Plagiarism Is A Dirty WordPosted by mommy4thomas2002 on June 15, 2014 in Blog Post
Plaigiarism is a dirty word, no doubt about it! I was recently reading through the Twilight/Vampire Diaries crossover section on Fanfiction.net and came across a story that was eerily similar to one of my own. The circumstances, the characters’ history, even some of the action and dialogue was very much like a story I have written.
I was beyond angry about it! I put my heart and soul into my stories, and I give a lot of thought to the plot, the development of the stories, the dialogue, and whatnot. To see that someone took my ideas and made it their own is very disconcerting. I realize that I do write fan fiction and that the fictional universes I write about were created by other people. However, anything original I add to it is mine. To see someone taking that from me just hurts. I feel violated! There’s no other way to describe it.
I know fan fiction stories can oftentimes share certain traits, but authors generally try to make a story their own. The dialogue is different, the scenes are different, and so on. To blatantly copy the plotline, dialogue or certain scenes from another story is stealing someone’s work. It is plagiarism. No ands, ifs or butts about it! In my opinion, it shows a lack of respect. A writer who has to plagiarize someone else not only disrespects the author they stole from, they disrespect themselves. It also shows that they are dishonest, that they are incapable of writing ideas that are their own. That is not the mark of a true writer.
I suppose part of me is flattered that someone liked my ideas and attempted to make it their own. If they had given me credit, or acknowledged that my story inspired them, I would be fine with the similarities I found in that story. The point is, they didn’t. They took my ideas and passed it off as their own.
I will not name the author, or the story. I have contacted him/her privately and will handle it from there. While I may publicly write about it, I would like to try and handle this with as much grace as I can.
I would still be angry and stewing about it if I did not have the support of my fellow writers at the Kittyinaz group on Facebook. Meridian has been especially kind, her words of wisdom and support has really helped me deal with this issue. I just can’t thank her enough for it. She has been plagiarized before and wrote about it on her blog. It’s what gave me the idea to write my own post about it. Her thoughts about plagiarism echo my own. Here is the link to her post: http://addicted2godric.wordpress.com/2014/04/29/and-on-a-serious-note-it-has-come-to-my-attention-that/
Plaigiarism is a dirty word, no doubt about it! I was recently reading through the Twilight/Vampire Diaries crossover section on Fanfiction.net and came across a story that was eerily similar to one of my own. The circumstances, the characters’ history, even some of the action and dialogue was very much like a story I have written.
I was beyond angry about it! I put my heart and soul into my stories, and I give a lot of thought to the plot, the development of the stories, the dialogue, and whatnot. To see that someone took my ideas and made it their own is very disconcerting. I realize that I do write fan fiction and that the fictional universes I write about were created by other people. However, anything original I add to it is mine. To see someone taking that from me just hurts. I feel violated! There’s no other way to describe it.
I know fan fiction stories can oftentimes share certain traits, but authors generally try to make a story their own. The dialogue is different, the scenes are different, and so on. To blatantly copy the plotline, dialogue or certain scenes from another story is stealing someone’s work. It is plagiarism. No ands, ifs or butts about it! In my opinion, it shows a lack of respect. A writer who has to plagiarize someone else not only disrespects the author they stole from, they disrespect themselves. It also shows that they are dishonest, that they are incapable of writing ideas that are their own. That is not the mark of a true writer.
I suppose part of me is flattered that someone liked my ideas and attempted to make it their own. If they had given me credit, or acknowledged that my story inspired them, I would be fine with the similarities I found in that story. The point is, they didn’t. They took my ideas and passed it off as their own.
I will not name the author, or the story. I have contacted him/her privately and will handle it from there. While I may publicly write about it, I would like to try and handle this with as much grace as I can.
I would still be angry and stewing about it if I did not have the support of my fellow writers at the Kittyinaz group on Facebook. Meridian has been especially kind, her words of wisdom and support has really helped me deal with this issue. I just can’t thank her enough for it. She has been plagiarized before and wrote about it on her blog. It’s what gave me the idea to write my own post about it. Her thoughts about plagiarism echo my own. Here is the link to her post: http://addicted2godric.wordpress.com/2014/04/29/and-on-a-serious-note-it-has-come-to-my-attention-that/
