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Is it good to let people read your plot idea?

Demesnedenoir

Myth Weaver
Amazon will pull their books, and if you had a good lawyer and an idea of what they made off of you, it can be done. Has been done, I think. Main thing is Amazon, as I think most of these cheats rely on Kindle Unlimited fairly heavily.

The other trick is ripping off OOP books and calling them theirs. Also tricky to catch.

Same thing happened with Costner's Robin hood. Three production companies all decided to do Robin hood at once, but two of them pulled it cause Costner was a bigger draw. It was a pity, cause Costner's was not best of the three.

I figure that those companies watch each other. They all want to hit when the iron is hot. Which to me speaks to their lack of true creativity.

Ya know, it could be there are a hundred people writing a story similar to mine as I write, but I doubt it. If so, more power to them. But they are not going to get their ideas from me. Least not the ones I want to use.

And I did become concerned for Game of Thrones having a winter environment. It add that sentiment to my work, but I swear I did not read Game of thrones till way late. It was always a Finland/Norway type of setting. Winter is coming.... Hard to escape that comparison. But I don't have the black guards, or frost giants, so....




I've heard of this. And since they change all the names, it would be hard to detect. Someone would have to find it and clue you in. All I can say is I would be disappointed if it happened to me, but I doubt there is any recourse.
 

ThinkerX

Myth Weaver
My books do contain some...rarely used variants of the Lovecraftian mythology that might appeal to the book thieves. But first, they'd have to find the books...
 
Off topic...I created this post in 2012? Huh? Jesus I'm getting old. But so nice to see some of the same faces here still! Love this place and been away far to long.

On topic - seen some really mixed opinions. But I agree. An idea is just an idea and any writing it would do it differently. I no longer fear sharing anything now.
 
Haven't read through the entire thread but most writers good enough to actually finish a book will be too busy with their own ideas to bother stealing yours. That's a non-issue.

Feedback on plots is valuable but only if it comes from someone who gets and enjoys your genre.
 
Most is not all, when you have an idea lifted, you may think differently.
How do you prove it though? I have had an idea pinched (by a person I thought a friend) but I shrugged and moved on.

The parallel evolution of ideas means many people are likely to have the same idea in the same milieu/epoch. And as others have said, it's not just the idea it's the execution that really matters. For a new writer (with faith in their ability to go on generating plot ideas) the value of feedback outweighs the risk of plagiarism.
 

pmmg

Myth Weaver
When an idea is stolen you have no choice but to shrug and move on. And parallel formation of ideas is not the same as stolen.

Losing trust in a friend is one consequence. But execution is not all, it is only part. And some ideas can be valuable, and even more valuable than execution. When they are, they should not be easily given away. The value of feedback 'may' outweigh concern for the risk, but it also may not. Somethings I will share and some I wont. I am sorry I cannot impress upon you all that there is sliding scale to all of it. Some are and some are not. I will not value your ideas for you, but you should. But, I am dubious of all the claims of not safeguarding ideas anyway. You will when its important enough--or not, and hope that works out for you.

Anyway...for me, I will not share the ideas I think most important, just the ones that are for give away anyway. I will try to pick those I trust wisely, but like you said, sometimes even they will surprise you. And so for me, to answer the question, is it good to let people read your plot idea is not solidly 'yes'. Its yes with some considerations.

I would add, I do think it is important for one to gain a core group, where ideas can be shared, but that is not just the internet as a whole.
 
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A. E. Lowan

Forum Mom
Leadership
Pmmg, I haven't done a reread of the thread, mostly because I'm busy ripping off my own ideas, but what idea did you have stolen? Did it make it into print? My mom had this happen in the 1960's by a well-known TV writer with a deadline and a vulnerable 17 year-old to steal from. Now, I only have her word for it and my faith in her abilities, and it sucked, but it also didn't stop her. I will say that one of the beautiful things about the rise of the internet is our ability to share our ideas, our inspiration, and to keep at it. In the '60's it was way too easy to give up. Now we have a literal world of encouragement. I say to enjoy it.
 
When an idea is stolen you have no choice but to shrug and move on. And parallel formation of ideas is not the same as stolen.

Losing trust in a friend is one consequence. But execution is not all, it is only part. And some ideas can be valuable, and even more valuable than execution. When they are, they should not be easily given away. The value of feedback 'may' outweigh concern for the risk, but it also may not. Somethings I will share and some I wont. I am sorry I cannot impress upon you all that there is sliding scale to all of it. Some are and some are not. I will not value your ideas for you, but you should. But, I am dubious of all the claims of not safeguarding ideas anyway. You will when its important enough--or not, and hope that works out for you.

Anyway...for me, I will not share the ideas I think most important, just the ones that are for give away anyway. I will try to pick those I trust wisely, but like you said, sometimes even they will surprise you. And so for me, to answer the question, is it good to let people read your plot idea is not solidly 'yes'. Its yes with some considerations.

I would add, I do think it is important for one to gain a core group, where ideas can be shared, but that is not just the internet as a whole.
Sounds like you were burned... what can I say? I'm betting it's pretty rare.

Me being burned didn't much affect me. I have an ever bubbling spring of ideas and have five commercially published books plus three coming out over the next three years. I do have a lot of confidence in my ability to come up with new ideas and I firmly believe that new writers will only improve/be inspired by feedback.

Can't get feedback without disclosing your ideas.
 

pmmg

Myth Weaver
Pmmg, I haven't done a reread of the thread, mostly because I'm busy ripping off my own ideas, but what idea did you have stolen? Did it make it into print? My mom had this happen in the 1960's by a well-known TV writer with a deadline and a vulnerable 17 year-old to steal from.

Thanks for asking. I mentioned that it had happened in my first post in this thread. I will repeat it, but it is not really the point.

At another time, and another website, there was a highly anticipated contest. I entered it. I finished my story early. But....I knew my story would be different from everyone else's. I was counting on that in fact. Because I had said so to one of my close friends there, they asked for the story, and I let them read it. Then...WITHOUT asking me, they liked it so much, they gave it to someone else. That some else also liked it, and took my story idea, created their own tale and entered into the contest before me. So my story, which was meant to have its impact right at the end, instead had its idea stolen and thrown in at the beginning.

--I did not think that was cool.--

But that's not the point here. I am not advocating for 'no' feedback. If you dont read the posts before, that is not my disservice. All I am saying is one should not trust blindly, and that sometimes there are stronger reasons than others not to share. For myself, I know my ideas are not common on web sites like this, so I will be more guarded. I am just avoiding the 'all or nothing' fallacy that a statement like 'That's a non-issue' suggests. Sometimes, its an issue.

With the right people, whom I have some trust for, I am likely to share. At the stage I am at, its beta readers and editors only. I wont be popping up the story here for feedback, and not likely on scribo either, and certainly not Wattpad. I have selected a harder road to feedback, I will replace it with quality instead of quantity--I hope.

Most/All of the regulars here would never take another tale in a million years. But new ppl show up everyday, and I dont know them, and I know my ideas are not in the market. I am not giving them away.

If I was a newb, trying to learn a site, I would certainly write stuff to put up for all to see. I just would not have the ideas I want to market in them.

I'm gonna take my energy back and move away from this thread for a bit. People do what they do.
 
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At another time, and another website, there was a highly anticipated contest. I entered it. I finished my story early. But....I knew my story would be different from everyone else's. I was counting on that in fact. Because I had said so to one of my close friends there, they asked for the story, and I let them read it. Then...WITHOUT asking me, they liked it so much, they gave it to someone else. That some else also liked it, and took my story idea, created their own tale and entered into the contest before me. So my story, which was meant to have its impact right at the end, instead had its idea stolen and thrown in at the beginning.
Boy that sucks. Don't tell me that other person won the competition...
 
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