Just realized my NaNoWriMo draft from 3 years ago is the same plot as a Netflix show

I was scrolling through Netflix last night and saw this new series. Watched the trailer and it hit me. My novel from November 2021 has the exact same premise. A detective who can see ghosts solving cold cases. I spent a whole month writing 50k words on that thing and now it feels worthless. Should I scrap it and start fresh or try to change enough details to make it different? Has anyone else run into this with their unfinished projects?

3 comments

3 Comments

bettywilson3d ago

oh wow wait a ghost detective show?? like the exact same thing?? that's crazy i would be so mad. i had something similar happen with a short story i wrote in college, turns out the whole "kid finds a magic door in the woods" thing was already done by like five different books. but 50k words is a lot to just throw away. i'd say keep the draft but change the main character's job or the way the ghosts work. make it so the detective can only see ghosts through reflections or something. or set it in a different time period like the 1950s. that way it's still your story but stands apart from the show.

keith2643d ago

Oh man, right? That's gotta sting. The reflection idea is solid though, I dig it. You could also make it so the ghosts can only talk through old technology, like radios or payphones. Keep the bones, just change the skin a bit.

gavin_reed3d ago

oh totally feel you on this, my buddy Mark had almost the exact same thing happen with this sci fi thing he wrote about a guy who wakes up on a spaceship with no memory. then like a year later Dark Matter drops on Apple TV and it's basically the same plot. he was so bummed. i showed him this thread actually and @bettywilson's idea about changing the mechanics of the ghost stuff really helped him rethink his approach for the spaceship angle, like instead of amnesia he made it so the guy can only remember things through smells or something. anyway he kept the draft and just switched up the rules of his world, so maybe try that with the ghost thing?