. For example Dragon Ball: Son Goku is basically superman. Superman on the other hand is a reversed John Carter. And from John Carter, we got other things like Dune, Star Wars, Flash Gordon etc. And John Carter heavily draws from theosophy which in turn draws heavily from buddhism. In Dragon Ball now, the world building is extremely buddhist as well. Their whole alien race cosmology is extremely buddhist. Now, with a bit of research, you looked at one work and found more than 7 other works to look into.

[@rayvenkman2087]

Reading up on history, looking up news headlines of current events and checking up on interviews helps as well. I got one right now. A boxer gets brutally stabbed in the showers by another boxer who had planned to kill him and the stabbed boxer dies while the killer got away with murder thanks to help from the promoter covering it up; the witnesses getting their subpoenas after the trial ended. Leaving a devastated son whom now wants to avenge his father’s death by going after the people involved in the murder and grows up to undertake his personal mission against them. If you know your pro wrestling, that’s basically what happened with Bruiser Brody in real life except for the revenge part and it’s against a different backdrop profession wise. Sort of a fix-it story for those who’d want to see a version of the story with a slightly happier ending.

[@troypreston1998]

Well first of all I want to say thank you for uploading this. I have more than a few inspirations for my story I like anime and video games so one inspiration I have is the Kingdom hearts video game series. I just love the stories of going around fighting monsters and learning very important values.

[@kenward1310]

This is an excellent video. Thank you, Brandon - I get a lot out of your lessons.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Thrilled to hear it. Thanks!

[@mathieuleader8601]

the Christmas Carol is quite the gift that keeps on giving

[@robinhood6077]

This is timely! I outlining a story now and I’ve been following the scenes and beats from other story I admire a little too closely. Many of the elements are a little too similar for my comfort. Good reminder to tinker some more.

[@douglasbullet6456]

This was very helpful. The number 1 thing I fear as a practicing writer is that people will call my story a rip-off

[@spawncampe]

I'm glad you covered Alice in Borderland. Love the show and manga, the writing there is insane

[@errantwinds-up8uu]

Yes!! I do too. Both the manga and the show were excellently written. One of my favorites.

[@MynameisS_A]

Yeah you are right but the show is not so good. Trashy acting and actors not able to convey the emotional message through it all, is probably the reason why I hated the Netflix adaptation.

[@spawncampe]

@@MynameisS_A completely disagree, the acting was great IMO. I think the emotional messages were slightly better in the manga but only b/c they have the advantage of illustrating thought processes

[@romanchaikovskyi2537]

Thabk you so much for your amazing content, Brandon!

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@eddiebanks3583]

My friend and I have been working on our own comic/graphic novel project for awhile now. The inspirations were a cross between a sci-fi original movie called Dead 7, the 2016 Suicude Squad, and Shin Godzilla

[@OratoryJamesIV]

Hey, Brandon, I just found your channel last week, and I've basically been mainlining all your videos 😅. Could you possibly make a video on writing characters that are immortal? Obviously, these characters have unique traits, emotions (or lack thereof) and motivations. I'd love to hear your thoughts on how to craft them. Keep up the great work!

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

I'll add this to my request list. Thanks!

[@OratoryJamesIV]

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty Thank you!

[@kostasl1808]

Nice subject: It would make and interesting video. My input on this; when writing characters that are immortal you should ask yourself some questions: 1. Do I need an immortal character in my narrative? Because of their trait these characters are generally hard to pull and pose some difficulties during story development. Therefore if they only serve as the “cool factor” or are a “storytelling shortcut/ plot armor” there is always a better way you can take. 2. Is their immortality conditional or unconditional? Is there a way to circumvent/ null the immortal status or is immortality absolute. In other words is there an Achilles heel or not. That question must really be answered if you are planning to make your villain an immortal because then you will have are really hard time to deal with the problem of their defeat. 3. As an in universe law, immortality is inherent or attainable? If immortality is inherent or a unique-one time event/ accident then the number of immortals in your story are finite. If immortality is attainable via some prerequisites then you will have to think of a way to limit access to that ability. 4. What handicaps and limitations should I impose on a characters that bears such a strong ability? These can be “handicaps” due to personality features, how much is the character involved in the story (protagonist vs secondary character), if immortality is permanent or not, e.t.c. The rule of thumb is that the more absolute the trait, the less involved should the character be in story. 5. How will I write a consistent character of this type? A character that has attained this feature recently is quite different from a character that has lived for 1.000.000 years with this ability. A character that is naturally immortal treats this status differently than a character that has acquired it at some point in life, due to different understanding of the flow of time. A virtuous character with this trait poses entirely different challenges in storytelling from a corrupt character with the same trait. 6. What purpose will this character serve in the story? Such characters can make wise consultants, scary antagonist, “deus ex machina” resolvers, tragic figures, messengers of morals or can just be an anthropomorphism of “forces of nature” (ex. imagine you are writing gravity as a human being). 7. How will I conclude the characters arc? That is a tricky one because it depends on the narrative and should feel natural and organic. For instance, if you write an immortal super-villain and because you have written yourself in a corner you are forced to introduce a weakness in the final chapter without foreshadowing then that is bad writing. If, on the other hand, the character chooses love over immortality (ex. Arwen from lord of the rings) that feels smooth and shows character development.

[@TheCyberKid707]

@@kostasl1808 I actually plan on including three immortal villains in my story, two of which I am actually borrowing from the famous internet horror artist, Trevor Henderson, and the other is based on those other two villains (Cartoon Cat and Cartoon Dog) mixed with the concept of the Venom symbiote from Spider Man 3, the two ideas being merged to create my own Cartoon Monster OC: the Cartoon Blob, a genetically engineered creature created by an organization known as the Cryptid Containment and Research Organization, in an attempt to create a bioweapon to counter the likes of Cartoon Cat and Cartoon Dog, and other Cartoon Monsters (regardless of whether or not the “others” in question are actually aggressive/malevolent, as the whole major motivation behind the creation of C.C.R.O. is to try and exterminate all cryptids to get rid of potential threats to humanity, regardless of if those cryptids are actually threats, which in a majority of cases is not true, with wendigo, the Maryland Goatman, and certain Cartoon Monsters being a few notable exceptions, as well as dogmen and occasionally rakes, and that last one is more dependent on the individual member of the species. Funnily enough, I think Cartoon Cat, Cartoon Dog, and Cartoon Blob are sort of going to be the villains that stick out the most mainly due to their cartoonish “eviler than thou” dynamic and the fact that in a world where basically everyone else has a clear motive and reasonable explanation as to why they are the way they are, the motives of these three characters is kept ambiguous, which is partially to keep it true to what the creator of Cartoon Cat and Cartoon Dog has revealed. There’s also Cartoon Cat having an comical yet horrifyingly calm attitude towards everything, a la characters like Bill Cipher and Big Jack Horner. There’s that Cartoon Cat’s reluctant slave, Cartoon Mouse, eventually becomes bold enough to start standing up to Cartoon Cat, who acts more or less like a egotist, going as far as referring to himself with titles like “The King of Horror” and constantly making smug remarks about how his kind are immortal, which he considers a blessing and a curse because that means Cartoon Dog, Cartoon Mouse, and the Cartoon Blob can also never die.

[@smashlegend25]

Amazing explanation. I took the drug use from Dune, basic Sci-Fi elements, Multiple view-points from Legend, and added fantasy species to form one Sci-Fi novel.

[@Hilvarious]

I actually draw inspiration from a lot of video game worlds/stories. Growing up I played a lot of games from World of Warcraft to Dark Souls to even racing games like Need for Speed. I also play Magic the Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons, games in general make up a lot of who I am as a person, so when I think about worldbuilding or outlining I mostly think about these huge and epic worlds that I've played in and experienced, and it motivates me to create my own worlds. For instance I'm planning on writing a novelette that's a medieval fantasy setting monster tamer story, taking inspiration from epic fantasy worlds and of course, Pokemon. I knew I'd have to mold something that is more unique than usual from the source of inspiration for this one, because Pokemon is one of the most popular and recognizable "worlds" today.

[@sidsullivan194]

I think the stories that have most influenced my stories so far is game of thrones, Star Wars lord of the rings and superheroes (both dc and marvel)

[@firegaltw.steller4717]

i took inspiration from a lot of places to make my story, but the three stories i took the most inspiration from are : fairy tail (for the quest system, and a part of the magic system), dragon ball (for some battles or spells, and werewolves… even if the « monkey » form of goku in dragon ball wasn’t really a werewolf, it got me into the idea of making werewolves as a « power up with an interesting drawback »), and princess mononoke (for some characters, also the « too many different factions » thing and the idea of « killing a god, but at what cost »). i also got inspired a lot by tokyo ghoul (to the « every faction is technically right » idea), jojo for combat (quite obviously though 😅 like we could see the same combat with stands and it could fit perfectly 😅 and also because they use their powers with such precision and there’s practically no attack without a big strategy and a link to physics behind 😅) and terraria for a lot of weapons (like REALLY, there’s a lot of powerful weapons that are someway inspired and the power system is a bit similar to the color rarity system of terraria… but different enough to be considered inspiration). oh and also zelda games for the world building and some quests or dungeons…. and dungeons and dragon too obviously… the main trilogy of the story is litterally called « draconers dungeons » so yeah… and there’s a lot more to say but it’s a long list 😅

[@firegaltw.steller4717]

and my english is awful cause i’m french 😅

[@552porotogym]

That's cool. I have drawn a lot of inspiration from Attack on Titan and Vagabond.

[@firegaltw.steller4717]

@@552porotogym hm, seems great too 😁 i know my universe is a bit complex and my story is just… verrrry long and i worked so hard on the plot that it takes me a lot of time to write it down 😅 and i had to fill up a lot, so it can feel like naruto which i didn’t watched but the filler percentage is a bit embarrassing 😅 (even if i try to make my fillers as interesting as possible, sometimes it fails 😅)

[@Aextra101]

I’m drawing a lot of inspiration from the show arrow. My character is a soldier who went MIA for 4 years and eventually was found, returned home, and becomes a vigilante/superhero. Not sure if you’re familiar with the show but that baseline is similar but also has its differences.

[@tattoodude8946]

I love your videos and always look forward to the newest release! My recent work is drawing from those classic children's movies I grew up with: Labyrinth, Never Ending Story, Alice in Wonderland, Warriors of Virtue, Peter Pan... I was so influenced by them growing up (and even into my 20s - heck, I still love them!) and though it is not my usual genre, I had to do something to give a nod to those great "child whisked away to a magical world" stories!

[@ldragon2515]

Thanks for these tips. As an aspiring writer myself, I find myself drawing inspiration from my favorite works, so it’s good to know how to not come off like I’m just copy-pasting.

[@dbsommers1]

Not going to lie. I once did a short called 'Inspirational Source Material' because the vampire villain literally used the plot from 'Salem's Lot' on a town, only to have them quickly figure it out because they read the book too. They quickly deal with the vampire because of it. It was a rather unconventional use of plagiarism.

[@greghannibal]

Huh, I wonder if you could publish that under a sort of satire.

[@FishmanMeme]

Love the video! Thanks a lot for fulfilling my suggestion! 😁 ❤ Great video as always!

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Thanks for the request! I learned some interesting things while researching this one. Best of luck with your writing!

[@Adrian.R850]

The KZbin algorithm seems like it's reading my mind. I was going through some minor issue that was complicating my creative foundations and drawing the line from bootleg to inspiration in one of my WIP stories. Thanks, KZbin and thanks, Brandon.

[@tuckernutter]

4:41 *COMBINE IDEAS THAT CANNOT BE STRESSED ENOUGH*

[@Hanedie1]

Anni Taylor’s The Six is definitely my number one inspiration! Her character development is outstanding and it sets you up well for the twists and turns.

[@OddDeity]

The 5th Element has always been one that inspires me into writing. I can identify so many elements (no pun intended) from other movies in it but it feels so much like its own thing that I always try to watch it whenever I have writer's block. It is in my personal list for top ten favorite films.

[@vipulparmar6974]

After discovering ur channel Brandon , my perspective has change of looking at movies🌸😊( Sorry if my english is wrong coz i m from non english speaking country INDIA!!!)

[@tuojiangoman3228]

Greetings from Pennsylvania! How's it going there?

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Thrilled to hear that the videos are helping! Best of luck with your writing

[@vipulparmar6974]

@@tuojiangoman3228 Hlo brother, we are having a monsoon season currently in our country, as you may not know here in my country we have separate season fir rain. Also there has been little unrest in one state but guess what there is always a silver lining on every cloud !!!!🥰

[@tuojiangoman3228]

@@vipulparmar6974 Thanks for telling me!

[@Scott-mj3mg]

1:53 so can I add a reference to a story without it taking over the story?

[@justaguy8548]

Thank you, I wish you and all of us all the best. 🙏❤

[@dookieshoes9438]

Amazing video, I always love weaving and drawing inspiration from other films because they inspire me. I'm even writing a movie that is heavily inspired by John Wick and I Saw The Devil and combined the two ideas while it being set in the Star Wars universe and making it also unique to the Star Wars world.

[@LovesCultures]

I would totally be interested in reading this!

[@SusanCartersBooks]

I've drawn inspiration from the Tower and the Hive series from Anne McCaffrey, which is about people with psychic abilities like telepathy and telekinesis. I loved those books.

[@ADWrites24]

Thanks for the video ! A story I have drawn inspiration from for my current writing project is BlackSwan / Perfect Blue a mix of both with an original idea.

[@HavingFunISKEY]

Are we writing the same book?? I need to hear more from you, this is exactly the inspiration for my debut novel too

[@ADWrites24]

@@HavingFunISKEY let’s connect !!!

[@vpnightshadepersonal]

Great Video, as ALWAYS, Brandon! I write paranormal romance, mostly about vampires and shifters. Like most writers who write about vampires, I, of course, was influenced by Dracula; I think though that when I think about how I have my characters adapt to contemporary times, interact with humans, and their sense of self and their belief systems, I believe that both Varney, The Vampyre and Carmilla had some influence on my world-building. But I think a few films have impacted my writing style, which occasionally can get very dark, a 1973 American horror film titled 'Lemora,' and a 1960 Swedish film called 'The Virgin Spring.'.

[@jobistrange1668]

Funny how I'm currently reading Steal Like an Artist and this gets recommended to me.

[@Iso20227]

I’ve taken inspiration from the Belgariad series, the ascendance trilogy, and the Hobbit. I combined these ideas to give me a basic setting for my own original story. I later found out that I totally accidentally ripped off Avatar: the last airbender, so I changed a LOT. I can now introduce a book that I am working on, “the Mage”. A story about a boy who lives as a farmhand who is taken away by the prince of his nation. He is introduced to the idea of magic, and is later found out to be the reincarnation of the legendary hero, the Mage.

[@JustRedHawk]

8:27 RDR2 got me out of my writers block created by fantasy and created a new view for me in a Wild West world

[@jaybling6687]

I like this video. Because for all the talk of original films and why people haven't been supporting them, it should be pretty clear to those asking that question that there have been one too many so-called "original" films that have felt like blatant rip-offs of other films. The people who are okay referring to those films as "original" only seem to focus on the *objective* originality without considering the potential lack of *subjective* originality.

[@ludovico6890]

Sergio Leone always said that A Fistful of Dollars was inspired by an old Italian comedy play. I think the title was "Arlequin servant of two masters" or something like that. Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest has similar elements too.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

While I was researching this video, Dashiell Hammett's name popped up a lot. Kurosawa drew inspiration from him while writing Yojimbo.

[@ludovico6890]

@WriterBrandonMcNulty I think one advice you have implied but maybe not explicitly stated is to use a basic idea and change genre and/or setting completely. That's pretty much what the original Star Wars is. Warlock is a rewritten Terminator, horror instead of sci-fi. It's not a great movie by any stretch of the imagination, but it's an enjoyable flick that manages to bring its own originality.

[@mattt9278]

Another great video, thanks! I've taken inspiration from various sources with my work, incorporating historical events like WW1 and WW2 but into a fantasy setting.

[@landonlawson2676]

As a musician, I can say that this applies to music as well. There's nothing truly original or, as Ecclesiastes puts it, "there's nothing new under the sun." With that being said, inspiration is important for making something original.

[@brianedwards7142]

Walt Disney built an empire on plagiarism.

[@themysteriousunknownrevealed]

In regards to public domain IP, it was like going to a potluck without bringing food, but still eating everything.

[@justinarzola4584]

Disney just adapts classic fairy tales, Adaptation is not Plagarism.

[@idongesitusen5764]

This was very helpful. The Yu-gi-oh! Card game has an archetype known as HERO that have cards based on superheroes ( and variations thereof) that utilize the game’s Fusion mechanic. I’ve worked on making stories inspired by that off and on for years.

[@evelynjoy4466]

You never know what will quite stick when you find inspiration. For instance, my current WIP was inspired by an Over the Garden Wall fanfic and Little House on the Prairie of all things. I just really liked that Americana feel I have another story I haven’t worked on in a while that was heavily inspired by Breath of the Wild, featuring a champion swordsman who was sent to sleep for one hundred years before awaking without any memories of who he was. When I seriously pick it up again, I’m going to have to work hard to make sure it’s different, but golly did I fall in love with that premise

[@kasieream1248]

I’m taking inspiration in my debut novel which is currently a work in progress from one scene squid game in which my characters are knocked out with a gas in a Chevy suv in the middle of the night while most of it takes inspiration from Beneath , The Enceladus mission and A thunder on Neptune

[@unicorntomboy9736]

I am currently working on a novella, that is basically a re-telling of The Lion King, combined with Game of Thrones, which burrows the basic plotline of the former, but takes place in a grimdark fantasy world with Elvens, featuring a female villain protagonist who goes on a negative character arc

[@josephrowlee]

Thanks for the video! I've drawn inspiration from The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis; and I'm working on plotting a novel in a fantasy world from that.

[@jeffersonrose9719]

I really focus on isolation and the effects of it. Whether that's a goal of the character to be left alone or the character is trying to survive isolation. (I. E. The Grey, Riddick, any Jack London story, Mad Max, many versions of Conan, the Hulk comics, etc.) I was really worried about plagiarizing. But looking back on them, many of them pull from common sources including classic myths and historical accounts of exile and isolation. I didn't realize this until last year, and that freed me up tremendously.

[@dudemgee]

I've had an issue with my inspiration being avatar the last airbender, and it encapsulating all my loves in story. I wasn't leaning over to copy it but it ended up turning out that way, but everything I've made so far just works so well that I'm afraid it will be accused of being a rip off. the fundementals I'm concerned with are: - both set in fantasy asia - both having a hard magic system involving an element - both plots are relatively the same (go on journey, defeat big bad) I could shift the main plot a little, bit everything else pretty much stays, the characters on the other hand are not rip-offs thank goodness, and those are pretty much what is setting it apart. But it's that "big picture" part that I'm afraid of. avatar wasn't the main reason I made the story, it was actually a music video that I thought looked really cool, and then things startes shaping out a bit like avatar. if someone does see this, I wouldnt mind some help pls 😢

[@shambhav9534]

Try to introduce Sci-fi elements where possible. That can percolate throughout the magic system, which you can show in the plot itself. Maybe they're trying to use "magic science" to figure out the nature of magic so that they can defeat big daddy, and then there's a twist in the end. By the way, I once ended up recreating Lord of the Rings independently. There's a ring created by this mystic fellow long long ago. It's really addictive and corrupting, so people have a conflict for it. It actually started of with me exploring lineages-the protagonist realises the ring has passed on without any semblance of system, as if someone's guiding it in a certain way. The answer is they're tracing a specific recessive gene, though this is kept vague as it is a fantasy setting where they don't have such understanding of genes. What I was doing was totally unique but eventually ditched the idea thinking the audience would get LoTR vibes, which would ruin the effect. I could make the ring into bracelet you know, but then it would be like I'm deliberately trying to mislead the audience, to make them forget LoTR. I fixed this by taking the focus off the ring. It's more about the characters (siblings) going, "Wow, we really had strange marriages and so did our parents... for some reason. And then there's this weird ring we got from our matrilineal line from beyond [some big mountain range]. Apparently it kills potential owners until only one is left. So it's gonna kill one of us?" _Puts on ring_ "What happened?" _Dies_ This way there's a clear variation in tone.

[@dudemgee]

@@shambhav9534 thanks for the help, I liked the changes you made, I'll try to see what I can do.

[@shambhav9534]

​@@dudemgeeKey is to add another aspect into the genre, then the change will just pop in your head. Also helps if develop more of the magic system than what you dispel to the audience. I don't know why this is useful; it just is.

[@goldeneyes2600]

Thank you for posting something that really made me at ease right now. I'm actually trying to write a story, but I somehow overthinked everything that, what if my book is coincidentally similar to the others? And what if someone tells me that I plagiarized without myself knowing that, that story is already taken, I really became worried about it too much, but thanks to this video, I somehow felt at ease after knowing what I should do, so thank you, I subscribed BTW.

[@grizzly_manbanimation8436]

I plan on making a story that draws inspiration from a number of different stories. I don’t want to say exactly what the story is gonna be about so I’m just gonna name the stories that are inspiring them. There’s elements from “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and “Lord of The Rings”. Those are the 2 big ones that play a big part in the inspiration.