Picture this: You’ve spent eighteen months crafting the perfect screenplay about a time-traveling barista who prevents historical disasters one espresso at a time. Your character development is flawless. Your dialogue sparkles. You’ve researched coffee cultivation through the centuries because you’re that dedicated. Then you open Netflix and there it is—someone’s already made your movie. Different title, slightly different approach, but unmistakably YOUR brilliant, original, one-of-a-kind concept.
Cue the existential crisis, the dramatic floor collapse, and the sudden urge to switch careers to something less soul-crushing. Like tax law.
Your Story Deserves to Be Seen
FROM THE PAGE TO THE SCREEN: Crafting Visual Stories
START DATE: Tuesday, July 8th @ 7pm, ET. Sign up for this 4-week workshop and discover how-to “write for the camera” while revolutionize your prose writing as well. When you master the art of showing character through action rather than exposition, of building tension through what characters do rather than what they think, and of creating atmosphere through carefully chosen visual details, your novels and short stories become infinitely more engaging. Participants consistently report that their prose becomes tighter, more dynamic, and more emotionally compelling after learning screenwriting techniques. You’ll develop a writer’s superpower: the ability to make readers feel like they’re watching your story unfold rather than simply reading about it.
Register todayBut here’s the thing about getting beaten to the creative punch: it happens to everyone, it’s not the end of your project, and—plot twist—it might actually be the best thing that could happen to your story.
What You’ll Learn (Because Wallowing Has a Time Limit)
By the end of this article, you’ll know how to:
- Perform strategic “retcon research” to differentiate your project
- Transform creative disappointment into competitive advantage
- Decide whether to pivot, persevere, or put your project in witness protection
- Use existing successful projects as market validation (yes, really!)
- Identify the unique angle that makes your version essential
- Turn “they did it first” into “they proved there’s an audience”
Whether you’re writing novels, screenplays, or any other narrative project, these strategies will help you navigate the crowded creative landscape without losing your sanity or your story’s soul.
The Uncomfortable Truth About “Original” Ideas
Here’s something the writing gurus don’t always mention: there are no completely original ideas. There. I said it. Every story is a remix, a variation, a new spin on themes humans have been exploring since we first gathered around fires and made up scary stories about the things lurking beyond the light.
“Romeo and Juliet” wasn’t Shakespeare’s original concept—he adapted it from earlier sources. “Seven Samurai” became “The Magnificent Seven.” “Star Wars” borrowed liberally from “The Hidden Fortress,” westerns, and Flash Gordon serials. The difference isn’t in the core concept; it’s in the execution, the perspective, and the unique voice the creator brings to familiar territory.
So when Netflix drops that time-traveling barista series, remember: Shakespeare didn’t invent young lovers. Kurosawa didn’t invent heroic warriors. Lucas didn’t invent space adventures. They took existing elements and made them sing in new keys.
Try This: Exercise #1 – The Retcon Research MissionTime to channel your inner detective. Your mission: become an expert on everything that’s already been done with your concept, so you can find the gaps, the missed opportunities, and the angles nobody’s explored yet. Your Research Arsenal:
The Magic Question: After each piece of “competition,” ask yourself: “What story did this leave untold?” |
The Four Paths Forward (Choose Your Own Adventure)
Once you’ve completed your research, you’ll find yourself facing one of four scenarios. Each requires a different strategy.
Path 1: The Pivot Play
When to choose this: The existing work is so similar to yours that direct competition feels futile, but you love your characters and world too much to abandon them.
The Strategy: Keep your characters and setting but completely change the central conflict or genre. Your time-traveling barista becomes a contemporary story about a coffee shop owner who helps customers solve personal problems. Your zombie apocalypse romance becomes a workplace comedy about morticians. Your space opera becomes a family drama set on a space station.
Success Story: “The Good Place” could have been just another afterlife comedy, but Michael Schur pivoted the concept into a philosophy primer disguised as a sitcom. Same setting, completely different purpose.
Path 2: The Angle Attack
When to choose this: There’s significant overlap, but you can identify a fresh perspective, audience, or approach that hasn’t been explored.
The Strategy: Find your unique angle and lean into it hard. Maybe your time-traveling barista story focuses on the economic history of coffee trade. Perhaps you tell it from the perspective of historical figures who keep encountering this mysterious coffee person. Or you make it a horror story about caffeine addiction across time periods.
Research Task: List 5-10 angles the existing work didn’t explore. Pick the one that excites you most and makes your story essential, not just different.
Path 3: The Direct Competition Gambit
When to choose this: The existing work proves there’s an audience for your concept, but you genuinely believe you can do it better or offer something significantly different within the same basic framework.
The Strategy: Use the existing work as market validation. “There’s clearly an audience for time-traveling barista stories” becomes your opening line in query letters and pitches. Study what worked about the first version, what didn’t, and how you can improve on the formula.
Market Research Homework: Identify three specific ways your version is superior. Better character development? More authentic historical research? Funnier dialogue? More diverse casting opportunities? Be specific.
Path 4: The Strategic Retreat
When to choose this: Honest assessment reveals that the existing work covers your territory so thoroughly that continuing would be an exercise in diminishing returns.
The Strategy: File your project under “learning experience” and move on to something else. But don’t delete anything! You’ve done research, developed characters, and learned about story structure. Those elements might be perfect for a completely different project.
Recycling Plan: List the three best elements of your abandoned project. How could each element enhance a different story you’re considering?
Try This: Exercise #2 – The Differentiation Deep Dive
Example: “My time-traveling barista story is the only comedy that uses coffee history to explore how small daily rituals connect us across centuries.” |
The Silver Lining Mindset Shift
Getting beaten to the punch isn’t creative failure—it’s market research delivered to your doorstep with a bow on top. Someone just proved that audiences are interested in your concept. Producers, agents, and publishers have concrete evidence that your type of story can find an audience.
Reframe the Situation:
- “They stole my idea” becomes “They validated my market instincts”
- “I’m too late” becomes “I have a proven genre to work within”
- “There’s no point now” becomes “I know exactly what’s missing from the conversation”
Think of it like restaurants. The fact that Italian restaurants exist doesn’t prevent new ones from opening—it proves people want Italian food. Your job is to figure out what your restaurant offers that others don’t. Maybe it’s the atmosphere, the service, the price point, or that secret sauce recipe.
The Competitive Analysis Toolkit
Study the successful version like a scientist:
- Plot Structure Analysis:
- What are the major turning points?
- How do they handle pacing?
- Where do they place their biggest reveals?
- Character Dynamics:
- Which relationships work best?
- What character types are missing?
- How could you improve the character chemistry?
- Audience Response Deep Dive:
- Read reviews on multiple platforms
- Note common complaints and praise
- Look for unmet desires in the comments
- Market Gap Identification:
- What demographics weren’t served?
- What themes were left unexplored?
- What questions were left unanswered?
When Getting Beaten Actually Helps
Sometimes discovering existing work in your area is like finding a roadmap to what works and what doesn’t. You get to learn from someone else’s mistakes and build on their successes without the expensive trial-and-error process.
Case Study Benefits:
- You can identify successful story beats and improve on them
- You can see which character types resonate with audiences
- You can spot missed opportunities for emotional depth
- You can learn from their marketing approach
Plus, if you’re submitting to agents or producers, you can now say “This is like [successful thing] but with [your unique twist].” That’s not derivative—that’s smart positioning.
Action Plan: The 48-Hour Recovery Protocol
Hour 1-6: The Grief Period Allow yourself to be disappointed. Eat ice cream. Complain to your writing friends. Watch the offending work while muttering “I would have done that differently.” This is normal and necessary.
Hour 7-12: The Research Blitz Consume everything you can find related to your concept. Take notes on what works, what doesn’t, and what’s missing.
Hour 13-24: The Analysis Phase Create your comparison charts, identify gaps, and determine which of the four paths forward makes the most sense for your project.
Hour 25-36: The Strategy Session Decide whether to pivot, angle, compete, or retreat. If you’re not sure, pick two approaches and develop them both for a few days.
Hour 37-48: The Commitment Choose your path and write the first new scene, outline, or chapter that reflects your new direction. Motion beats meditation.
Try This: Exercise #3 – The Fresh Eyes ChallengePretend you’re developing your story for the first time, but you have access to a crystal ball showing you everything that’s already been done in this space.
Write a new logline that incorporates your answers. If it excites you more than your original concept, you’ve found your path forward. |
The Long Game: Building Resilience
Creative collision is going to happen again. And again. The writers who build sustainable careers aren’t the ones who never get beaten to the punch—they’re the ones who get really good at creative problem-solving under pressure.
Develop these habits:
- Keep multiple projects in development so you’re never fully dependent on one idea
- Regularly research your competitive landscape before you’re too invested
- Practice seeing existing work as inspiration rather than intimidation
- Build a network of writing friends who can help you brainstorm solutions
Key Takeaways: Turning Setbacks into Comebacks
- Getting beaten to the punch is market validation, not creative failure
- Every successful work leaves gaps that smart writers can fill
- Your unique voice and perspective matter more than absolute originality
- Strategic research can transform competition into opportunity
- The best response to creative collision is creative evolution
Join Us for Hands-On Solutions
Dealing with creative roadblocks in real-time? Join my Free Workshop: Build-A-Character (June 28th) where we’ll tackle these kinds of challenges together. Sometimes the solution to getting beaten to the punch is building such compelling characters that your story becomes essential regardless of the competition.
And if you’re ready to level up your visual storytelling skills, check out my July workshop “From Page to Screen“ where we’ll explore how to make any story more cinematic and compelling—perfect for standing out in a crowded market.
Remember: Shakespeare got beaten to the punch by every storyteller who came before him. He just happened to be really good at making old stories sing in new keys. So can you.
Your turn. What story are you going to make essential?