Have you heard of this story idea before?

Question

Hi, I am going to write short story, and my idea is this:

A girl is bored and decides to write a story, so she goes and asks a neighbour for an idea. The neighbour says she should write a murder mystery. So the girl goes home and begins to write the story in longhand. She bases the story in her home town. After writing three chapters of the story, she writes it on her computer and then goes to bed. The next morning, she sees the newspaper about a murder, which is strangely like the story she is writing...

So has it been done before? When I say done before, I mean OVERLY done.

Also, does it appeal to you?

I am not sure whether I will make it she gets murdered or has multiple personalities etc. What do you think?

Thanks!

Answer 1

It would be interesting if she was commiting the murders herself without knowing.

Answer 2

i think its been done but you should give it some sort of twist...like the neighbor KNEW that whatever she wrote would happen. like, make the neighbor a "bad guy" i guess and the neighbor keeps putting these ideas in her head and stuff like that maybe? but also make her really unsuspecting of the neighbor. like he/she subtly hints at the ideas so she doesnt figure out right away whats going on

if she commits the murders herself without knowing that would be kind of cool but it would also kind of be like the secret window with johnny depp (minus the part of him writing stories). thats a really good movie though

Answer 3

Yes, it has. I knew what was gonna happen right when I got to "She bases the story in her home town" I've seen this plot device a lot.That just means you've got to make it extra special, and really interesting. Some of the best things written are merely retakes on the mundane :) Good luck!

Answer 4

i don't think that has been done before.... it sounds great, actually !!!! the only thing is that it sounds vaguely like the movie stranger than fiction with will ferrell....but not even that close

good luck!

Answer 5

I don't think it has been overdone.  Definitely you have seen the angle of a stalker/serial killer enacting tales of an innocent writer.  Johnny Depp did a movie a few years ago where he had multiple personality disorder and was murdering people without knowing it called Secret Window.  You can make it work with quality writing.

Answer 6

its sounds interesting

but also like i've heard it before  

Answer 7

It's been done. But don't let that stop you. Everything's been done. What matters is how well you do it. With this one, the trick is to make readers really care what's happening. This story line can be a good one, if the tension gets thick and readers can imagine many things that MIGHT be happening but don't guess what it is.  

Answer 8

I'm fairly sure it's been done before, but that's okay. Pretty much all story ideas have been done before. :D Do you mean with MPD that another personality actually does the murders? If you go with that route, make sure you know how MPD is caused, and make sure you're okay with writing stuff like that. MPD is a severe psychological disorder usually caused by child abuse. If you're fine with writing that, that's okay, but just make sure you know what you're getting into. Good luck!

Answer 9

It sounds great! Not over-done at all! At least not like Vampires and werewolves! Thanks for a breath of fresh air!

Answer 10

I know a movie that is sort of similar. Its called Secret Window.

The end is sort of similar: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0363988/plot...

Mort Rainey writes and publishes a story and then Mr Shooter comes and accuses him of plagiarism and Mr shooter then haunts Mort Rainey. In the end it turns out that Mr Shooter was a character that Mort had made up in his mind and that he was the one killing everybody not Mr Shooter. He had multiple personalities.Mort Rainey had no idea that he was doing these things.  

Answer 11

That reminds me of the Scream and another movie called Urban Legends sorry to burst your bubble

Answer 12

Umm. The movie Stranger Than Fiction is kind of like that, but not that bad so I think you will be okay for it. And yah, that's a great idea! :)  

Answer 13

I know it's been done before, not necessarily in the same fashion, but I believe you can mold it into something original.

Stuff like that just interests me.