Uh oh, Spaghetti O (yeah, I committed necromancy. I raised a horrible 90s phrase from the dead!)
People have said that speculative fiction–well, literature as a whole–is mostly derivative. But I still think I may be in some sort of a bind. Major, minor. Perhaps it’s of my own making … *shrug*
I’m working on my first “serious” novel (40+ pages of worldbuilding, plot notes and extensive outlines, and about ten start-overs. This is surely it!). I’m pretty sure that many individual ideas and concepts within were/are utilized by writers. One particular idea, however, may be old or may be fresh as ever. Not sure.
The world of my work-in-progress is loosely “steampunk” (some suggest that the “steampunk” brand can only be used if your tale is somewhat historical fiction. Most typically take place in the Victorian through 1930s eras); in actuality, the technology of my novel’s world doesn’t really run on steam or what we think of as fuel, so perhaps it doesn’t apply at all.
There are certain airships in this sea-influenced island-world, Verdigar, called orca-craft: massive, metallic ships in the form of killer-whales, used for trade by affluent merchants and corporations, and in combat (battle-orca) by the opposing States. This is a new technology–highly expensive to make and run. However, while lurking on my favorite book-review sites, I came across this one book by Scott Westerfeld called Leviathan, and it mentioned airships of that sort–I’m not entirely sure if they are “metal-airship whales” or “genetically modified whales” (the series sounds pretty awesome, though! Methinks that’ll be on my summer reading list).
I preceded to worry and nagged my sleepy sister about the whole thing. Will I have to trash the entire idea? If I go through with the orca-craft, will I be sued? If that doesn’t matter, will I be burned alive by an army of angry fans? (haha at the last one).
Is it only acceptable when everyone’s doing it or when the idea is broad (such as elves: you have wood-elves, biker-elves, Keebler-elves etc., but elves have been around for centuries)? I mean, I’ve never come across metallic airships designed to resemble whales in literature before. Or have I?
Somewhere, somehow writers are bound to come up with the similar ideas and concepts. That’s pretty likely. There’s no such thing as originality. I’m just trying to figure out the level of acceptability before treading into “You’re in Trouble” Territory. I’m a broke college student!
lalala of rowan nhaima rhys 
Honestly, it all depends on the context of your story. If these ships are just like Westerfield’s (love his books but haven’t gotten around to reading Leviathan yet), if the world is almost identical with some minor tweaks, and the character/plot is also similar, you are going to get some hell from just about everyone. However, you’ll probably never get sued unless Westerfield is, in all actuality, a big jerk.
But other than that, it’ll be fine. Some fans might call foul because they’re trolls and have nothing better to do, but they aren’t who you should be worried about. Chin up, I actually like how you explained your orca-craft and thought it very unique.
From what I’ve read from the book summaries, the “metallic whale airship” is probably the only similarity (not entirely sure if his whale ship is metal or biological …).
Thanks, Elisa! I needed that external reassurance (on the orca-craft, too–I thought they may have sounded corny).
Thanks for visiting!
You had me at “battle-orca.” Haha.
From what I can tell, I think you’d very much like Leviathan! It’s a wonderful story and well-written. Loads of fun. And as far as I know the whale in the story has actually been genetically modified to function as an airship (so yeah, it’s a biological craft).
I don’t think you could be sued for writing about battle orcas…lol. Westerfeld never mentions orcas in his book, so I think you should be fine. 😉 (But I’m an amateur in the writing business, so what do I know!)
(Btw, thank you for subscribing to my blog! It’s nice to meet you, Rowan, and I hope to see you around…so to speak. Can’t wait to read more of your blog here. ^_^)
Yay! I was hoping that the name didn’t sound dumb. I dunno, I guess the battle-orcas are ok, since Westerfeld’s whales are biological, hehe.
I ordered Leviathan from my library, so I’ll be checking it out. The concepts seem amazing (flying genetically engineered whales? Whoa).
No problem! I’ve been lurking around on your blog for about a week now, haha. The “Map” post was really helpful. I’ll definitely be around. Thanks for subscribing, too =D