DISCUSSION THREAD- January 2019- 75 Word Writing Challenge

Quite a dilemma, @Peter V, I'm sorry. Maybe the Mods can give you some advice on how to proceed ... @chrispenycate or @TheDustyZebra?

I think @scarpelius is likely correct here. Plagiarism, also, seems too strong of a word, when you're talking a 75 Worder (the potential for storytelling is so limited), but if there is an idea that seems remarkably similar to a well-known story, it might turn off some of the more widely read voters. Mods, what do you think?
 
I would say that if you don't know what story it is that you've supposedly plagiarized, it can't be direct enough to worry about -- but if you wish to send it to the mods to look over, feel free. :)
 
Not a mod, but...

To me, plagerism requires that an individual be aware of the previous work and copies this for the sake of commercial or other gain. Hence, you cannot be "informed" that you are plagerizing, though you can be informed of others who have used similar ideas before. Plagerism is also much more difficult to definine in creative works, as many story elements and organizations have been used many times before.

That said, if it is very similar to a well known work, you may want to shy away for the strictly pragmatic reason that people are less likely to vote for a story which is less original.
 
Victoria Silverwolf said:
strong sense of verisimilitude
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That's one of those words I've always sort of understood, but never really known the definition.
So I looked it up and now I'm not so sure o_O
Verisimilitude - Wikipedia = truthlikeness
Verisimilitude (fiction) - Wikipedia = lifelikeness

and then I fell into the wiki trap and found this wonderful entry
Newton's Flaming Laser Sword
Definite story material there - Isaac Newton battling the forces of evil with his awesome weapon.
 
Peter V said:
Plagiarism

That was his response.
Click to expand...

Honestly, I think that this is an unfair comment on a story. Plagiarism is, ultimately, an academic offence and there's a big difference between plagiarism and copyright infringement.

If you write an academic paper and you reference an idea that you didn't come up with - let's call it idea Y - then if you fail to give credit to person X for idea Y, then you will commit plagiarism.

However, in fiction writing, an idea cannot be copyrighted. There is no plagiarism for a similarity of ideas and ideas that you "borrow" or are "influenced by" do not need to be attributed or avoided. For example, if you look at "Dune" we have an aristocratic person (Leto Atreides) going to take up a position he sort-of doesn't want and then he gets executed part-way through the book. Then compare that with "Game of Thrones" where we have an aristocratic person "Ned Stark" going to take up a position he sort-of doesn't want and gets executed at the end of the book.

Aside from the setting, and a few consequential details, Ned and Leto's stories are basically the same. However George RR Martin didn't plagiarise Frank Herbert. (Even if when I read "Game of Thrones" in 1996 I saw Ned Stark's execution coming from when he accepted the job of "The Hand".) No more than Terry Brooks plagiarised "The Lord of the Rings" when he wrote "The Sword of Shannara" (and before I get any criticism or complaints - I'm not alleging that he did and I'm not saying that he did.)

What is different is the execution of the plot. And that is the fiction writer's saving grace over the academic. So long as you do not directly copy from another writer's work then you are fine. Sure, you can be criticised by readers for your similarity of plot or character or idea (I've just done it). But so long as they're not absolutely identical then it's not copyright infringement. It's not something you should be worried about.

Oh, and everyone borrows some version of FTL and teleportation from someone who has already written about it - I mean how would you write sci-fi without the concept of FTL that you failed to invent because someone thought of it before you. Honestly, I wouldn't worry too much about that if I were you. :)

Equally, I haven't read your story, so I don't know - The best advice I could give it that you should just post your 75-word story and let people look at it. It's probably fine.
 
@Ivy Moser .... Enough .... Ivy gives us free form verse letting us know that we are not free to do whatever we please.
 
I think perhaps his terminology is a bit off and maybe plagiarism isn't precisely what he meant - more a borrowing of ideas to the extent of rewriting an existing story.

Anyway, I came up with something else last night and I will use that instead. After the competition I may post my supposedly unoriginal original to see if anyone recognises it because right now I want to read the piece my friend is referring to.
 
nixie said:
I'm open to ideas about the other option
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The other option is that you should have some self-confidence within yourself and within your abilities. You shouldn't accept the verdict of an external authority as being restrictive of what you should or should not do. And you shouldn't accept someone else's negative criticism of you. They're probably jealous of your success.

If you are negotiating a contract for the sale of your intellectual property then you shouldn't give your intellectual property away for nothing. Equally you shouldn't agree to a contractual provision that requires you to send all of your royalty payments to a third party. If you agree to that kind of deal, then you are (in my view) an idiot.

So the other option is to publish your work to the market (by which I mean the book-buying public), without a publisher. Accept the criticism or acclaim and then deal with the consequences - which will not be as large as anyone claims - because people who claim things have no divine knowledge of the future and they have no divine knowledge of disaster or success. Ok, maybe you won't make as much money, maybe you will make more. I don't know and neither do you. But, either way, it's something you're doing for yourself and not for anyone else.
 
@nixie .... How the Trees Grew .... Nixie reminds me of a Bible verse: “Who is like you, Lord? You rescue the poor from those too strong for them, the poor and needy from those who rob them.” Ps. 35:10.

@Ian Fortytwo .... Cheating never prospers .... Ian goes all Washington Irving on us and tells a tale about poker, laughter, and root chairs.
 
nixie: A realistic tale of an ill-made decision with a warning that there are forces more powerful than ourselves.

Ian Fortytwo: A subtle fable of temptation with a sly hint that even the smallest vices will be found out.
 
A poll will mysteriously appear after the thread is closed (after
Contest ends at 11:59 pm GMT, 23 January 2019 - and, I trust, after I have finished and submitted my entry). The closing post on the thread will inform you of its location, but it's pretty obvious. Then you will have until Voting ends at 11:59 pm GMT, 28 January 2019, and one vote for one story - though 'short lists' of your favorites are allowed for (and appreciated) in this thread. Please do join in the voting, and even if you don't submit a tale for the 300 word challenge, there you have three whole votes, and generally fewer entries, so you're not forced to ignore quite so many good entries. :)
 
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