Marla Cooper

Idea Doppelgängers

When Someone Else Writes Your Brilliant Thought

Have you ever had an idea that that felt fresh, personal, and totally original, then someone else comes up with an idea that’s suspiciously similar — or even exactly the same?

It’s tempting to think that they stole it. And while I’m not saying that never happens, it’s just as likely to be a total coincidence. Our ideas don’t live in a vacuum. We’re all responding to the same culture, trends, and conversations. Our brains are designed to recognize patterns — and sometimes, they lead us all to the same place.

For example: one night, my cat jumped on me while I was sleeping (as they do), and some sleepy part of my brain went, “Claws for Alarm. Now that would make a great cozy title.” I planned a whole series in my head and even wrote it down. The next morning, I checked — and of course it already existed. (Hat tip to T.C. LoTempio, who did it first. But also? There are now FOUR cozies by that title!)

Okay, so maybe I had seen it around and it was in my subconscious. But here’s another example that’s hard to explain:

When I was an advertising copywriter, I came up with an idea for a pro bono ad for motorcycle safety that was pretty out there. Years later, I saw my exact ad — with my exact headline — out in the world. What’s more, it had been written by my creative director. But here’s the thing: It had never left my brainstorming notebook and there’s no way he could have seen it. And he certainly didn’t just pluck it out of my subconscious.

Weird, right? But not as weird as that time Shonda Rhimes wrote my book.

Years ago, I noticed this trend of people doing things for a year and then writing books about it. I had this idea that came to me in a flash, fully formed: I would spend a whole year saying yes to everything. I even had a title: The Year of Yes. I didn’t write it — I was too busy dreaming up cozy mystery plots — but about six years later, guess what popped up on the bestseller list?

Same title. Same concept. Now I know Shonda didn’t steal that idea because a) she has much better things to do with her time, b) we’ve never even met, and c) she’d have to have read my mind. (Unless she has access to my Google docs, in which case: Hi, Shonda! Love your work!)

So, what’s the moral of the story? If it ever happens to you — when your Big Original Idea suddenly shows up in someone else’s book or ad or Netflix deal — it’s probably not theft. It’s just the weird magic of brains being brains. And maybe, just maybe, that frees you up to come up with the next Big Idea. Just, you know… Google the title first.

Readers, have you ever had an idea stolen by Shonda Rhimes show up where you least expected it? Or experienced some other big coincidence that was hard to explain?

32 thoughts on “Idea Doppelgängers”

  1. That’s freaky, Marla! When I wrote Record Store Reckoning, I thought I’d nailed a setting, an independent record store, that was totally unique in the cozy mystery world. Guess what? A few months later, Olivia Blacke’s first record story mystery, Vinyl Resting Place, came out. What are the odds!

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  2. Author and Chicks friend Tom Burns is having trouble replying to the post today, so he’s asked me to post his reply for him. (Thanks for letting us know and going the extra mile, Tom. And we’re jealous of you at Sleuthfest!):

    Hello to the Chicks and friends from Sleuthfest in sunny St. Petersburg
    Florida! I’m being bombarded with stimuli and ideas that I’m sure will
    affect my writing for the better. and maybe raise a few doppelgangers,
    too…

    I’m so glad book titles can’t be copyrighted. I use one word titles for
    my Natalie McMasters Mysteries and I’m sure that none are original. I
    decided when I wrote the first book, Stripper!, to use an exclamation
    point after each title ( because someone told me I use too many
    exclamation points) to help brand the books, but I don’t think search
    engines even recognize exclamation points. My latest book is To Keep Our
    Honor Clean, because the protagonists are Marines, but there’s another
    one out there on Amazon.

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    1. So agree on the titles, Tom! It’s almost impossible these days to avoid dupes. Just the sheer volume of books out there now…what are the chances? (Pretty good, it turns out.)

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    2. Sorry you couldn’t get through, Tom! That is smart branding to add the exclamation points to your titles. And I’m a fan of them too!!

      I’m missing all the conference fun this year. There’s definitely a collective energy when you get a bunch of mystery writers together. Enjoy all the fun, shenanigans, and inspiration!

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  3. To quote Mark Twain: “There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations. We keep on turning and making new combinations indefinitely; but they are the same old pieces of colored glass that have been in use through all the ages.”

    Fun post! I’ll look forward to reading the other comments.

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    2. Yes, Judy! I love the image of a kaleidoscope. That’s exactly what it’s like. Thanks so much for giving me a solid visual metaphor!

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  4. I sometimes think that specific ideas are floating around in the ether and people grab them from there. My experience wasn’t from the ether, though, it was from inside my own tangled mind. I was using a name for my MC in the novel that just came out last month, but finally realized it was the name of a friend on Facebook! I asked her if it would be okay to use it, since I love the name and it’s perfect for my MC, and she was happy for me to do that! I sent her a free book, of course, and was relieved when she liked it and reviewed it. I’d hate to be able to see inside our brains!

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    1. Hi Kaye! That is so funny… the name thing could be a whole other post. Twice now, I have beta read manuscripts where people literally named a character after someone famous. One had a character named Elijah Wood. And I kind of did the same thing. I had a character named Brody and I just decided one day his last name was Marx. I was like, “Brody Marx. That just sounds so good together. Brody Marx.” Then one day I was driving along and a Bruno Mars song came on the radio. No wonder it sounded so perfect!

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  5. I was so excited about an idea I had for a stand-alone… until I discovered Lisa Brackmann had already written almost the same book with the exact same title! I read it – and it was great.

    But I did have an idea stolen and I will always be angry about it. I should say “we” because my former writing partner and I wrote a pilot for a major network about divorced dads living in an L.A. apartment complex that was known around town for housing divorced dads. An exec told us it was her favorite pilot… and then it didn’t get picked up to shoot. Well, cut to a few years later when CBS announced their fall schedule – which included a pilot about divorced dads living at a complex known for housing divorced dads. It was written by a Frasier writer we knew from when we worked on Wings (which was created by the same writer-producer trio through their Grub Street company). I don’t think he stole the idea but I’m sure the head exec fed it to him.

    The series only lasted nine episodes. #Schadenfreude!

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    1. Damn! That one sounds a little more suspicious than just zeitgeist-y. I’m sure the Hollywood version of this blog post would be a lot more cutthroat!

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  6. Whoa, that motorcycle ad copy story is pretty freaky, Marla.

    Just yesterday I saw an ad for a mystery being released this month that looks like it’s the EXACT same plot line as a book that came out last year (and that has been nominated for a couple awards). Coincidence, or someone taking advantage of what they think will sell?

    I’ve been brainstorming ideas for the title for a future Orchid Isle mystery, and one of them was “Invasive Species.” Turns out there are about a gajillion books with that title already. But oddly enough there are almost none called “Endangered Species.” So perhaps I’ll go with that.

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    1. Wow, that’s crazy about the book… there are a lot of people jumping on the “what will sell” bandwagon.

      As for “Invasive Species,” maybe add an extra word to make it your own! Fun fact: there are SO MANY books across all genres named “In Plain Sight.” I used it as an example once for a class I taught on brainstorming. I wish you could post pics in the comments cause I would share that slide.

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  7. I love this post, Marla. I can totally see the doppelgänger issue. 

    200 years ago, when I started messing around with the idea of writing, I was looking at cozies to see what was out there and what was missing. I came up with a brilliant idea. 

    An amateur sleuth who was a mystery shopper for the mall, who was supposed to make sure nobody was violating the leases. I did research on mystery shoppers, because I was one at one time, and did some analysis of what would be in a mall. I created my main character/amateur sleuth. As I’m writing the novel (I was half way through), low, and behold, Elaine Viets  burst my bubble. First novel in a new series for sale now, Josie Marcus mystery shopper.

    So I went back to the drawing board. I even told Elaine at Malice the next year what happened. She said “you could’ve done it. We’re not all the same.” But it would look like I stole her idea if I had tried to find an agent with it back then. 

    I’m sure all my stories have been written, I just haven’t found them yet.

    Wait! What about an amateur sleuth who is trying to solve a murder and trying to find a killer. And the sleuth has a doppelgänger who is trying to solve a murder where the killer is a doppelgänger of the first killer. And theres a doppelgänger of the actual crime too? Does that make sense? 

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    1. I love the idea of a mystery shopper! So much potential. If you ever decide to give it a go, I’m sure you’d be able to put a fresh twist on it. But you’re an idea machine, so you probably have ten more great ideas lined up. I feel like the Dopplegänger Mysteries are rife with potential! Man, if only there were enough time to write all the ideas!

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  8. There are times it amazes me that there aren’t more coincidences out there. Especially among people who spend a lot of time together. That’s my explanation for the motorcycle ad. You and your old boss spent so much time together that same thing trigged you both without telling the other.

    I can’t think of anything like that in my life, but I’m sure there have been over the years.

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    1. Plot twist: He had written the headline before we met! But I’m sure the scenario you proposed happens all the time. Especially, like you said, with people who spend a lot of time together! It’s amazing the Chicks haven’t had to fight over a series hook yet!

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    1. Yes! Plus people try to emulate the look of existing books. I see so much advice that says, “Go look at books that sell well in their genre. Look at what fonts and style of illustration they use.” Basically the current advice is to copy what’s hot!

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  10. I don’t recall any idea dopplegangers – love that term, by the way! – but one of my favorite things is when I’m thinking of someone and moments later they either call, text or email me out of the blue. Love that.

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  11. Yes, this hits!

    When I was months deep into the query process for my coming-out-soon haunted house mystery, my mom loaned me her copy of a new novel by a VERY famous and prolific writer—our stories were completely different, a different genre too, but it was as though we had been working from the EXACT same not-very-long trope list to the point where it I ended up removing several of mine just so the world wouldn’t say “Hey! She totally cribbed those ideas from Very Famous Writer!” (They might anyway, but…not much I can do now!)

    None of the points of similarity were big or important, and there’s no possible way anyone “stole” from anyone else; hers hit publication at literally the same time mine hit the query trenches, and haunted house tropes do tend to clump together, but this was sort of eerie (pun unintended but apt).

    —JKB

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