| 1 year ago :: Oct 10, 2008 - 9:45PM #1 | |
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I've had a certain question on my mind for quite some time now and I'd like to know how others feel about this. What exactly is considered "stealing" from a fellow writer? Let's say you read a book and a certain character catches your eye. Example: A man is very handsome and a big flirt and womanizer. So your mind starts to wonder and you imagine a man who is a true lady's man and one day discovers that one of the women he's been flirting with for years in good fun is suddenly the object of his affection and he falls in love with her. Now he has to figure out a way to present himself in a completely new light and make her realize that she loves him, too.So. is it considered "stealing" or simply being inspired?
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| 1 year ago :: Oct 17, 2008 - 3:48AM #2 | |
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the example you qoute is definitely being inspired. Fiction is really all about taking real-life events and twisting them to create something new. Or, as one writer put it, "what-if-ing." That's exactly what you did. The story I'm writing now is a combination of a few books I read, movies I saw... It's taking all these elements and putting them together in a new way.
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| 1 year ago :: Oct 26, 2008 - 8:48AM #3 | |
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This is one of the reasons it's important to read a lot. This way, if the idea you just thought of has been used often, you'll be more likely to notice that, and be able to make it even more your own, by adding different elements, or whatever.
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| 1 year ago :: Feb 20, 2009 - 5:06PM #4 | |
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I think about it this way. Almost everything has been done before so I suppose if what you're talking about is stealing then we're all thieves I suppose. lol. I believe that as long as you don't use the exact characteristics of a certain person or specific names, then I believe its being inspired. For a writer, every little thing gives us inspiration, from something you see on the street or something that we read. I don't believe that any of us steal... we just all view things very differently and we take characters that we like and let our minds do the wandering and changing for us. ehh... that's just my opinion. :) |
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| 1 year ago :: Mar 05, 2009 - 8:42PM #5 | |
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Any archetype that's at all compelling is going to find itself getting used by any number of writers. Similarities are bound to crop up. |
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