I was reading Nathan Bransford's blog the other day and followed one of his links to this eBay listing. Much hilarity ensued.
To those who don't want to follow the link (or are just too lazy) it's a listing for an idea, "A story to topple Star Wars, Harry Potter." The starting bid for said idea? $3,000,000.
Ideas are a dime a dozen, as proven by the LTUE workshop, "How to get and develop killer story ideas" by John Brown and Larry Correia. In a one hour class period, they took random words and thoughts, combining them into potential stories. Piece. Of. Cake.
The eBay lister says, "If George Lucas offered to sell his idea of Star Wars, would you have bought it?"
Would I? Probably not.
Just because two people have the same idea doesn't mean they'll write the same story. For example, if -say- inker DJ were to write Indiana Jones, the good doctor would choose the girl over the treasure. And let's say inker Kirk wrote Star Wars, he would have had more awesome weaponry and a killer weapon transport - game changer. And if I were to write Twilight, Bella would have filed restraining orders against both Jacob and Edward, and moved on to find someone less obsessive.
Different stories in the hands of different people.
Anyone who writes knows that the idea and outlining is only a minuscule part of what needs to get done. The real challenge comes when it's time to sit down and actually work. One of the phrases I quote rather frequently comes from author Aprilynne Pike. She said, "Writing is work, even when it's fun. What separates a writer from an author is the person that keeps writing, even when it stops being fun."
Testify!
The eBay lister promises, "This story will bring in endless fame and money to anyone who takes it."
So what's your take? Worth the $3,000,000? Or worth a good laugh?
Worth the lesson learned. It's only worth three million bucks if he can write a three million dollar story. Which he clearly can't.
ReplyDeleteIn the meantime, I'm gonna go write that realistic paranormal YA romance...:-)
Love it. I would pay to see your treatment of Twilight. And yes, in my Indiana Jones, he rescue the girl, not the treasure. And it would be the same girl in all four movies and she would ROCK his world.
ReplyDeleteSame girl? How would you handle Bond?!
ReplyDeleteBond is easy, most of the girls there are EVIL. He can seduce and kill/lock up as many worthless women as he wants. He is a player and you never fall for the relationship. Big difference.
ReplyDeleteYou gotta give him points for trying. Never know when some crazy rich person might happen along and fork over some cash because they can.
ReplyDeleteNow it says that the lister has withdrawn the listing "because it is no longer available" but the price on the listing was $10,000,000 talk about ego.
ReplyDeleteLove your answer about Bond, DJ. So true.