Someone Walked Over My Grave

Or at least that's what it felt like.

Any of you out there who create or make things up for a living have probably had a similar experience. It's happened to me a few times, but the most recent occurrence -- a few days ago -- was the spookiest. And I never saw it coming.

I was at my computer when it happened, killing some time while my dinner brewed on the stove. I think. I'm not exactly sure what I as doing, to be honest. The situation blew everything else out of my memory. I could've been skydiving for all I know, and would've been so shocked that it'd be miraculous if I was aware enough to remember to pull the parachute.

What situation am I talking about? I saw a piece of my imagination displayed on the computer screen. In movie trailer form, no less.

It was a wild idea I'd had when I was an undergraduate. I wrote it as a high concept script, made it an ensemble piece with a lot of characters and plot-lines intersecting, and submitted it as a final project for a professor of mine. It was a challenge, and I worked my ass off on it, but in the end was only mildly moved by the result. There were some okay scenes in there, and the class had a fun time reading parts of it, but the end result was lacking. It needed serious work. I knew it, and my professor knew it too.

But the concept, the main clutch of the story, was one I was proud of. I figured I would put it to rest for a few years and rewrite it completely after coming back fresh.

That is, until I saw a movie trailer for it.

This was not an issue of plagiarism. Let's be clear on that. No one stole my idea. It's just an amazing coincidence that happened... and probably will happen again.

Whatever tree we pluck our ideas from, is something that apparently we can all share and visit. I don't understand how it really occurs in the first place, but it does, and is completely unavoidable. In some way, it's kind of cool that there is a connective tissue among all of our imaginations.

My advice if this happens to you? Write often. Create more. If and when such a coincidence happens, there will be other ideas to explore. Have faith in your own imagination, and, if you can, root for the other artist(s) who coincidentally shared a dream with you. If anything, it's a sign that we're all facing the same obstacles.