Inspiration or Plagiarism?


1. INSPIRATION OR PLAGIARISM? 
NOT THE COOL CORNER!
Today's bookstores are filled with amazing titles and remarkable authors which feed our hunger for stories. Some books are able to challenge our thought process and ultimately inspire us. At one point in our lives we will bump across that one book which changes our lives, and we are so amazed by it that we want the whole world to read it! Better yet, you are so inspired by this book, that you want to write something like it, but even better! You burn with the desire of transmitting a message of hope, or sharing the thrill of hunting an international criminal mastermind, better yet you want to bring your readers to the seven kingdoms, in a land where summers last for years and winters a lifetime. Where weddings can be just a dangerous as battles, and where not even your Direwolf pup is safe from slaughter...oh wait, sound familiar?
If you're a Game of Thrones fanatic, like myself, you picked up all those references to one of today's greatest Epic Fantasy phenomena. Here on Wattpad there a thousands of GoT inspired stories, even I launched on an endeavor to write a fanfic some time ago called A Rising Fire. Yet on second look, are these stories inspired or are they plagiarizing George R.R. Martin's work? You may be thinking, "What's the big deal if I used a little bit from his story? I changed the character's name and locations I'm not harming anybody." Well sorry to burst your bubble but it's a HUGE deal if you have "borrowed" ideas.
" Well sorry to burst your bubble but it's a HUGE deal if you have "borrowed" ideas
2. ACCORDING TO THE MERRIAM-WEBSTER ONLINE DICTIONARY, TO "PLAGIARIZE" MEANS:
• to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own.
• to use (another's production) without crediting the source.
• to commit literary theft.
• to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source.
Bottom line plagiarism is fraud, if you are not giving the true owners of a work the recognition they deserve. After all, wouldn't you be upset if you work for months on a book, published it, and two weeks later someone used your work, changed the names, and some twist of your plot, and pass off that story as their own? I sure would be upset I tell you that.
 After all, wouldn't you be upset if you work for months on a book, published it, and two weeks later someone used your work, changed the names, and some twist of your plot, and pass off that story as their own? I sure would be upset I tell you that
3. BE INSPIRED!
Now that you know what plagiarism is how do you avoid it? Well the best way is to be original, creating your own original ideas is very rewarding, not only will you spark your creativity, your readers will thank you for it. For you will offer readers something fresh and new, which they have not read before. After all, popular books like the Twilight Saga, A Song of Ice and Fire, and Harry Potter became best sellers because they were original and there was nothing like it on the market.
However, if you are itching with writing something like your favorite book, there are ways to achieve that while avoiding the uncomfortable notion of being unoriginal. Such as setting your story in an alternative universe (that you create of course), or looking into history for inspiration Game of Thrones is based on the English War of the Roses. You can even examine the way a writer told his story, and use the same methods without stealing the ideas. Ultimately, original work will always outweigh copied material, don't be afraid to explore your creativity the more you write the better writer you will become.
 Ultimately, original work will always outweigh copied material, don't be afraid to explore your creativity the more you write the better writer you will become

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