If You Should Plagiarize…

Every writer knows how much work one puts into an article or post. It involves not only the mind, but most of the time, so goes the heart. Writing is a form of artistic expression; every article becomes a masterpiece because of the skill it necessitates.

We are often caught unaware when writer’s block strikes out of nowhere and there is a deadline to meet. So we pull our hair out and squeeze our brains, until such time that we find inspiration to weave our words again.

After rising above all the stress and pressure of being a normal writer, how would you feel if you see your work in somebody else’s site, with a stranger’s byline?

Crap.

Back in my school days, I remember doing experiments in Science class and answering three-page questionnaires about the activity. And everytime, my classmates who were lazy to construct their own hypothesis and conclusion copy from my work with my full consent. The thing is, after our papers have been checked by our teacher, they even end up getting higher grades compared to mine.

Crap.

Now, I’m having some kind of déjà vu in the blogosphere. There are still people just like my old classmates here; except that this time, they take without permission.

To those who belong to this group, let me give you a piece of my mind in times that you are tempted to, or if you should-- or must, plagiarize:

Use “these” please. Do not copy the article verbatim. There is nothing more annoying than seeing a person publish somebody else’s work as is (punctuation marks, typos and all) without having the courtesy to include its source. You may get inspiration from anybody’s work, but PLEASE don’t claim it solely as your own. This is where the “quotes” come in; use them generously whenever needed.

Thou shall not CTRL C, CTRL V. It’s not brain-draining to inject a little creativity to use your own words for your post. Give it your voice. Readers are intelligent enough to recognize if you are a copy-paste author writing to the tune of somebody else’s piece.

Have faith. If you were good enough to have your blog approved in paid to review sites, then there’s a good chance that you are also a writer in your own right. Believe in your talent and abilities.

Care to add your 2 cents here? :)


Related Posts:

From Paper to Puter
The Notebook(s)

From Paper to Puter

Some find it too juvenile to write in a diary. I don’t. I believe nobody is too young or too old for this activity that actually empowers and inspires the writer in a lot of ways.

Sometimes it’s even better to tell the paper than a human being, personal stuff you’d never want to hear in the gossip circle. I also read somewhere before, that when you get really angry at someone, try to write your feelings down before you confront the person (or dig a hole in the ground and shout it all out!). And when you do see him/her afterwards, you will realize that you have already mellowed down, having placed the initial outburst and venom on paper. It’s a must try– yep, did it a loooot of times, and it really works!

The Paper to Puter title actually refers to the torn pages from the butterflies notebook. I don’t want to rewrite them again so I’ll just type them here instead:

“I've always felt a sense of security and comfort putting my thoughts on paper. Unloading what occupies the mind and heart, can be quite liberating. Also, the fact that the paper has no capacity to complain or whine over the whole drama, is a plus. Right now, I’d like to regard this conventional blogging as a venue where I put random ‘mature’ thoughts that I have in the here and now.

Though I still feel every inch of an 18-year old on the inside, the outside doesn’t quite follow, unfortunately, as it somewhat journeyed on its own to the inescapable aging-degenerating lane.

Lately, I’ve come quite used to the fact that I already get achy joints here and there when I walk for 10 hours in a mall, when I can do 12 hours before, without feeling tired and hungry. So my body is not what it used to be, thanks to gravity and free radicals (that we really get for free, literally– i.e. pollution). But I think what’s essential is that the state of mind stays young and positive and all else will follow. You may have streaks of gray hair, but it can look good on you if you carry it well.

It really depends on how one goes about something. Talk about right approach. It makes a whole lot of difference.”

The Notebook(s)

Yesterday, I whisked myself to a mall somewhere after a stressful month of having to deal with pretty heavy emotional stuff, primarily that of my family’s state of health. Everyone is getting sick all around. Age-related, heart-related, work-related, and what-have-you. I’m not going to be surprised if I hit the bed one of these days, too (knock on wood! I’ve been out of the office for so long).

Anyways, back to my de-stressing R and R at the mall, I was fortunate enough to find what I was looking for on my first stop to a gift shop. I was excited (and quite imagining) the day before, to look for a thick hard bound notebook that will serve as my ‘ideas’ diary that I can carry around wherever I go. My mind is so loaded with a lot of ideas that I desperately need to doodle them in paper, otherwise they will be lost somewhere in between my subconscious and superconscious states (? I know I read about this somewhere). I’m already having memory gaps and my good old think bank is not as reliable as it was last year. Aging, can’t stop it, you know.

So back to the notebook. Or notebooks, for that matter.

I got myself three of them. Three pretty designs- butterflies, stars and flowers. I made a mental note that 1 or 2 would surely go to an equally enthusiastic doodler, my 6 year old princess, so I really need to get all 3 of them. I got them very cheap for only P50 each, and they are the type that sells for P100 and up at the regular bookstore. Oh, I just love great buys!

Today I wrote on the butterflies notebook some random thoughts I got in my head (diary style), and wrote my ideas on the stars notebook. It felt like in my younger days, when I would always find comfort in writing or drawing rather than going out. I decided to give Chestene the one with floral design, thinking she’d love it because she adores flowers anyways. When the youngster saw what I got, tears flowed easily because the butterflies had been taken. Talk about same taste, eh? So mommy had to tear the first few pages and exchange.

Ahh, the things we do for our children ranges from the simplest to the most complex imaginable sacrifices. Well, she was happy and it was all well worth it.

By the way, she keeps 5 or so diaries in different sizes. She was the one who actually inspired me to write again, watching her put her thoughts into words. Maybe I can share some of her entries here soon, until she’s old enough to have her own blog (in a year or so, that is).

Well, so much for the notebook(s).