Anyone Else Scared To Share Ideas Here?

You know, there's still a lot of things I want to ask my fellow tropers for assistance with, because I haven't quite figured all of my narrative, characterization, plot development, etc. But the problem is, I want to publish many of these ideas shortly after I do figure them out, and as much as I love you guys, I can't trust all of you.

I'm not afraid of my ideas being stolen (I copyright my things pretty well, and imitation is flattery anyway, right?), but I acknowledge that it's a legal nightmare. My own personal hangup is that I'd rather not give out too many spoilers about what's to come in my work. If (by some miracle) it became popular, all it would take is one loud-mouth troll to link or copy-paste a discussion from this board to derail a carefully-orchestrated plot. That, more than anything, would piss me off.

So, I hold back. I want to share more, but I just don't know how to get around this problem. Anyone else feel the same way?

Why would your fans believe that something a troll cutpasted was genuine?

As soon as you're published, anyone anywhere can post spoilers. Heck, people ran around with stuff saying DUMBLEDORE DIES the very day that the second-last Potter book was published. Stuff in here isn't going to be any big deal about that. Most of your readers won't be looking to be spoiled, anyway, and you can't keep the cat in the bag once your work is out there.

I have similar concerns, and considering that in the US you have to pay a good bit (more than I can afford, I'll find a way when I'm done but I certainly can't afford to do it in pieces) to get real copyright protection instead of a shadow of it, I'm really kind of limiting myself on what I can share here.

Of bigger concern is not people in the US, but rather our dear European or Oriental friends grabbing it out of reach of the legal system here.

Wow, two of my favorite tropers posted so fast. I'm honored.

Anyway, the question is: why WOULDN'T they believe it, Tze? If it was copypastaed from a forum (or provided with a link for evidence).

Also, Morven, fanbases are notoriously fickle. Again, I don't want to seem arrogant by assuming I'll be popular (I might die unknown and penniless, after all), but the possibility is there, I'd like to think. Even if most people wouldn't like spoilers, there's a small minority that could potentially ruin it for the majority.

As far as spoilers go, my assumption is that generally only people who go looking for them find them (except for assholes that run around yelling, and fuck those people.) If they didn't want to see spoilers, they probably would stop reading them once they knew what they were.

I do share the fear of theft of my work, however irrational it may be. My solution? Have tons and tons of copies in different locations, dated as early as possible. I figure that would make legal battles easier, at the very least. I've given thought to getting a paper copy notarized by a notary public, for some really concrete "I wrote it first" data, but I wasn't sure how that would work/cost involved.

I guess all you can really do is write, and try not to worry about it too much.

edited 6th Dec '10 4:41:54 PM by deathjavu

I stopped being afraid a while ago since nobody looked anyway.

I think that if people were actually motivated enough to try and ruin peoples' enjoyment, it would mean you'd become successful enough to attract the attention. Besides, the Potter spoilers didn't ruin the success of that series, did it?

Also, putting stuff up here or not doesn't materially affect that. Ten minutes after your work's published and available, they can grab it and spoiler it. In fact, the stuff you might put up here might be out-of-date and wrong anyway, being about your work-in-progress.

Same with worries about copyright infringement. Once your work is out there, it can be ripped off anyway.

Oh, and Lessinath, anything published is copyrighted. The main difference if you register is simply that you can sue for more money (statutory damages, rather than just actual damages). You can still have it taken down — anywhere in the world that honors copyright (most places).

I'm surprised. Personally, I'm afraid of sharing my ideas because they're, you know, stupid.

I'm not sure. There's a lot I'd love to post, but I'm not entirely sure I'm comfortable with it. I'll think about that though.

I'm surprised. Personally, I'm afraid of sharing my ideas because they're, you know, stupid.

If that's all that's stopping you... come on, don't be shy. Most of us don't bite too hard.

..

Yes, ignore the potential irony there.

AC Drawings is correct, I think; the worst thing that will happen if you post your stuff is that everyone will ignore it.

I plan on thumping every post I've ever posted ever once I get published.

edited 6th Dec '10 5:32:06 PM by MrAHR

^^ That, happens to be one of my greatest fears; without anyone else to let you know what they think, whether it's good or terrible or what could be improved, you're stuck wondering what in the fuck has gone wrong..

edited 6th Dec '10 5:36:51 PM by QQQQQ

Plus, something as unique as literature is hard to really "steal". If you're good enough that people want to steal your idea, then, well, let them try. You could probably just disprove them by asking them to write something, then compare the results.

I would be very surprised if more than a few tropers in this subforum actually received attention from more than a few other tropers. Or, to put it another way, there is a very high chance nobody's reading your work, let alone plagiarizing it. (That's actually one of the reasons I don't post here often—it started feeling like the authorial equivalent of masturbation.)

Well, Spacey has her own thread, and I am fairly sure there are quite a few people that enjoy it. I am sure there are others.

@ Five X

Not only is literature hard to steal, it's also (as far as I understand it) not very profitable to do so. Movies are easy to steal and resell. All you need is a computer with burning software and a copy of the original. For books... Well, if you happen to have a printing press lying around you might as well use if for legitimate purposes.

"I copywrite things pretty well"

Did you actually copy write them? or do you really believe mailing something to yourself will stand up in court?

edited 7th Dec '10 5:41:29 AM by dsdsa

I'm fine with people stealing my ideas. It'll look nothing like my story, anyway. Just think how many stories have the exact same premise but are still distinct - eg all the movie remakes of Frankenstein. I wouldn't publish more than a small excerpt of my actual writing here, though, but that's mainly because some publishers grump about that sort of thing.

It's somewhat hard to argue with an envelope timestamped by the Post Office.

Not really. I don't have many ideas anyway.

I'm confident enough in my abilities to assume anyone stealing ideas from TV Tropes isn't going to be much of a threat; execution is as important as, if nor more important than, basic ideas, and I am confident in my execution skills. Now, if Neil Gaiman did a story using my ideas, I'd be screwed, but Neil Gaiman doesn't go around stealing ideas from TV Tropes. Anyone who has to sink to that level will probably end up being a pain-in-the-ass Small Name, Big Ego at with their own page on So Bad Its Horrible.

As for spoilers? I just keep those to myself and a few trustworthy meat space friends. Hell, there's nothing to stop me using a bit of misdirection to increase the oomph of a spoiler by selectively posting bits and pieces that imply something totally different.

EDIT: Also, Morven hit the nail on the head. Not gonna lie, I've occasionally treated this forum as chance to drum up publicity, especially since I'm considering pulling a David Wong. With all the other unemployed dudes around my age trying their hands at the writing thing, I've gotta be damn good if I want to succeed, and failure to pull a reaction bodes ill.

edited 7th Dec '10 9:01:21 AM by KillerClowns

I get around this by just sharing my ideas with a handful of people over private messages. It's not so much about plagiarism in the real world, though, since I'm not terribly interested in becoming a famous writer. It's just so I can surprise the handful of people who are my readers. (namely, people on the forums I peruse)

I have a disproportionate amount of paranoia regarding having my ideas stolen. And I've always been that way - even as a kid I would never show anyone anything I was creating until it was finished.

I guess being secretive is just how I roll.

Personally, I just like to keep people in the dark until I've published it. Which in the case of many ideas, means probably never unless I take off as a professional, published writer, and for the Galactic Series, means... also never if it's one of the novel ideas (i.e. ideas for a novel. The blog, for all I know, might be endless brilliance and the novels as planned utterly terrible. But I doubt the former, at least).

The other problem for me is False Accomplishment Syndrome, which I've named here but is detailed here:

http://sivers.org/zipit