Today I was writing the character sketch of the last primary character in the novel I’m trying hard to finish, and found myself quoting word-for-word what is probably the most famous line in any Star Trek film:
The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.
I include this trivia to evidence the fact that it’s hard to write anything without what Harold Bloom calls the anxiety of influence playing a role. For instance, nearly every time I reflect of the storyline of the early stages of my novel I say something like a little prayer: “Please let this not be like Harry Potter”, even though the two have absolutely nothing in common. Indeed, the sentiment is as much about my distaste (not, however, disrespect) for Rowling’s writing as it is about fears of attribution and appropriation. But even Rowling’s Potter series is based on everything from Star Wars to The Lord of the Rings to (perhaps most obnoxiously) Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game.
Cognizant of this, I’ve decided that rather than ignore the similarities between my effort and the successful efforts of others, I need to recognize them and focus on how mine is different, or on how my telling of (parts of) the same story needs to be told in it’s own particular way. One should only write the books that can’t not be written, and so all scrutiny to similarities should be acknowledged and considered.
Earth and the moon as seen in The Invaders
Earth and the moon as seen in Earth, As E.T. Would See It
