I'm writing about a boy wizard..... do you think this will be considered an

Question: I'm writing about a boy wizard!.!.!.!.!. do you think this will be considered an immitation of harry potter!?

So, i'm writing about a teenage boy (17 years old) who discovers he has unique powers and is the son of an evil psychotic wizard who broke out of a mental institution!.
I just hope that people will not think that it is an immitation of Harry Potter because it's nothing like harry potter & totally original plus you know how critics are like!.
I still have about 7 more chapters to write before it's complete!.!.!.!. so what do you think!?!?Www@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

Dude keep on writing it! Your story got to be better then HP!
I don't like HP I think it is g*y!. (please do not report it!!!)
Do it more interesting and full of mythology like you could get inspired by Warkraft, make something like a combo of the Lord of the Rings and HP!!!
You should have success!!
Good luck man, I'll be waiting for the book!!!Www@QuestionHome@Com

Very likely, but there are only so many stories and themes!.!.!.
Boy finding out he's something special:
"Star Wars" (!.!.!. and that his father wasn't who he thought! Standard fairy tale material!.)
Eddings: Belgariad
Feist: Magician!.
Zelazny: Changeling, and for an amnesiac adult, Nine Princes in Amber!.
Tepper: The True Game, or from the female perspective, Jinian Footseer!.

There's potential to be seriously different, or horribly clichéd and derivative!.

Two things would immediately lift you away from and above Harry Potter!.
A consistent system for how your magic works!.
It's strengths and weaknesses, costs!.!.!. (very little comes for free!. Even your heavily-muscled barbarian didn't get those muscles, or sword skills, from nowhere!.)
That doesn't mean an elder wizard has to explain, at length, to the youth and the reader how everything works, as long as *you* know, and can let details out, and work the plot, to suit!.
Magic is not, oddly enough, something just to be pulled out of a hat!.

And related to that is the "deus ex machina"!.
Pulling a character, magical artefact or skill out of nowhere just to make everything come right, or to solve a problem!.

An awful, lazy, technique!.
Can you find it in Harry Potter!? I leave that as an exercise to the reader!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

HP is hardly the first boy wizard story, or even the first boy wizard who didn't know he was a wizard story!. Le Guin's "A Wizard of Earthsea" predates HP by several decades (1968)!. There are likely even earlier instances of this character type (fantasia: the sorcerer's apprentice, is one example)!.

So, although your story will *invariably* be compared with HP, there is no reason to think that it will be considered an imitation!. Rowling is certainly not called an imitation of Le Guin, and Le Guin even had a "school of magic" which all burgeoning wizards attended!.

Jim
? http://www!.life-after-harry-potter!.com ?Www@QuestionHome@Com

Much as I liked the Harry Potter series, J!.K!. Rowling did not invent the genre - read about the School of Magic for young wizards in Ursula Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea, first published in 1968 or Diane Duane's Young Wizard series, the first published in the 1980s!. I don't think your story sounds like Harry Potter as you have described it - just try to avoid similar elements which people identify with HP like the school setting, I guess!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

You should change the character, instead of a male wizard try its female counterpart!.!.!. a female witch or sorceress if you don't want to be typecasted with the Great Harry!

Your concern is also our concern that's why you asked about it, definitely 99!.9% your novel with be outshines by Potter!!!Www@QuestionHome@Com

Yea, "boy wizard" gets Harry Potter into my head!. Maybe you should pitch the story starting off as "the son of an evil psychotic wizard" then it'll kind of derail the train of thought towards something similar (but not an imitation) if not new instead of Harry Potter!. I hope that helps!. Continue anyways and good luck!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Well, I am going to be blunt: anything having to do with a teen wizard will be either compared to HP or some people will allege it is a rip off, no matter how new you make it to be!. However, that being said, there is very little new under the sun, almost everything published is a new take on something that has been done before!. A good author should be able to re-use a concept and give it a fresh "feel"!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

It really depends on your novel!. If you have a few things that are similar but everything is unique and your own, it should be fine! People have been writing about fantasy, wizards and evil legacies for decades! JK is not the first =]

Never mind about HP!. Go ahead and finish the novel!.
Good luck!Www@QuestionHome@Com

Refer to this evil, psychotic wizard as a warlock or sorcerer etc rather than a wizard!. A wizard reminds people of Harry Potter more than other terms I would say!.

A Warlock also conjures up a darker image which seems more in keeping with this evil, psychotic father character!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

No it will not be considered plagiarism because if you dont publish it then it wont be counted!. If you have a brilliant idea then i suggest you write it down but you might want to change it a little bit anyway just in case!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

It depends why you're writing it: if it's for fun, just carry on!. If you want to get it published you're making it extra difficult because, as you clearly suspect, comparisons will be made!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

I think it might be thought that your inspiration came from harry potter though your story sounds more adult and sounds more interesting, as liong as you dont purposefully make there be obvious simularaties between him and harry potter then it should be fine!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

the only way you'll know is to send it off to various publishers!. if you get accepted then you'll know you're on to something!. ask friends and family members to read it also!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

well right when i read the words "boy wizard" in your question i immediately thought of harry potter!.
BUT- J!.K Rowling did not invent wizards!.!.!.
so i don't see how its an imitation if its not the same story!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

It will inevitably be compared to Potter because any fantasy written these days is (Potter is after all the most successful series)!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Well my first thought is of harry potter!. But i wouldn't mind!. If i were marking this id compare it with harry potter for some reason!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

yep , boy wizard is harry!.

Call him something else son of an evil professor or somethingWww@QuestionHome@Com

THERE WERE PLENTY OF BOOKS ABOUT WIZARDS B4 HARRYPOTTER AND JK DIDNT GET CRITIZED OVA COPYING SOME1 ELSE SO U SHOULD BE FINE!. GOOD LUCK :)Www@QuestionHome@Com

There are many books about wizards, magic etc!.
The premise sounds nothing like HP so I'm sure you'll be fine!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

As long as you don't call him Larry (or Del) Trotter, there's no worry!. You can't copyright an idea!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Sounds like Harry Potter to meWww@QuestionHome@Com