Thinking about writing a book....

[Kevon Huggins]

Well i am thinking on writing a fan made story based on either animal farm or something original help me choose which is a better idea
The animal farm one is really a animal farm based on the Cuban revolution
OR
The original plot involving a group who tries to break away from a city that is controlled by a dictator (nineteen eighty four like setting)

Tell me if these are good or should i go back to the drawing board

 

[Lilani]

If you want to get it published, I recommend either investing more in the original story or become very, VERY familiar with copyright laws and public domain. If Animal Farm is still subject to copyright, there's no way in hell a publisher will even consider it. Fanfictions or fan-made stories cannot be published for profit if the subject matter is copyrighted, or if you don't have consent from the one who does own the copyright. If it's an "inspired by" sort of thing, I think you should be okay as long as you cite that it was inspired by Animal Farm. But to take Animal Farm and adapt it to an historic event, that could be a bit...predictable. The Cuban revolution and Animal Farm are both things people can and will be familiar with when the read the book. Why would they want to read something when they already know how it ends? You need to be absolutely sure you have a damn good idea as to how you are going to present that story.

But again, I recommend you more actively pursue the original story. Write the animal farm one if you like for practice, but don't count on getting it published unless you are absolutely sure it won't be illegal.

 

[thenamelessloser]

Why is is this on the game board?

 

[Pegghead]

While I've never read 1984, I have read Animal Farm and have heard only praise for 1984 so they're good sources of inspiration.

But if I were you I wouldn't just aim to write Orwell's books all over again, and considering the fact that you can't really write a book about animals and communism without it seeming lik a re-write of Animal Farm then I'd just stick with the idea of people escaping from a dystopian city.

 

[Beliyal]

If you're thinking about writing for your own pleasure only, then write whatever you feel like writing. If you're thinking about writing something that you'd like to get published, then you'll have to be original (or at least try to be). Adaptations are fine, but they make no sense unless they highly surpass the original material. Why would anyone read something based on Animal Farm if Animal Farm is better?

Also, writing is a seriously long and difficult job. It's not really easy to just decide one day that you'll write a book and then write it. You should always try, but do try to start with something less complex (assuming this is your first attempt).

One more thing; you should be the one who decides what's good to write. If someone else decides for you, you will probably not enjoy it and will abandon the project. Only really experienced writers can write on demand. So, write what you want. If anything, try writing both stories. Nobody can tell you what's good based on a one-sentence idea. I mean, Crime and punishment can be described with one sentence like "A guy kills an old lady with an axe", but who could have known what the story would be like based only on that? I say you go on and start writing anything, regardless of what we say or think. You'll see if writing works for you eventually.

 

[the spud]

I wouldn't reccomend writing off source material such as animal farm unless you are VERY confident in your writing skills. I don't mean to be a buzzkill, but unless you somehow one up those classics, you will always be in the shadow of greatness.