Say someone posted a fic with a plot that sounds eerily similar to a fic you’ve been struggling to write for ages but have not posted. Do you read their fic, or avoid it in case you subconsciously pick up some ideas? Do you keep working on your fic, or stop because you are worried about being accused of stealing the idea? This just happened to me in another fandom I’m in, and I’m feeling lost and really down on my own fic. I want to read it because obviously I like the idea, but then again...
That sucks and I can somewhat relate to that. @sass-and-panache and I have been planning to write a demon rhink thing since like month and a half ago and then @its-mike-kapufty came out with Tethered. I really freaked out at first because I love our idea and didn’t want to abandon it. Thankfully, ours is very different than Mike’s so we’re still gonna do it.
What I might do in your case (and this is just me, okay) is post something about how great minds think alike and that I’ve been working on a similar premise for a while now. Might even mention that I won’t be reading the other fic until I’m done with my own. If I felt passionate about my thing and had already spent time on it, I’d still want to write and publish it. I don’t think people mind similar premises. We all love a good fic and you can never really write the same thing as someone else. You’re you and your style is your own.
I hope you’ll still feel like working on your thing. I’m sure lots of people will want to read it.
