Young Writers Society

Hello fellow writers!!
I am currently having problems with my writing...I have a great plot idea that I think can go somewhere, but I am scared that it will resemble the hunger games. Not so much but with the dystopian idea. Even though I am using some polygamist ideas for how the society works like their rules and beliefs how women don't have much rights and the men are in control.
Also the people are treated like they are slaves


Anyways I want a girl to get thrown out of the society and find an underground "terrorist" group to take down the society leaders.
Is that too much like the hunger games? I do not want to copy anything but it is hard when it seems like everything is taken.

I don't think that idea is exclusive to the Hunger Games. You'll find similar themes running through other dystopian stories. If you can make it original, I don't think there's anything wrong with using a general idea that's used across other stories. Where would we be if you could never reuse a concept? There would probably be no romance, very little science-fiction and not much in the fantasy genre either.

I'd personally stick with your idea. As long as the rest of the story isn't too much like the Hunger Games, there's nothing wrong with having an underground group of rebels.

Best of luck with your writing!

I don't think it sounds anything like the hunger games, considering the hunger games is all about a young teenage girl being so powerful that she takes over a nation. Honestly, I don't think you have to worry about that, at all. I do have a few questions, though. Is it this world in the future? Because, the world is moving--slowly, very slowly-- towards women having more rights. What would cause us to completely backtrack one hundred years? Why not make it something more original, like the women taking over the men being slaves, for once? Just an idea!

Thank you everyone!
Lady spark in my plot idea (I have not written it down yet)
The human race has came back from the brink of extinction due to a virus spreading and wiping out a lot of people. The people look to a leader, this leader is a very charismatic man but is very manipulative. For example when Hitler was giving speaches the people looked to him for hope!
But when he is full swing the military attacks the towns and are slaves to the rules. Men are granted more honor and women are just married off and have no say in what goes on in the society. I watch the polygamist documentaries and used some of the extremists rules.

I keep thinking of ideas in my college classes so I have not been able to put everything together.

I too think you shouldn't have a problem here. Like Steam said, ideas are never completely original. Generally the underlying idea is a concept that many people have used, but you add your characters and all the other little bits of plot that work into sub stories and back stories and what not, and then it's written in your writing which is all something of it's own as well. Lots of ideas sound like they're copying other ideas at first. In fact, that's often why I don't like telling people what my ideas are!

I can see why you'd be concerned, but your plot really only seems to be reflecting a very tiny bit of the the Mocking Jay, and the districts life style. So I wouldn't worry.

Best of wishes with it!

Honestly, this doesn't sound like The Hunger Games to me. The Hunger Games has the revolution start with the protagonist, instead of the protagonist finding that the rebellion already existed.

This sounds like 1984.

The fact you've drawn a WWII comparison only makes the similarities stronger, considering the original title used to be 1948 and was a commentary on the war. 1984 is often considered the original dystopia, where the society is caught in a perpetual war, free thinking is outlawed, and the population is enslaved by fear. The plot is also similar, considering that the protagonist finds a resistance movement and tries to overthrow the government (the wrinkle is, in 1984 the resistance is controlled by the government and the protagonist is tortured extensively once he commits to the resistance).

You've also got similarities to The Handmaid's Tale, where women are property and when a wife cannot conceive, the couple gets a handmaid to get pregnant instead of the the wife.

The Hunger Games is not the only dystopia in existence, and while it's ridiculously popular, it doesn't encompass all tropes that make up dystopia and is not the only dystopia you can derive from. If you want to make sure to differentiate yourself, you have to be far more well read in the genre to understand what you're going to use and what you're going to break.

That being said, don't worry too much about whether or not your work since the same as others'. Even if you use similar plots and settings, it's still your story and your voice and your general ideas. Nobody can tell your story.

Still, I would get more well read in dystopia to make sure you're not inadvertently copying anyone too closely.

Hey, I think I can help!

The first thing you need to remember is that ideas, inspiration, plotline, setting, and other such things are secondary. What is most important is your characters.

That said, what sets one story apart from another is the characters. You shouldn't worry about your book being too similar to another book. Once you get about half or three quartars of the way into the story it begins to take on a life of its own. You just have to let it go it's own way after that. Plus, in the revision process, you can work through all of these things so it looks more like your own! I hope this helped!

It looks original! And, you know what the cool thing is? The more you write it, the more original it'll become!

You should just start it and see where it leads you.