SAY NO TO PLAGIARISM
Archana Vinod
So, to begin with, what is "plagiarism"?
Some of you already know what it means. But to those who don't, plagiarism is the act of copying someone else's work and passing it off in public as your own.
Why this post?
You very well know what happens when you succumb to the act of copying in school, don't you? And why does it happen? The answer is simple. Because it's WRONG.
Wrong to shamelessly and effortlessly lift off another person's sweat, blood and tears and pass it off as your own. Wrong to take credit that isn't rightfully yours.
Imagine if you created a work of art after hours, days and months of work. You could have been so damn excited that you probably wouldn't have slept well either. You were obsessed with it and was dying to show it to your friends. But one fine day, you realize that someone else has "stolen" your work, inch by inch and publicized it as his own. How would you feel?
In this context, to create a work of art, a writer goes through a lot of time, effort and patience. The writer goes through the feelings of their characters - their pain, fears, joy, everything. And at times, the writer hits on that vicious wall called as "the writer's block". And once they hit it, it's seriously hard to find inspiration again. Sometimes, it takes a lot of effort to just sit down and WRITE. The writer puts his or her heart and soul into their work. So you see, it's not easy to create an original piece of art.
I've had the serious urge to put up this post because of the alarming rate of plagiarism that is growing at a shameful rate on IF these days. While writers do take the risk and post (and expose) their works for readers to enjoy, it doesn't mean that another can just take advantage and rip them off. It's easy right? Just copy, paste and replace the names and then say you wrote it. Then all what needs to be done is cross your arms, sit back and take all the credit. Seriously, do you feel that this is right? In my opinion, no. I feel that it's disgusting and shameful, rather.
You must have probably noticed how I mention at the top of my FFs "No Plagiarism". And for a very good reason. Honestly, I'm not the only one who puts it up like that. Any author who is serious about their work will put that up and even more.
Original works are worthy of being applauded. Rip offs? A big NO!
A note to add, none of my works have been copied and floated so far. (Well, probably one which a lot of you know about) But a lot of other authors have faced this on IF, and seriously, it's disgusting. Obviously, it could probably never be stopped. But to those who have a little bit of good conscience left, hope this post helps them to make the right decision. Say no to plagiarism and stop this insult.
