1. AuThoRiZe(Life)

    AuThoRiZe(Life) New Member

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    Name generator/ description generator

    Discussion in 'Descriptive Development' started by AuThoRiZe(Life), Mar 22, 2015.

    Hello, is it possible to get into trouble for using online name generator and/or description generator ( 2-3 sentences max) ? Can you get sued for this? I mean, the site says "feel free to use this and give credit etc." Though, what's the proper way to credit the website? Will putting their website's link at the end of the novel in "credit" section do just fine, I mean, without putting quotation marks and showing exactly what sentence is copied by this website.
     
  2. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    Wouldn't it be easier to just customize things a little? I mean, using someone else's words, verbatim, is a kind of weird way to write. I feel like it wouldn't be that hard to write your own description, in a voice that will match the rest of the writing, and save yourself the trouble of giving a citation.
     
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  3. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    I agree. I mean, is a description generator even intended to be used as a cut & paste into one's story? Wouldn't that be more appropriate to go into a character profile sheet, assuming one uses such things?
     
  4. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

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    I never knew they had such things as a description generator. I would be careful using it for more than idea generating or you could end up with a description another author also used.
     
  5. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    I can just barely see using a description generator to give you new ideas if you're completely stuck for inspiration, but then those new ideas should be presented in your own words. Even if I were to ignore the fact that using someone else's writing style is likely to make your novel feel oddly patchy, it seems like a mistake to tie up your original work with someone else's copyright. I think that it would almost certainly make it unpublishable by a traditional publisher.
     
  6. Twist

    Twist Member

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    Would anyone even be able to tell if you used a name generator? Those use preexisting first and last names, don't they?
     
  7. Void

    Void Senior Member

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    I've actually used a name generator for my work. I typically just generate names under the category of "real names" from which ever culture best matches the particular fictional culture in the novel. I've never copied one verbatim though, I just use them as a sort of guideline, picking and choosing certain elements and so forth.
    I've never had any use for a description generator (although I have looked at them to see what they were), I don't really see the point. You would be much better using them for inspiration, and just paraphrasing what they say, rather than simply copying it.
     
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  8. Jack Asher

    Jack Asher Banned Contributor

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    No, I'm pretty sure she's talking about seventhsantum's character generator, or something similar. It looks like this
    But because of the algorithm the generator uses it's pretty much impossible to get the same response twice. But if you are just copying and pasting the text directly from a generator, you have problems that can't be fixed by citing your source.

    Edited to add: I just read that description, I copied and pasted the first one to come up, just to give an example. Tangerine hair and deeply tanned skin? Maybe you should stick with your imagination, or at least refrain from using everything a computer thinks will be a good idea.
     
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  9. AuThoRiZe(Life)

    AuThoRiZe(Life) New Member

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    I mean fantasy names from the name generator, and about the description - I have really hard time describing something, like a house etc. For example I've never been in the type of a castle, inn etc. that I would like to describe and I just don't know where to start and I look for description generator. I do try to change it at least a little bit or tell it with my own words if I can. Is it okay to use fantasy name generator and give credit to them together with a little bit of description generator?

    How much u need to "copy" to get sued? I want to know the limit, so I don't get sued. I always try to write with my own words, I just need help with descriptions sometimes, maybe a sentence or two, and I do try to change it as much as I can, as I said.
     
  10. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    I really think it would be in your interest, long term, to spend the time learning to write description rather than learning how much you're allowed to fake description writing.

    I don't know what your plans for publication are, but if you're planning to go with a publisher, there's a part of the standard contract where the author promises that all the words in the MS are original. I think there's something similar in Amazon's self-publishing contract.

    So using someone else's description is a bad idea because it will be hard to match styles and make the description flow with the rest of your writing, and also because it will be a completely unnecessary complication with whatever publishing method you use.

    Just work on your ability to write descriptions. Seriously, in the long run I think you'll find it much easier and better to do this yourself rather than relying on someone else.
     
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  11. AuThoRiZe(Life)

    AuThoRiZe(Life) New Member

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    I see, I'll try my best guys, thank you all. Void - I'm not good at paraphrasing because I'm not a native speaker of english, but i'll do what I can. In the end, It's ok to use fantasy name generator(for fantasy names) and credit them, right?
     
  12. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    Maybe you should use the name generator for now, and then if you get something finished and ready to publish, you can worry about the originality of the names then?
     
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  13. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    Don't do it. Just don't do it. If you want to be a writer, you need to learn to write your own descriptions. If you want to ever publish your writing, it needs to be YOUR writing.
     
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  14. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

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    I'm of a different mindset. Don't copy the descriptions, definitely don't do that. But just like the more you read the greater your repertoire gets, I think you can grow that knowledge base reading descriptions be they in a generator or in a novel.

    As for never having been there, I find Pinterest to be an invaluable resource.

    You want castles, they have castles: https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=castle

    You want inns, they have inns: https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=inn

    You want inside the castle, they have inside the castle:
    https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=inside%20castle&term_meta%5B%5D=inside%7Ctyped&term_meta%5B%5D=castle%7Ctyped&remove_refine=inn%7Ctyped
     
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  15. AuThoRiZe(Life)

    AuThoRiZe(Life) New Member

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    Ok, I guess I'll worry about the names later, also I checked out that website Pinterest, it's good.
     

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