Talk-o Tuesday

The worth of a book is to be measured by what you can carry away from it. ~James Bryce
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Well it is official, my beaus blog audiobook-heaven has become popular enough to plagiarize. He found his reviews while surfing audio book blogs and lo and behold, there sat his reviews, under a trumped up name audio heaven. The blog thief, I will not justify with a name so you don’t click to see for yourself the insensitive treatment of what plagiarism looks like first hand or the atrocity of stolen work, or to give this guy hits!!!

The reviews are being RSS fed, to this persons blog, and this person is using many bloggers in the audio book industry’s work. He is changing a few words here and there to make it not show up on the scale of search engines but his mistake is that his blog on audiobooks, is one of few blogs that report on the audio book industry. It showed up on the search engine, as my beau’s search engine spot disappeared. Two of the same posts put one in front of the other apparently.

I’m not up on search engine placement, or stats and hits. I’m just here writing. If I get one visit a day, I’ve done my job in giving a message. But beau, being blind, has something to sink his teeth into while awaiting the cornea transplant that will give him his sight back. He has his two blogs that occupy his day and in some way fulfills the wait.

My beau works his tail off on writing the reviews. He is contacted by publishers to do reviews, he contacts publishers and asks if they’d like reviews, and all in all, his work is on a Sci- fi site and other audio book bloggers, BUT with his permission. They love his writing skills and his honesty in his reviews. Although he didn’t give one book a great review, and the publisher never sent him any more books to review. Which was fine by him, because that one book may have spoken volumes (pardon the pun) about what the other books were going to be like.

Two years ago he went blind. I told him to maybe try blogging as I knew he had good writing skills and I knew by getting things off his chest through ‘journaling’ might help ease the anxiety of his sight being taken away. That is when The Drums in the Deep was born. A blog about his journey and other stuff.

Then he had been listening to so many audio books, that he began writing reviews, then had the idea, an audio book review site. It filled his day(s)! He became a techno geek on the writing, placement, stats, followings of everything audio book related.

He also helps give audio book sites assistance in easier maneuverability with a screen reader. They ask, he offers. It’s a win win situation. But to see someone steal your work, that hits hard! I’ve created a monster in the blogging world with my beau, but it is a kind furry, loving monster, so don’t be afraid to CLICK his site and visit, audiobook-heaven. You won’t be disappointed and it will support him in all his efforts. :)

Creeped Out

Prov. 6:30 Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry;
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Yesterday was kind of scary. I know my friend rectified the use of my work by putting my name on it, but it had me wondering about the whole using my poem for mass emails without my name on it.

He received my poem in his mail, without my name on it, liked it so much, touched him actually, that he posted it on his blog. New to the writing world and the Blog Factory, he just isn’t sure of the etiquette used by writers, or bloggers for that matter.

We writers are a different breed. We respect each and every writer right down to quotations. If you read my blog, you know I have a Quotation Saturday. I don’t post a quote normally unless it has an author’s name. The sites I visit have a lot of Anonymous quotes, and I usually pass them up, unless it is a really a great quote.

Why? Because I think authors deserve to be recognized, even if it is just a quote. You wrote it, you claim it!

The incident made me want to delete all my poetry, here and in f2k. But if I do that, I am cowering and giving the thief the right to steal, and no I won’t do that! Nimal DID NOT steal my work and as soon as he found out it was my work, he put my name on the poem and apologized. It was not his fault, it was the person who emailed it to him, and he promised to help me find the culprit, because it is what it is. Someone stole my poem, didn’t bother finding the author, and is emailing it to people.

What next? Will that person send it in and get it published under his/her name? Will they make money, even if it is pennies? off of MY hard work? This is just unacceptable in this industry. writers respect writers and what we do when we found that we’ve done wrong is rectify the situation. If this person can email my poem without trying to find the author, whose work will he/she steal next?

I know if it was a poet, they understand the respect it takes and even borrowing one line of my work,  they know they need to give me credit for that one line. When we are writing a novel, and we use quotes or lines from songs, we can not legally use it without getting permission from the author of said line/quote/song. I read a lot of Stephen King and he’s used tons of song lyrics, lines from poems, etc. But in the front of the book amongst the tiny print, you’ll see, ‘USED WITH PERMISSION’ and it lists WHERE he got the permission from, either author, or the author’s estate if he/she is deceased.

My quote of today? “Writer’s respect writers. If you don’t, then YOU are NOT a writer, you are a thief, a moral misfit.” Joni Zipp (end quote)

Plagiarism Abounds

A writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.
Thomas Mann

It happened, it really happened. I was looking at someone’s blog this morning and they had a post titled, HOPE. A poem followed, all out of stanza form mind you, but there it was, my words.

There was no name, so if you were a reader of this persons blog, you’d assume that he or she wrote those beautiful words. But guess what? They we MY beautiful words, and I was not receiving credit for writing such words.

I keep proofs of all my poetry and writing. Rough drafts and what not, all my work is copyrighted and lawfully protected. But to see your work on someone’s blog, without credit has a tendency to raise the antenna and make one wonder.

I know that when we release our work publicly, there is always the chance of someone stealing it. But we as writer’s respect one another and have a code within our community that plagiarism is unacceptable in all ways, shape and form.

If I’m quoting someone, I always give credit to the author. Why? It is the morally right thing to do and it is showing great respect for the author. We live in a morally corrupt world, where people do what they want with no respect to any other human being. We have a diverse world where beliefs are not all the same, colors differ, religions are being trashed, and people are not being exposed in their best light.

But among writer’s, plagiarism is the most feared aspect among writers. Who feels like pouring their blood spilled pain onto the paper, working their fingers to the bone, exhausted by the aspect of tapping for hours on end, only to have that work stolen? I say stolen because anything that is taken and not rightfully the persons who did the taking, that in any place in the world is called STOLEN.

Plagiarism is stolen work any way you look at it. I post that all my work is mine and copyrighted, and that is unlawful to use without my permission. Following my blog DOES NOT give you permission to steal my work, or use my hard work, and post it as your own.

I’m honored that someone loves my writing so much that they would take it, but please, give me credit for doing all the work. Ask my permission before taking. And first and foremost, RESPECT the WRITER in ME!! And I’ll respect you.

~Write Right~

Judges 17:6 In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
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Emotionally Write Right

I thought that Write Right was a creative blog name but it must not be, because I found one with an extremely familiar name. And wow, this person actually has the same topics for posts that I did over a year ago!

Is it plagiarism or is it a non-creative mind that sinks their teeth into my blog and repost theirs, just flipping the words around adding and taking away a few words here and there. That person has three posts so far and I will surely keep my eye on the blog, of the same title, minus my One Voice!

I used One Voice because I am only one voice among thousands of writers wanting to help writers along in their growth. I try to come up with creative posts, so that you the reader will find learning, interesting. We writers are part of a collective conscience that interestingly enough, thinks alike. We write the same things, feel the same motion of words, create pieces of art out of shapeless clay.

I write poetry to relieve stress and in the process I inspire others to write or feel something they knew was inside them, they just needed a boost to trigger the memory of what it was. My poetry is a trigger of those emotions. Some people get triggered and some people read without a hint of emotion, leaving them sagging throughout their life. If emotions don’t make you sit up and take stock of your life, then how on earth are you going to write?

No matter what type of characters you have in mind when you're writing, your emotional state is going to feed those characters. It will give them either an unfeeling straw kind of character, or you will create one with a rainbow of words shaping your character in many colors, with many hidden aspects. You can’t just have a cardboard cutout of a character, one without any shape, just the same old thing used over and over again. Your writing will get nowhere with this kind of character.

Our emotions will shape our characters in every way. I read Stephen Kings “On Writing” and in the book, although it it is more of a memoir, he states he was a heavy drinker and basically, the drinking shaped his characters into these weird, all out crazy maniacal people. The alcohol had an affect. Now since he has quit drinking, he has written some of his best work, Lisey’s Story is a spellbinding tale, with a rainbow of characters each having their own personality. You can tell his mind is clear.

Emotions are what drives our characters and our state of mind spits them out onto the paper. I’m hoping you don’t spit on the paper and that you spill words, dredged up from the pit of your being and state of mental health bringing forth a delicious character. Remember, pieces of our characters are all bits of us. Give the world a great character and we see little crumbs of you, the writer. Become One Voice to YOUR reader.

Originality

pic: Arc of the suns rays!
It is the Lord who made us each in our own unique way. Your writing is His creation that YOU put into action. ~joni
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Often I read works from people and think, “Well that sounds like________.” Put in any writer you can imagine. Then I think, “Are they not original or creative enough to make their own mark in the writing world.”

As many of my reader well know, that I love poetry. I’ve never heard anyone comment, “Well that reads just like so and so.” That’s a good sign. That means my poetry is being read and it is coming off as original with it’s own flair. In other words, I’ve found my style within the written word.

It is so important to find your own voice in writing. Do you want to be compared to King or Koontz or Rowling? Well okay maybe it would be a compliment to be compared to them but then are you being liked because of your originality or because you mimicked someone else’s writing?

I write some dark poetry. Only when I use the word, nevermore, does someone say, “Boy, that had a Poe quality to it!” Poe? AWESOME! It has a Poe quality, meaning it was pretty good! But they didn’t say that it sounded like Poe’s style, also good, for me anyway because I never mimic another writer, I’m original in my own right.

When I see someone mimic/copy ME, in some ways I’m honored but then I almost feel sad that they can’t be original enough to create their own style or voice. Now taking my words is downright plagiarism, but writing in my style? That is theft! In a way I’m kidding but in another I’m dead serious. Serious as a playoff game when it comes down to the final seconds and there is a tie!

I want to be known in the writing world as original. My blog posts come to me, I don’t seek them out. One word can trigger an entire blog post. Imagine that. One word can also trigger a story. A picture, a tree, a dead shoe, they all have possibilities of becoming a short story, a poem or heck, even a novel! Can you see a dead shoe (as opposed to a living shoe, with a breathing entity carrying it along) having the weight on its shoulders of an entire story?

In my unique way of writing, I more than likely could make an original story out of a branch and it not turn out too bad. Are you original in what you write? Can you give life to a fig and allow it to carry a story all on its own entrenched in poetic, graphic,visual, biting words?

Why not give it a try and you too can become, an original! Be what you were made to be.

Write Right! (that's mine!)

Day 2 of f2k

Words are an expression of your mind...paint wisely and all will sit in wonder. ~joni
***

As expected, it was a slow day in F2K. Either the returnees are back, mingling with old friends or the new kids on the block have come in and said their “Hi’s” and have found a quiet corner of the room to hide in.

Imagine tackling writing after many years of absence, how overwhelming it can be to walk into a new course and spread your wings in hopes you’ll fly. I see the timid faces even through a screen. They may be older than me or younger but they still have that fear of releasing their writing to the world.

I see so many people with questions like, “What if someone wants to steal my story.” My response is, “We’re writer’s and as such we would never ever put ourselves in a position of plagiarism. We’re trying to be professional and that certainly isn’t the way to start a career in writing.” And then I tell them, “There are so many writers in the world with ‘original’ ideas that someone is bound to come up with the same ‘original’ idea with a twist. In other words, it has been done before and you’re just a new writer putting a twist on it!”

I try to put them at ease and when it is your first time sharing, it can feel like you’re placing your heart on a guillotine, just waiting for it to plunge downward and slice it in two. I’ve been there/done that and I know all of my work is copyrighted the second I put it into the MW (microsoft word.) It is my valid proof that I, and only I, wrote it. And the blog is public proof! I hope these writers find all that they came to find in way of returning to the writing world once again without fear.

So as the f2k clan reminisces about older classes in f2k, the new kids find friends and chat with others, links are surfed, virtual food is cooked, atmosphere and ambiance overflows the place; we head into the week of Orientation with a smile on our faces and ready to write our hearts out!

I’m telling you, it is the place to learn and grow but most of all, to find people with the same love as you and that is being a writer! My new phrase in the place is this... “Don’t write to earn money, write because you love it. Passion comes before monetary measure. If you get paid for your passion, that’s a bonus."

Write Right people!

Plagiarism

PLAGIARISM: even the spelling of this word is ugly!

From wikipedia.org: Plagiarism is the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work

The UNC Honor Court defines plagiarism as "the deliberate or reckless representation of another's words, thoughts, or ideas as one's own without attribution in connection with submission of academic work, whether graded or otherwise."

Taken from plagiarism.org:
In the Merriam-Webster dictionary plagiarism is defined as:
1. to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own
2. to use (another's production) without crediting the source
3. to commit literary theft
4. to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source.

The word itself conjures shivers down my spine. One of the very reasons that I never wanted to be in an online class or send my work out was the fear of plagiarism. I started writing poetry when I was young (maybe about 8) and I knew absolutely nothing!

I had a poem published in a local weekly paper when I was 20 and the editor liked it so much that he sent it into a contest, where I won honorable mention. I was so excited that someone had read and liked my work, the bug of writing had bitten me and I was off on a journey I had only dreamed of.

I then entered the contest again and again and sure enough they loved my work. I was on a roll. Until that is, I dug deeper into who was running the contest (after many snail mails garnered no response.) My instinct told me that the Vanity Publishing House was using my work to make them money (as well as millions of other dreamers.)

Discouragement set in deep and it wasn’t until almost 20 more years were added to my life, that I got a computer and started releasing my work to the internet. I didn’t care if someone stole my work, just to see it on the screen made me feel like I was accomplishing something. That is when I took a two-year writing course to further me along in my writing.

The writing bug that I thought I had put to sleep was awakened like Rip Van Winkle. I had writing fever and I couldn’t stop. My mentor at the time was impressed that I had never written anything but poetry and he encouraged me to continue writing. That is what I needed, encouragement. Since no one in my life had ever encouraged me to do anything, I was determined to set out and encourage every person I could find. If I liked their writing and saw potential, I was going to be the arm that nudged them into realizing their dream.

Now with more determination than ever, I continue to write. I still have people admiring my work and saying things that stem from my early writing like, "That has a poetic feel." or "Your style of prose is wonderful." A compliment to a bruised ego. But as I take this leap of faith, that haunting word comes creeping back and I watch as it slithers up my leg and tries to seep further up until it reaches my mind. Plagiarism! The dirty ugly bug that leaks in my system covering me with fear.

Creativity is one’s own beauty and can not be taken or substituted. You can’t steal someone’s work, call it your own, and mask it to look original. Eventually it will catch up to you (like I’ve seen happen to a few of Oprah’s books of the month club.) Someone will eventually say, "Hey, that sounds an awful lot like so and so." And it is at that time that the river of doubt comes streaming down and people start to take notice and then you are considered a fraud.

I know that as writer’s, we have a tendency to think alike. It is as if we’re in the same stream of conscious awareness and we pick up what our fellow writer’s are going to write or are about to write and we begin writing with little or no clue that they have already been there done that. But it is up to us as writer’s to make our work original! Make it a piece of art, mold it to form to YOUR personality.

A true writer is an artist in his/her own league. They have an aura that hangs over them making them stand out among the crowd. Sure everyone wants a little piece of the magic that the artist/writer has, but if you don’t make it your own, then you are plagiarizing the very person that you look up to.