I think you should just write the fic and not worry about it. I agree with the others, as long as it is your voice and is written in your words, it should be fine. Sometimes I get inspired by some of the fics I see here, and start writing, only to have it come out totally different than what I had originally planned or been inspired by. So I just don't worry about it.

I totally agree with the above comments. Honestly, I've read so many fics lately it's hard to remember where one started and the other ended. There are some ideas that have been similar on the board, but, you know what? I'm sure no one would have any qualms about a good storyline and another fic, even if some ideas are shared with another popular one. Just make it your own voice, and there you have it.

Thanks to everyone who has responded so far. Makes me feel a bit better about seemingly running rampant through pre-trod ground.

And ForeverShiny....I wonder if you remember the "genii" bit from a fanfic posted recently, cuz I swear someone hear had one of the BDHs make references to River and at least one other Academy "graduate" as psychic genii (believe that's the proper Latin plural)

If Harelquin Romance Novels can keep pumping out the same story with only the nouns changed and basically the same book cover art with some Fabio type and a woman in a long Elizabethan style dress running from a castle on the moors then I think you should go ahead and publish your fanfic. At best it could be a novel idea, at worst an alternative to someone else's schlock.

I have an idea for a fanfic which I suspect may have been done already but as I don't read fanfic I wouldn't know.

I say just go for it. After all, there's apparently only 7 stories in the world.

I know what you mean. It can be frusturating when you have a "Eureka!" moment, only to discover moments later that someone else has already done it.

My solution to this frightening problem is to just write it anyways....with slight variations. How you tell a certain scene/story is different than how someone else does. You have your own specific voice and thoughts
Good luck.
Cheers,
PS: Genii? Hmmm...where have I heard that before? Atlantis, perhaps? Or, if you made it up, than just slap me upside the head. I need it sometimes. *grin*

Yes, I have had this kind of thing happen.. I recently had a whole bunch of elements I was planning to put in my fanfic, but as I wrote it, they just didn't flow right, so they got left out... then I turned around and read someone else's fic, and the same ideas were right there, fundamentally exactly what I was thinking and wanting to put in my fic...
You shouldn't feel like a theif!! It's inevitable that some of the same ideas are going to be shared out there... we have a relatively limited amount of source material to work from with only the one season and the movie, as opposed to some other fandoms that have years worth of episdoes and plots and character developments to decide from... I think you need to try to write your stories anyway, even if you see soemone else doing the same thing... the archetypes are very strong and powerful in Joss's 'verse, so there are themes that are just going to run through fics and such, but you shouldn't let that prevent you from writing. You will find, or leastways, I always find, that the story you plan to tell, and the story you end up telling, usually differ quite a bit, as the story will evolve as you write it, the characters speaak to you, and suddenly you find that an idea has popped up that is totally going to take your story in a completely new direction, and all those notes you had don't seem to have no place anymore.... but hold on to them, because stories have an amazing way of coming back to where they need to go, and you'll find that, while the exact idea you had originally wanted to write may not be there anymore, a lot of the themes and ideas you wanted to get across still present themselves...

Anyway, the long and short of what I'm trying to get at is, writing is good, the more you write, the better you get, the easier the ideas flow, and you can surprise yourself with the direction your writing can take you... just because someone is already exploring a theme you want to explore, doesn't mean you can't do it too... the hard part is keeping it your story, without being too overly influenced by the other stories you read... but sometimes you'll read someone elses interpretation of something you're trying to figure out, and it will just open up a huge amount of possibility you hadn't thought of before..
Hehe, now I'm rambling...
What I mean to say is, write your stories anyway, they will be your stories, and even if similar to other fans' work, you have something to contribute, and a very safe and friendly environment to do it in...

Good luck! and I'll be watching for your fiction!