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Chadrick the Brave

pmmg

pmmg

Myth Weaver
Yes...

However...

Some of the sections of the site are protected from the general public...you will want to post there. That would be story showcase, or critique requests, and...the forum pages are text limited, so you may have to split it over several pages. You should know...the longer it is, the less likely you will get interested people, but that is true everywhere.
 
Josh2Write

Josh2Write

Troubadour
Chadrick the Brave said:
Hello, Myth Weaver. This is my first time here on this site. Is this a website where I can share my written fantasy stories?
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Hello. Always get to really know people first before you share anything about your stories. And no matter what anyone says, your ideas are always in danger of being taken by someone else. Be careful how much information you share and always ask many questions before offering up any pieces of your work.
 
pmmg

pmmg

Myth Weaver
Just to add some perspective, as I see Josh's comments above.

Josh is right. There is no place online where your work will be 100% protected, and it could happen that something gets stolen from you from the site if you post it up. You must decide on your level of caution.

I will say, I have been here for a number of years, and have seen (and reviewed) works by other people hundreds of times. In all my time here, I am unaware of any work being lifted, or any theft occurring ever on Mythic Scribes. If fact, in my experience over several sites where one might post their work spanning about 30 years, I've only seen it happen one or two times. For me personally, fear of theft does not affect my enjoyment of the site.

The honest to God truth is, everyone here is working on their own stuff, and has no interest to lift or steal yours. --In fact, no one is interested in your stuff at all-- But we will treat it with respect. That's just the only way the internet works for us writer types.

If you are coming here purely for peer review, well... sadly, not enough of us engage in that, and there are better sites for it. Scribophile is very focused on peer reviews, you might find you get more reviews there then here.

I personally try to look at everything posted. And offer comments aimed at being as helpful as I can. But milage me vary. If you pop up a whole book, I will probably pass. But I dont really need the whole book to look at most writer issues.

If you decide to stay with us, thanks for coming and welcome to the site, again.

(Somehow, I suspect you knew all of that already, that's why your brave ;))
 
G

Genly

Troubadour
Welcome! If you want to receive some feedback on your writing, as pmmg says, your best bet is to post no more than 2-3 pages in Critique Requests, preferably including the opening of the novel or short story.
 
Josh2Write

Josh2Write

Troubadour
pmmg said:
Just to add some perspective, as I see Josh's comments above.

Josh is right. There is no place online where your work will be 100% protected, and it could happen that something gets stolen from you from the site if you post it up. You must decide on your level of caution.

I will say, I have been here for a number of years, and have seen (and reviewed) works by other people hundreds of times. In all my time here, I am unaware of any work being lifted, or any theft occurring ever on Mythic Scribes. If fact, in my experience over several sites where one might post their work spanning about 30 years, I've only seen it happen one or two times. For me personally, fear of theft does not affect my enjoyment of the site.

The honest to God truth is, everyone here is working on their own stuff, and has no interest to lift or steal yours. --In fact, no one is interested in your stuff at all-- But we will treat it with respect. That's just the only way the internet works for us writer types.

If you are coming here purely for peer review, well... sadly, not enough of us engage in that, and there are better sites for it. Scribophile is very focused on peer reviews, you might find you get more reviews there then here.

I personally try to look at everything posted. And offer comments aimed at being as helpful as I can. But milage me vary. If you pop up a whole book, I will probably pass. But I dont really need the whole book to look at most writer issues.

If you decide to stay with us, thanks for coming and welcome to the site, again.

(Somehow, I suspect you knew all of that already, that's why your brave ;))
Click to expand...
That's the same thing you told me "just post it no one steals cuz no one cares", but you also said in another post how you personally had ideas lifted and it still effects you to this day. "Ideas aren't worth anything". Apparently they are...and the good ones are made of gold in a thief's eyes.

And if something is lifted on here of course the thief isn't going to announce it, they can just post on another site and claim the ideas there, or quickly type out a quick draft and publish on something cheap like Amazon or WattPad so they have copyright. They can always go back and rewrite it later.

And treat with respect, that depends on what they post isn't it?
 
Mad Swede

Mad Swede

Auror
Josh2Write said:
That's the same thing you told me "just post it no one steals cuz no one cares", but you also said in another post how you personally had ideas lifted and it still effects you to this day. "Ideas aren't worth anything". Apparently they are...and the good ones are made of gold in a thief's eyes.

And if something is lifted on here of course the thief isn't going to announce it, they can just post on another site and claim the ideas there, or quickly type out a quick draft and publish on something cheap like Amazon or WattPad so they have copyright. They can always go back and rewrite it later.

And treat with respect, that depends on what they post isn't it?
Click to expand...
Josh2Write ideas can't be copyrighted. Ideas are not necessarily unique to any one person, which is why you can't copyright ideas. What you copyright is your written work (or drawn work if you're doing graphic novels or comic books) and it's when you develop the idea/concept in your writing using your own style and with your own spin that the work becomes your own and the subject of copyright.
 
Josh2Write

Josh2Write

Troubadour
Mad Swede said:
Josh2Write ideas can't be copyrighted. Ideas are not necessarily unique to any one person, which is why you can't copyright ideas. What you copyright is your written work (or drawn work if you're doing graphic novels or comic books) and it's when you develop the idea/concept in your writing using your own style and with your own spin that the work becomes your own and the subject of copyright.
Click to expand...
I know prompts can't be copyrighted. I said "the thief makes a quick finished draft quickly published, that can always be rewritten later."
That can be copyrighted.
Every time an idea is taken, all the original writer has is the original prompt in some form and has to start over, again...or they give up.

I see it now! That's why the narcissists of old started saying things like "ideas are a dime a dozen", because they couldn't or wouldn't come up with their own detailed ideas! They only had prompts! So they blurred the lines between the terms and mindset of prompts and ideas so they could gain instant easy access to the ideas and claim "there's no such thing as originality, it's a free for all."
Prompts can't be copyrighted.
But ideas can, because they're fleshed out in some way.

Prompt: A wizard goes to school
Idea: Harry Potter

Prompt: Owls fight each other
Idea: Ga'Hoole

You can fill a tome with prompts.
But an idea is worth its weight in gold.

(A) has an idea and it's stolen. Someone else (B), who's not the original writer (A), just does what they've been taught and says things like "you can't copyright an idea" and "just start over". Because it wasn't (B)'s idea stolen so whatever, they just wave it off as (A)'s insignificant prompt.
Until it happens to them (B).
Then (B) is screaming from the rooftops "my idea was stolen!".
Oh NOW it's an idea, is it? NOW it's more than than a dime store prompt? NOW it's something that has value and ownership?

You don't feel that way with a prompt.

Because an idea is far more.

All the months working on an idea that everyone else sees as a prompt, all the effort, gone. Not everyone gets ripped off, but when it happens everyone else just waves it away, unless it happens to one of them.

Think of your computer crashing and destroying your whole idea, months, maybe even years, of work.
Someone chimes in,
"Why are you upset? You still have the prompt, right? Just start again, since it's 'just a prompt' and...not...worth...anything."
But you know the difference now.
That feeling of loss is the difference.

Protect your ideas.
 
Reaver

Reaver

Staff
Moderator
Greetings all. Your friendly neighborhood Mod Pal Reaver here. I live in the U.S. so maybe one of our wonderful members who resides elsewhere can add to this when it comes to other countries but here's a definitive breakdown of U.S. copyright law:

Automatic Copyright Protection​

  • Under the U.S. Copyright Act (Title 17, U.S. Code), any original work of authorship fixed in a tangible medium (text, image, music, video, code, etc.) is automatically protected the moment it’s created.
  • This includes anything posted online — blogs, images, stories, music, videos, or social media content — as long as it’s an original expression (not a mere idea, fact, or title).

2. No Registration Required​

  • You do not need to register your work with the U.S. Copyright Office for it to be protected.
  • However, registration is recommended if you want to:
    • Sue for infringement in court.
    • Claim statutory damages and attorney’s fees.

3. Duration of Copyright​

  • For individual creators: life of the author + 70 years.
  • For works made for hire, anonymous, or pseudonymous works: 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter.

4. Exclusive Rights​

The copyright owner automatically holds these rights:

  • Reproduction – make copies.
  • Distribution – share or sell copies.
  • Derivative works – create adaptations (e.g., a film from a book).
  • Public performance and display – perform, broadcast, or exhibit the work.

5. Fair Use and Exceptions​

Others may legally use copyrighted material without permission only under limited conditions such as:

  • Fair use (e.g., commentary, criticism, parody, education, news reporting).
  • Public domain (works whose copyright has expired or were never eligible).

6. Online Publishing​

  • Posting content online does not waive your rights.
  • Online platforms may require a license to host or display your content (per their Terms of Service), but you still retain ownership unless you explicitly assign or sell it.

7. Common Misunderstandings​

  • Poor man’s copyright (mailing yourself a copy) has no legal standing.
  • Simply crediting the author or saying “no copyright infringement intended” does not make unauthorized use legal.
  • Creative Commons or other licenses must be explicitly applied by the creator.
Here is a link for more info if needed:
U.S. Copyright Office | U.S. Copyright Office
 
Josh2Write

Josh2Write

Troubadour
Reaver said:
Greetings all. Your friendly neighborhood Mod Pal Reaver here. I live in the U.S. so maybe one of our wonderful members who resides elsewhere can add to this when it comes to other countries but here's a definitive breakdown of U.S. copyright law:

Automatic Copyright Protection​

  • Under the U.S. Copyright Act (Title 17, U.S. Code), any original work of authorship fixed in a tangible medium (text, image, music, video, code, etc.) is automatically protected the moment it’s created.
  • This includes anything posted online — blogs, images, stories, music, videos, or social media content — as long as it’s an original expression (not a mere idea, fact, or title).

2. No Registration Required​

  • You do not need to register your work with the U.S. Copyright Office for it to be protected.
  • However, registration is recommended if you want to:
    • Sue for infringement in court.
    • Claim statutory damages and attorney’s fees.

3. Duration of Copyright​

  • For individual creators: life of the author + 70 years.
  • For works made for hire, anonymous, or pseudonymous works: 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter.

4. Exclusive Rights​

The copyright owner automatically holds these rights:

  • Reproduction – make copies.
  • Distribution – share or sell copies.
  • Derivative works – create adaptations (e.g., a film from a book).
  • Public performance and display – perform, broadcast, or exhibit the work.

5. Fair Use and Exceptions​

Others may legally use copyrighted material without permission only under limited conditions such as:

  • Fair use (e.g., commentary, criticism, parody, education, news reporting).
  • Public domain (works whose copyright has expired or were never eligible).

6. Online Publishing​

  • Posting content online does not waive your rights.
  • Online platforms may require a license to host or display your content (per their Terms of Service), but you still retain ownership unless you explicitly assign or sell it.

7. Common Misunderstandings​

  • Poor man’s copyright (mailing yourself a copy) has no legal standing.
  • Simply crediting the author or saying “no copyright infringement intended” does not make unauthorized use legal.
  • Creative Commons or other licenses must be explicitly applied by the creator.
Here is a link for more info if needed:
U.S. Copyright Office | U.S. Copyright Office
Click to expand...
Thanks for sharing, but thieves don't care about any of this. If it hasn't been officially declared they will do whatever they want, that's what being a thief and liar is all about.

And that 90-120 year thing is nuts. We can look at it as protection of our stuff sure, but dang no wonder companies think they own everything, because they can just claim that and monopolize everything that falls under it, including any ideas they steal.
 
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