I know that feeling. However, I wouldn't write it off as a possibility. There's nothing original left under the sun, wisps have been done before, and they'll be done again. Just maybe don't put your story out too close to the movie.

__________________
Eagle Whisperer

Thanks, though in digging around for all the Gatch/BOTP fanfic I could find one day, I found multiple stories where there was a Raven, or Ken became Raven, or both Ken and Joe were Ravens, or ... And in one they were crazy and wearing black. I spent a few days after that going, "Man, I hope no one thinks I read this one before writing mine."

Like I said, I totally get where you're coming from.

__________________
Eagle Whisperer

quote:

Originally posted by jublke The nice thing about our fandom is that most folks are pretty understanding about that sort of thing. I know that I've borrowed a few quarts of Gatch spackle from my friends when I've been stuck. One of my favorite things about beta-ing for others is when I see an opportunity to throw a plot loop in and the authors take me up on it. In the best of times, it feels like we are weaving a larger universe together.

__________________
Eagle Whisperer

Hehehe ... btw, my little bruised ego answered that question with a tiny, "Yes."

Anyway, keep that wisp idea going. You'll make it work.

__________________
Eagle Whisperer

Julie, I understand that feeling as well. In fact I get it a lot when I read other people's stories. I keep finding elements of their stories in mine, or key things in their stories that I also have in mine.

Then I, like you and Chris, have to wonder why I should continue to write/post my stories - after all it has already been written. Not that you two have said you would stop writing, but I have certainly wondered if I should.

__________________
Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.

Oh, I've definitely written fics that have the same plot/aspects as something else. But the point is, I enjoy writing them, so I'll keep doing it. That's all that matters.

__________________

__________________
“There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them." --Ray Bradbury

Thank you for your support Chris, Julie and EW.

As I say, what I worry about is that someone else will see me using their idea and thinking I have copied theirs. What I need to keep reminding myself, as has been pointed out, is that there can only be an certain number of ideas that fit with the BOTP/Gatch universes before people start reusing them.

The other thing I keep having to remind myself is that if I have thought about it (had an idea), then others have certainly considered it as well. I shouldn't expect my ideas to be original. Only how I put them together and use them, if even that.

__________________
Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.

Becky -

Good point, even if for my own peace of mind.

Well, it turns out that Nintendo came out with a whole wisp planet & culture in 2010: http://sonic.wikia.com/wiki/Wisps. This is also after my story.

But good old Wikipedia points out that the term will-o'- the-wisp, an unexplained glowing orb of light, has been described since at least the 19th century.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will-o%27-the-wisp

Which begs a bigger question: what if alien wisps are real?

__________________
"The heart has its reasons, of which reason knows nothing." -- Blaise Pascal

And, when the chips are down, aren't there only seven plots in story-telling anyway, no matter what kind of fiction you write?

__________________
They were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Naturally, they became heroes -- Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan.