Plagiarism: Just…Don’t

Plagiarism: Just…Don’t

I’m thirty-one, and I’ve been writing fanfiction on and off since I was eleven years old and scribbled out my first “self-insertion” tale involving myself and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Mind you, at the time I’d never even heard of fanfiction; this was 1991, so I’m not sure that the term had even been coined yet. Nevertheless, over the next couple of years I wrote my own Star Wars stories, and in 1996 I stumbled upon a magazine article about something called “fanfiction.” Ever since that first time I got online and entered the address for The X-Files Romantic Fanfiction Archive cited by the magazine, I have been hooked.

In my collective involvement in various fandoms over the years, if there’s one thing that makes my blood boil it’s shameless plagiarism. Getting a vague concept from another author, movie, or book is one thing; everyone does it, whether inadvertently or not, since there are very few (if any) truly original ideas, and everyone draws inspiration from something/someone else. However, there’s no excuse for shamelessly plagiarizing an author who’s put hours of hard work into their writing.

Firstly, you’re going to get caught eventually: If you “borrow” a fanfiction story that was previously posted by another author and post it under a new title as your own, chances are that someone out there will have read the original version—perhaps even if the original story hasn’t been updated in years—and will call you on it and then alert the site administrators and the true author. And if that happens, not only will your reputation be tarnished, but you will ultimately end up looking pathetic for the following reason:

Secondly, as fanfiction authors, the only form of “payment” we receive is in the form of feedback, so what sort of satisfaction could possibly be derived from accepting praise for work that even isn’t one’s own? After all, you know that you didn’t put the hours of hard work and effort into it, so therefore how could positive feedback benefit you in any way?

Lastly, while no one is perfect and we all make mistakes, where’s your sense of morality? Your personal code of conduct? If you’re young and have been tempted to plagiarize another author for whatever reason, I hope you’ll reconsider after reading this, and remember that authors—whether they write for money or sheer entertainment—put many hours of effort into their writing, so the idea that any random Joe Blow could shamelessly copy-and-paste it and place his/her name on it is not only disturbing to the author, but insulting.

And if you’re an adult who has plagiarized/been tempted to plagiarize, well, you should already know better, shouldn’t you? ;) Just…don’t.

-Kari

Rant of the Day: Is Facebook really just a weapon that could be used against you?

Rant of the Day: Is Facebook really just a weapon that could be used against you?

Today’s rant has nothing to do with fanfiction or even Harry Potter (gasp!), but a topic I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, thanks to my sister, who’s a (very) young, single mother, whom we’ll just call “Allison.” So lately Allison has been having issues with her child’s father, whom we’ll call “Douchebag.”

I would like to begin by explaining that while Allison is by no means the epitome of maturity and rational decision-making (she’s a baby with a baby, what do you expect?), Douchebag is a 23-year-old loser living from couch-to-couch, doesn’t own shit—not even a car—yet he somehow manages to get to the mall (right across from Allison’s apartment, FYI) to buy himself new clothing, to go to the gym, & to show up at Allison’s work with a gaggle of underage girls; yet he somehow can’t manage to find a means to get to Allison’s apartment to see his own daughter—and the few occasions that he HAS seen her, Allison had had to physically pick his sorry ass up.  Now, the most ridiculous part is that Douchebag claims that Allison is keeping him from seeing his daughter when Allison refuses to pick him up, and when she responds by pointing out that he can somehow manage to find a ride to the mall, the gym, & Buffalo Wild Wings, his response is always the same: “Bitch.”  (Apparently his vocabulary is very limited.)  I'd also like to add that he has a criminal record & has become physically violent toward her.

Anyway, so some more drama ensued; Allison said he wasn’t to bring girls around the baby since she doesn’t bring guys around, & his response was to threaten to take the baby, claiming that she’s a bad mother because she “leaves the baby every night to go party.”  While it’s true that Allison does go out on occasion, she’s also working seven days a week to support herself & her daughter, with no financial support whatsoever from Douchebag (the one time he helped her, he expected sex in return), but now because her friends “tagged” her on Facebook as being at a club last week, Douchebag is apparently claiming that she’s an unfit mother & is going for full custody (although, I’m finding that hard to believe, since that would actually require some EFFORT on his part).

My response when Allison told me about all this?  Either stop going out until after the custody hearing, or delete your fucking Facebook account.  But does she listen to me?  Of course not.  If she listened to anyone she wouldn’t have ended up with a baby to begin with: I warned her about what boys her age are after (& apparently boys in the bodies of supposedly grown men), & I told her that partying leads to fucking, fucking leads to pregnancy, & pregnancy leads to baby, but she just had to learn the hard way—and now she’s a young girl trying to live the life of an adult because she got knocked up by a random pathetic excuse for a man.

Don’t get me wrong—I certainly don’t think the internet or Facebook is evil (or men, for that matter, since I snagged me a great one who happens to be an EXCELLENT father).  I think it can be a great way to keep up with friends, but people should also be aware that Facebook & other social networking sites can be used to spy on you or to portray you in a negative light by people who would seek to use it against you.  Take Allison for example: After her friends tagged her as being at the club, she ran out of diapers (again, there’s an example of her poor judgment, but that’s beside the point), & when she wanted our dad to buy her some more, his response: “You went out last night while knowing you were out of diapers, so ask your baby’s father.”

My sister’s poor decision-making aside, I think people need to be a bit more wary about Facebook & other social websites, & to watch what they post online & who their “friends” are—unless you’re okay with having a “window” into your life that allows others to spy on you, make judgments, & use it as a tool against you.  (Also, I’ve heard of employers checking out their potential employees’ profiles, & I’m not even going to get into the potential of being targeted by a predator with truly evil intentions.)

Rant over.

-Kari

Rant of the Day: Don't Be a Flamer

Rant of the Day: Don’t Be a Flamer

First of all, I’d like to put a crucial disclaimer here: This rant is NOT about any of my own readers in any way, shape, or form.  Quite the contrary, in the HP fandom I’ve never received a single review that I would consider a “flame.”  I mean, sure, I’ve had a few comments from disgruntled readers who weren’t pleased with some of my writing decisions, but I try to handle them as graciously as possible by clearing up any points that I might not have gotten across in my writing.  In general, though, my experience in the HP fandom has been a positive one, and most of my own readers have been supportive or, at the very least, civil. (This wasn’t the case when I wrote for the Twilight fandom.  I actually encountered a lot of extremely rude people there; admittedly, I probably didn’t always respond to them in the best manner possible, but at least it was a learning experience.)

All righty, now that that’s out of the way, I was recently looking at the profile of a fellow reader/writer, faultybooster, and came across a rant about flames, which I’ll quote here, since I feel she says it better than I could:

“I've been fortunate to not have received any 'flames' in my very short-lived experience as a fanfiction writer. Well, not yet anyway. Now I'm all for reviews, whether they be light OR critical OR a combination, whatever the case may be. However, I recently came across a flame in a story that was so incredibly RUDE that it actually filled me with undiluted rage, and it wasn't even my story! The reviewer insulted the author time and time again, spewing out pure venom. You'd think the reviewer was a bloody senior editor for some posh publishing company, or some multi-award winning author, the way they were carrying on… I don`t claim to be a professional writer, and I`ll never say that my work is perfect because I`m human and I make mistakes. But if you`re going to shit all over somebody`s story in regards to their `lack of originality, poor grammar skills, improper spelling, etc. etc.`, then you had best make sure that your story is perfect as well and not write like a fucking child. It irks me, it really does. It`s not an easy thing to put your work out there, and expose yourself. And while some need to hone their skills more than others, it doesn`t give anybody the right to belittle a fellow author. We`re all here for the same thing - to read about and/or write about the characters we love. If you like the story, share the love. If you do like the story, but feel it lacks a certain something, then offer some constructive criticism. If you don`t like the story, be critical but kind. And if you can`t handle the latter, then keep your fucking mouth shut. End rant.”

I liked what this person had to say so much that I PM’ed her with this:

“Totally agree, 100%. I'm all about honest feedback (after all, you're not helping an author if you just rave over them when there are areas where a writer could use improvement) but there's no reason not to use tact & to not treat other authors with dignity, especially since a lot of writers on this site are young & inexperienced. I mean, writing isn't like singing, where you just either have it or you don't; it's a skill that's honed & improved with time & experience, so blasting younger/inexperienced writers is inexcusable.”

Curiosity got the better of me, so I decided to ask her about the fic & the flame in question, & I discovered that while the fic in question was a bit…threadbare, in all honesty, there was no true reason for the reviewer to be so cruel in his/her delivery.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of people out there that use the anonymity afforded by the internet to bash others in an effort (I can only guess) to make themselves feel better.  Of course everyone is entitled to their opinion, & this is a writing community, so obviously some people are going to be more critical than others—myself included, since some of my own reviews are bordering on brutally honest, especially if I feel that the story/writer has potential; conversely, if I think something is an absolute piece of garbage with no redeeming values, I usually keep my mouth shut unless the piece is obviously a “troll,” intended to garner a negative reaction from readers. 

However, there's no excuse not to retain civility in the spirit of community.  All this to say that, in my opinion, flaming is straight-up bullying, except that it’s possibly even more cowardly because the bully in question is hiding behind a screenname.

(I might get flamed for speaking out on this matter, but that’s okay because it’ll only prove my point.)

-Kari

An example of CONSTRUCTIVE criticism that isn't necessarily all praise, as opposed to a flame (The following was submitted in regard to my own fic, Coming to Term, and I actually agree with some of what this reviewer has to say, since it reflects my own thoughts - or at least what I thought some readers might think -  as I was writing in regard to my own work.  Hey, we're all our own worst critics, right?  I certainly don't think my own writing and storytelling prowess is the shit.  Anyway, note the tactful delivery & the fact that the reviewer actually contributed something that she LIKED about the fic in question, making it a well-rounded review.):

"Hermione was rescued (not that there was ever any doubt about that LOL) but also it turns out that Ron wasn't actually raped, and Snape's only purpose was to prove it. It was a bit too convenient. Which goes back to my original question, of why go there in the first place? And then Hermione and Ginny giving birth at the same time, AND then getting pregnant again at the same time was a bit much, even though it's probably canon LOL It just feels like you started out writing one story that was funny, sexy, and sweet, and then you went super dark, and instead of following through, you just went back to the previous story. And I think a fluffy story could have been great, as well as a dark story, but when they got put together it kind of messed up the flow.

All that said, I still think you are a great writer, and I still enjoyed the story. I don't think there are any other stories of Rose's birth that are in any way the same quality as this one. And I admire you for taking risks with your writing. If you aren't experimenting and trying new things, you aren't growing as a writer."

An example of a flame:

"I could wipe my ass with this piece of shit: The writing doesn't flow, the story is contradictory, you put no thought into the plot, which is full of holes, and your writing stinks."

I totally just made up the above, but you get the point: Although it's honest, it offers nothing constructive at all and is intended specifically for the purpose of hurting the author.  A comment like that would sting an adult writer, so I imagine it would be down-right traumatizing to a young first-time writer.

Rant of the Day: Writers who start multiple multi-chaptered fics

Why is it that some fanfiction authors start new fanfics when they already have a couple in the works? I mean, writing the occasional oneshot during the course of a multi-chaptered story, or even starting a SECOND multi-chaptered story, isn’t so bad, but any more than that & I start to wonder if you have ADD & can’t stick with an idea. After all, it’s difficult for most writers to commit to just one WIP & see it through to completion, so if I see that an author has more than one or two WIPs out at a time, quite frankly I’m going to question whether or not you’ll burn yourself out and not complete ANY of your fics.

Don’t get me wrong, I often have multiple ideas jump into my head at once, but I’m disciplined enough to only concentrate on an idea or two at a time rather than attempting to commit to multiple ideas at once.

C’mon, authors, let’s not set ourselves up for failure - not to mention make your readers wait an absurd amount of time between updates because you’ve decided you just HAVE to write multiple stories.

-Kari

HP Canon vs. "Fanon"

I don't know about you all, but when I read fanfiction I like to think that what I'm reading COULD be inserted into the novels, or at least be a plausible alternative. When authors use "fanon" terms in their writing, however, it's always a jarring reminder that I am, in fact, reading fanfiction, and the illusion is destroyed. For example:

Snape/Hermione Fics Should Come with a Ron-bashing Warning for Fans of the Pairing Who Actually (gasp!) LIKE Ron

So after days of searching for some satisfying Snape/Hermione fics, I've come to the realization that I'm not as enthusiastic about the pairing as I once was. In general, I'll find myself reading a potential worthwhile fic only to realize that Hermione is grossly out-of-character, and that she and Ron broke up because he was either lousy in bed or he was caught banging Romilda Vane - or both. I find myself cringing, waiting for Ron's introduction into the story, and after wasting an hour of my life I'm forced to stop reading because of my dissatisfaction with either Ron's portrayal or Hermione's. *sigh* I try to remember whether these things used to bother me when I first started reading the pairing several years ago, and I realize that I blindly accepted it for the most part. It certainly didn't bother me enough to deter me from reading, which tells me that I've become quite a bit more discerning recently. Looks like I'll have to return to my Ron/Hermione roots. Oh, I did find a couple of Snape/Hermione gems that I've left under my favorites at FFn. I deleted all the others I'd intended to read when I realized I didn't have the energy to waste another hour of my life before inevitably concluding that I hate the characterizations.

The Don'ts of Posting Snape/Hermione Fanfic

Dear Hermione/Snape Fanfiction writers: Chances are I'm not going to give your fic a chance if you:

Beta Readers: The Little-Known Secret

I've recently discovered a profound secret concerning fanfic-writing that I feel compelled to share: Readers, for the most part, couldn't care less whether or not you use a beta, and, in fact, would prefer you offer speedy updates over flawless writing.
 

How did I come to this conclusion? Experience. During my time in the Twilight fandom I believed whole-heartedly in the do-not-post-until-this-has-been-beta'ed-and-pre-read mentality, believing that readers cared as much about quality and professional-looking writing as I do.