Tess Gerritsen left a successful practice as an internist to raise her children and concentrate on her writing. She gained nationwide acclaim for her first novel of medical suspense, the New York Times bestseller Harvest. She is also the author of the bestsellers Life Support, Bloodstream, Gravity, and The Surgeon. Tess lives with her family in Maine. (PHOTO CREDIT: Paul D'Innocenzo) --as appeared her blog.
You Stole My Story...Tess Ger
ritsen
Some time ago, I wrote a blog post about how another author and I had our books published the same year, and both stories were eerily similar, with identical details right down to the crucifixion of the victims. Some readers told me I should sue because obviously she stole my idea. Or was I the one who stole hers? I pointed out that it would be physically impossible for either one of us to have stolen the others’ story, because we were writing simultaneously, and these things happen. Stories bear striking similarities that can only be explained as coincidence.
So now there’s a reader review of SILENT GIRL on Amazon accusing me
of ripping off GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, and he says that Stieg
Larsson’s estate should sue me. He says it’s exactly the same story.
I’ve just seen the movie, so I’ll start off exploring this issue with
plot summaries.GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO is about a sexually traumatized computer hacker who teams up with a disgraced journalist to solve the mystery of a missing girl. There’s also a lot about Swedish business corruption, Nazis, and men’s abuse of women in Swedish society.
THE SILENT GIRL is about a series of murders in Boston’s Chinatown that may be linked to a decades-old massacre in a Chinese restaurant. Rizzoli and Isles investigate. There’s stuff about a female Chinese martial arts master, the ancient legend of the Monkey King, and the Asian immigrant experience.
So far, these stories are really close, right? Except for their plots and characters.
Where, then, are the similarities between these books? They’re definitely there — in the form of mystery tropes that have been used by just about every mystery writer who’s ever lived. They’re part of every writer’s plot toolbox, and I’ve been using them for years. (Maybe I should be sued for copying from my own books). There are spoilers below, so I apologize in advance if I give away clues to books of mine that you haven’t yet read.
Literary tropes in mysteries:
Dead or missing female victim(s)
Yep, both DRAGON TATTOO and SILENT GIRL have them. Dead girls. The mystery genre loves dead girls. TV loves them too, especially if they’ve been sexually abused (anyone watch Law & Order SVU?) I’ve used this trope repeatedly in THE SURGEON (2001), THE APPRENTICE (2002), VANISH (2005), and THE KEEPSAKE (2008). I was writing about dead girls long before DRAGON TATTOO. And like DRAGON TATTOO, my victims were sometimes confined in basements (THE SURGEON.)
Killers who work as a team or as a family
I’ve used it already in THE APPRENTICE (2001) and THE KEEPSAKE (2008). And yep, I even had a book where the killers are part of the same family, in BODY DOUBLE (2004.) I also dealt with the theme of multi-generational evil in THE MEPHISTO CLUB (2006).
The “dead” character who turns out to be alive.
I love this trope. In fact, I used it in my very first romantic suspense novel, CALL AFTER MIDNIGHT (1987). I used it again in HARVEST (1996), THE MEPHISTO CLUB (2006), and THE KEEPSAKE (2008).
These are literary tropes because they are endlessly useful plot devices that writers have used since the beginning of storytelling. Throughout my writing career, I’ve fallen back on them to inject surprise, suspense, or that one last plot twist. Tropes are not copyrighted. They do not belong to Stieg Larsson. In fact, I’m willing to bet that Stieg Larsson borrowed them from someone else. (Hey Jo Nesbo, did Stieg take something of yours?)
DRAGON TATTOO has become stratospherically popular. Even readers who hardly ever read novels have picked this one up, or watched the movie, and they think this must be the first serial killer story ever written that has a duo of killers. They think that no one else has ever before written about survivors of sexual trauma (I did in THE SURGEON) or abusive fathers (I did in THE SINNER) or kick-ass heroines (um… Jane Rizzoli?) They think this because they haven’t been reading deeply in the genre. They think that anyone else who uses these tropes must be a plagiarist, because of course, Stieg Larsson invented them.
No, he didn’t. Neither did I.
The telegraph was invented by Charles Wheatstone in England in 1837 and by Samuel F B Morse in the US in 1837. Elisha Gray and Alexander Graham Bell filed a patent for the telephone on the same day. And we've all heard of the Edison/Tesla feud. If inventors can come up with the same idea independently of one another--and at the same time--why can't we imagine that two writers might write books much more similar than yours were without collusion or idea theft?
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry that you've had someone accuse you. There are a lot of unhappy folk out there, just looking for trouble. Hence, the malpractice industry.
As a wise man once said, "there's nothing new under the sun". We writers just mince and repackage the stories we hear, live and see around us.... it's bits and pieces of life repackaged again and again, not plagiarism. Sorry for the trouble... keep writing!
ReplyDeleteAn author who's written about a survivor of sexual trauma? There can't be that many. Only about a half-million. It always amazes me when someone is afraid to share their WIP for fear someone will steal the idea. No idea is new. It's just the same ideas revamped in different ways.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, Tess.
Your are a prominent storyteller/novelist, respected in your field. You didn't ask, but I will tell you anyway: This is not worth your time. Ninety-nine-point-nine percent of your readers will never see mention of this issue, and they would steadfastly take up for you if they did. It's because you are prominent that it happened in the first place. Don't dignify it; forget it if you can and go on.
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