I Just Read The Same Story I Was Going To Write

Now what? There is nothing new under the sun, right?

I read a lot here on Medium and in other corners of the interwebz too. The more I read the more it seems like every topic should have been dissected, studied, bandied about, and written to death by now.

How on Earth do we as writers come up with fresh perspectives on the same topics? I don’t know but there are so many here who do it very well.

I’m new at this steady writing thing and I’m enjoying it. I try to write here at least twice a week and I’m one of the members who aspires to publish something every day. I hope to get there eventually. (I know, I know. Just do it.)

How do I find a topic? Since my memory isn’t the greatest, I immediately write down what I want to write about every time a good-at-the-time idea pops into my head. I have an ongoing list on my phone in my Notes app of broad topics with any new angle that I can write about in my own way.

Some current ideas on my list:

The Best Spaghetti Sauce Recipe

My Congresswoman Called Me Uneducated

I Learned About Sex From Books

Entrepreneurs Make Terrible Employees

and many more equally enthralling subjects. :) It’s a constant list in progress and is immensely helpful to peruse when the writing bug bites — or more accurately when it buzzes above my head out of reach taunting me to come and get it.

So I was reading on Medium yesterday as I usually do. I was very surprised to read an article about the exact same topic that I had drafted a rough mental outline for in my head earlier in the week.

(This is how I write my first drafts — mentally. Anyone else?)

The article was about a very specific ongoing occurrence that could be a red flag for potential problems in a long term marriage. I had experienced it in my own marriage and I was ready to write about it.

But I read about it instead. In the same week that I wanted to write about it. I thought I’d be the first to point this thing out. Nope.

I’m sure this happens to writers all the time.

What do the writers do though? Do they accept that “there is nothing new under the sun” and write it anyway or do they chuck the idea altogether? Or maybe just resolve to put a slightly different spin on it?

I decided that I’ll still write the article. Maybe not this week though. Why? I don’t know. It feels a little copy cat-ish right now.

“That’s silly. It’s a real problem that thousands of couples have had. Maybe you’ll help someone”, my rational brain says.

“It feels like it’s already been done now that someone else wrote about it.”, my ego-driven, me me me brain says.

What are the odds that anyone would read both articles on the same day? Long shot for sure.

What are the odds that they would even notice the similarities between the two and comment accordingly? Astronomical.

Before I wrapped this article up to hit Publish, I took a lunch break and made a new-to-me recipe. (Stay with me. I’m making a relevant point here.)

It occurred to me that the same recipe has been cooked a thousand different ways by a thousand people. Each put their own spin on it. Some of those people even published their version in a cookbook (or a Medium article!).

Their Bacon and Potato Soup recipe was not original nor was it just like mine. Mine was fantastic by the way. (Spoiler alert — It’s tomorrow’s article. Please don’t miss this one if you’re a soup fan.)

Their Bacon and Potato Soup was the result of their own recipe. My soup has many of the same ingredients but the final dish was different than theirs and still worth sharing.

Enough about soup — for today. Stay tuned.

Do you hesitate to write about topics that you’ve seen recently even though you planned them out? Are you plagiarism-phobic even when you know that’s not the case? Have you ever stumbled upon a similar article to yours?

Bonus question: Do you write your first drafts mentally like I do?

Let me know. I’d love to hear about it.