Blog Time!

So, on a brief note, I saw Man of Steel again because my friends wanted to...and it actually improves a bit on a second watching. The tornado scene still seems pretty dumb, but knowing it was coming allowed me to look for any thematic continuity to that moment, and there is definitely more there than I originally thought. Not much, but more than my original assessment. So...good job, Man of Steel. Also, I saw the Wayne Enterprises Easter egg this time! So...yay me!

Anyway, on to the details of today.

Honestly, my life is boring. I wish I were interesting enough to write a blog about cool people in history or stuff. Oh well. I haven't seen a movie recently and I'm still reading Middlemarch...

Actually, I've been looking for my next book. I have a queue about ten books long, but I tend to add to that list more than I shorten it...so...I am always on the lookout for new books.

WHY ARE THERE SO MANY PRIDE AND PREJUDICE STORIES?! And why are so many of them craptascular fantasy fulfillment? It's stuff like this that makes me hate fan-fiction. Yes, I am one of those writers who hates fan-fiction. When someone writes something, they are creating a product. It's intellectual property: that world, those characters, and that story all belong to that writer. In essence, a writer is an inventor. Like all inventors, they are inspired by earlier inventions (obviously, Harry Potter has links to Lord of the Rings), but this is a product all their own.

When someone writes fan-fiction, that person is stealing someone's property. It is no different than stealing the design for the television and writing it off as your own. It is not making improvements, it is not designing a similar piece of technology but using something different to power it...it's stealing something and presenting it as your own.

Paraphrasing is still plagiarism. Changing a few words and passing it off as your own is still plagiarism. Even attributing a quote to its original creator is plagiarism if you don't properly site the work. Writing a little "World and characters are a product of 'Author's Name'" doesn't make up for the fact that you are essentially committing a form of concept plagiarism. You are not creating anything; you are stealing it from someone else and presenting it as your own.

I get the idea that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. By all means, take what you love about the stories you've read and make it your own. You love Harry Potter? What about it do you love? Take those things and work them into a world and characters of your own. Be a real writer! If you can write fan-fiction, you can write your own stuff. Don't ride the coattails of someone else's greatness; be great on your own!

But please, for the love of God, don't write 50 Shades of Grey (or is it Gray)! Even if EL James did exactly that when she wrote it, that shit is just nasty. And poorly written. Actually, it's nasty BECAUSE it's poorly written...not because of the BDSM. I don't judge my friends based on their kink level.

I admit...I am guilty of having written fan-fiction in my day. But I moved passed it. I became better than some cheap knock-off of my favorite stuff; I wrote my own favorite stuff. OK, so I am a self-deprecating author and my stuff is definitely not my favorite, but you know what I mean. If you write fan-fiction just for the enjoyment of it...won't you enjoy writing your own stuff even more? Wouldn't that feel better than working with someone else's toys?

I don't judge people who write fan-fiction. In fact, I try not to judge anyone who writes at all. The more writers in the world, the better. But people who only write fan-fiction...please stretch your writing muscles and write your own stuff! Nothing will help you grow as a writer more than creating your own world with your own characters and your own stories.

 I promise you that.