Hi! I'm still relatively new and I know that this question has likely been asked before, but when posting your material (short stories, excerpts of full stories, and such) ... is it safe to do so here? To get proper criticism? Because I know I need it. I'm by no means an "excellent writer" but I worry about even some of my concepts being pinched. How should someone on this forum go about getting criticism for their works in progress?
Here's the thing: They've already been pinched. Concepts are like loose Lego pieces. They can be turned into anything. Walk into any "big box" bookseller and I promise you that no matter how unique and original you think your concepts are, somewhere in that sea of books before you, your concepts are already fleshed out and locked in place within other books, other novels, other stories. But, the concept still has to be written out, still has to be explored, expanded, stretched, wrapped around the characters that will serve as the vehicle for the concept. What that means is that there is very little value in stealing concepts. From the POV of the thief, there's WAY too much work still to be done to make the act worth the while. Do you steal a loaf of bread to feed your family? Or do you steal a sheaf of wheat that still has to be separated, the grain from the chaff, and ground to make flour, and mixed with other ingredients to make the dough, and then baked into a loaf to feed your family? BTW, that sheaf of wheat is going to give up only a tiny little pile of flour in the palm of your hand. See what I mean? It's not worth it. I've been playing in writing forums for over a decade and I've posted and posted and posted. Do people experience plagiarism on the web? Of course. There's no way anyone can guaranty that it won't happen. But it's never happened to me. You have to decide for yourself if you want to pull your work away from your bosom and let us look and opine. This is a safe community and we don't have a history of that kind of thing happening, but remember that this is all voluntary and it's as much a part of the digital paradigm as any other venue, so no one can make guarantees.
Story ideas and concepts are a dime a dozen, and as @Wreybies mentioned, it is far too much work to take someone else's idea and turn it into a story. Writers are often overflowing with ideas - honestly, that's the easy part! It's the execution and follow-through of making it into a complete work that's where the rubber really hits the road. We see this concern, often from newer writers, and it's very understandable to feel like your ideas are these special, unique creatures that must be protected at all costs. But honestly, 99.9% of ideas are valuable only to the person who thought it up and decided to try to turn it into a fully-fledged story.
I guess that depends on what you think of as proper criticism. You'll likely get some critiques that are good, some that are less good, and some that seems to contradict others. That's the deal with critiques, though, unless they're about something like word mechanics or spelling, they're pretty much all based on opinion, so it's up to you to figure out, being honest and open minded, which critiques are more germane to what you're trying to accomplish. Start with the Workshop, that's where things generally get posted for critique. And remember to read the rules, if you're having trouble posting, it's probably because some requirement hasn't been met that's outlined there.
Sincerely thanks for this bit. I realize that it's more about the execution opposed to the concept. Fleshed out realizations of concepts can vary for better or worse, even if/when pinched. I suppose it's a matter of who delivered the concept better, not who did it first? There's just always that hint of paranoia when a writer chucks their stuff out into the nether. Especially with writers like me having never done so before. Exactly. And I was honestly just concerned about my short stories. I write heaps of them and they're (at literally the barest of bones) just concepts; pure symbolism. Haha. Super helpful tip. I'll start there. Thanks for this!
