Hi everybody, t his will be my first post on this site. I've been wanting to write for a while now but I struggle to come up with ideas. Is it acceptable to steal ideas from anywhere? such as films? probably a stupid question, but thought i'd ask anyway and hopefully it will help me to start writing!
Welcome to the forum. I don't normally find myself welcoming two new members at the same time but nothing wrong with that! Please have a look through the Forum Rules, and the FAQ as a start. Then take a leisurely stroll through the different areas of the forum to get your bearings. Once you have a good idea where everything is, come and say hello in the Lounge or have a look at the items already up for review in the Review section. Please remember that as a full participation workshop, you are required to give two (2) constructive reviews of posted items prior to posting your own work. Remember that two is only a minimum. Feel free to give as many reviews as you please. The more you give, the more you get. We are also a Flame-Free Location and we do not host Pie Fights either. Have fun!
haha Wreybies your welcome messages are always so much shorter then Cogito's. Welcome you two!! David: "Stealing" is never a good thing. no matter where. Getting inspiration on the other hand you should try and find everywhere, just make sure it ISN'T stealing of course.
Perhaps stealing was the wrong word to use, I didn't mean to steal the whole plot, just getting ideas from certain scenes and such. Thanks for the advice anyway!! I finally managed to get a spot of writing done last night, just a few ideas on scrap paper but at least it's a start!
Hello David, Welcome to the Writing Forums. No you can't steal ideas. Ideas are not copyrightable. They are patentable, but even tat does not prevent you from writing about them. So there really is no such thing as stealing an idea. In truth, nearly every book ever written consists of ideas that have already been written. What makes each book unique is how the writer tells the story. Have you ever noticed how the same joke can be told by a dozen or more people, and most of them fall flat? But that a couple of the people will tell exactly the same joke in ways that hve you busting a gut? Also notice that both of those people tell it a bit differently. That's what writers do, on a larger scale. The story may be essentially the same, each writer will tell it differently. Posting your own writing for comment should not be among the very first things you do here. It is worth taking the time to see what other people have done to improve their writing, and see if some of it applies to your writing as well. That is part of why we require members to review other members' work before posting their own for review. On the other hand, there are no restrictions, other than content and copyright rules, on showcasing your work in your member blog. Also, be aware that posting a piece of writing on any public site, including this one, will greatly diminish your chances of selling it for publication. Removing the writing later does not alter that fact - once posted, it is irreversibly considered published. So do not post anything more than a small excerpt of any piece you are planning to submit for publication. If you haven't explored the site yet, you should probably do so soon. Newcomers often gravitate to the Lounge, the Word Games, or the Review Room, but there is much more to be discovered if you poke in the corners. Remember to check out our FAQ as well, and be sure to read through the forum rules, too, to avoid any misunderstandings or hurt feelings. Respect for one another is our principal mandate. As for the Review Room, new joiners often wonder why we do things a bit differently on this site than on other writing sites. We emphasize constructive critique as a vital writing skill. Training your eye by reviewing other people's work helps you improve your own writing even before you present it for others to see. Therefore, we ask members to review other people's writing before posting work of their own. The Review Room forums on this site, therefore, are true workshops, not just a bulletin board for displaying your work (and on that note, please only post each item for review in one Review Room forum). Also, please use the same thread for all revisions and additional excerpts from the same piece of writing. See this post, Why Write Reviews Before Posting My Work? for more information. And while you're looking around, don't forget to check out our Weekly Short Story Contest and Weekly Poetry Contest. They actually run more than one week apiece, but any member may enter, and all members are urged to vote for their favorites. Enjoy your stay here, and have fun!
Hi David I know what you mean about generating ideas. I think because you're very new to the process of writing you should do a hell of a lot of reading and decide what you like in terms of style and also genre. I know you didn't mean stealing literally. How about, for practice, writing down a scene you see from a film? Decide which Point of View to use then embellish or take it in your own direction. Taking sentences/segments from literature that spark inspiration can be really good writing practice. Obviously, you can't use it formally but you will find that before long you have ideas of your own. Think a lot about what moves and inspires you in life. Then think about how a story or certain characters may express those themes.
