Coming here from Anne's blog.
Krani and Rae... About time ladies. I just HAD to get out of my forced bed rest to post my views on this topic. Thank you for suggesting the scanning idea. Will do so.
For so long, I was looking for a place to post my views on what I feel about this issue. Ladies, I am taking the liberty to post them here, hope its ok.
To Readers.
You know what bothers me most about plagiarism? The most irritating thing of all? Its when few readers justify the act with absurd statements like -
"Oh its just a paragraph. Its not copied"
"Oh its just a quote. Its not copied"
"Oh its just a scene. Its not copied"
News Flash. It is Copying. Stealing. You cannot justify stealing in any form. It is wrong. On so many counts. As readers, we should know the difference between original content and copied content.
Has any reader out here tried to put themselves in the original writer's shoes? [Their shoes are fabulous. You should try it sometime] Remember... majority of the writers out here in IF are people who have a busy life. They take time out of their very valuable schedules to develop a story, write it and edit it probably like a zillion times before posting it online. Its a hobby they pursue. A passion. Which actually is a good thing for readers like me who enjoy free stories available on the internet. The least we could do is to appreciate and respect the original writer. You don't need to treat these writers like people who are unattainable Gods and be all fangirl on them [its ok if you do, just dont get creepy] Please treat them like how you would like to be treated. They are people with feelings too.
And to those who resort to stealing and passing it as their own [Now, I am being very kind and lady like here] -
Children... How many times should Mrs. Kamarudeen tell you not to steal original content? What did you say??? 10,001,342 times was not enough??? Allright then. One more then. And this is the last time she is going to say this -
Copying is bad. Those who copy are bad children. Bad bad children. Very bad. Joker in The Dark Knight Bad.
Don't ever... ever... make the mistake of saying that you were inspired by the original content. When an original writer, writes a story... its not mere words they write in their stories. They create emotions. Feelings. They make the most unbelieving of people believe in words like 'love' 'forever' etc. You cannot possibly change a thing here and there and call it your own. Maybe you can. But you will never... never be able to create / re-create the emotions these original writers make us feel.
To Original Writers
I am so sorry to all those original writers who were robbed. As cliched as it sounds, but I truly do know how it feels like. I am just a simple stay at home mom who pursues gardening as one of her many hobbies. I go into a murderous rage every spring season when my neighbour copies my landscape. [Trust me when I say this. Every spring. Every summer. The same exact color and pattern. Oh my god. Somebody hire a hit man for me] Its probably not the same thing as writing, but I truly do recognize the emotion you feel when your hard work is stolen and somebody else takes the credit. But you know... my neighbour can try as hard as she wants to, but she wasn't born with a green thumb like me. She cannot talk to dried up plants like me and make them all leafy and flowery. [Please dont laugh. It really does work]. Just giving you a different perspective to this.
You are all awesome. Fabulous. Just like the ballade tulips and dutch roses in my garden. Please continue to write. Dont ever quit.
Ghum Hai Kisikey Pyaar Meiin
