"Imitation is the best form of flattery." - Oscar Wilde
Not when it comes to pawning off someone else's hard work as your own. It is A-okay to be inspired and moved by someone else's work to the point you want to write something similar. A few words of acknowledgment is standard. "This work is inspired by ....." Not hard and keeps you out of trouble. I've seen it done many, many times on here.
A reader asked me if I was the same as another author/user on Wattpad. I checked out this person's profile and read their story and I think I went through every emotion that has a name and some that do not. From the terminology used to certain situations, there was no doubt this person cut and pasted parts of my story into their own. That's called plagiarism.
Writers should be aware of the TEN types of plagiarism out there to keep themselves out of trouble. It's more than just copying someone's work word for word. It's taking parts of their story and pasting it into your own. It's replacing similar words with synonyms to make it seem like your own. It's even recycling YOUR OWN work. The site below has a list of the ten types of plagiarism complete with examples.
https://www.ed.ac.uk/files/atoms/files/10-types-of-plagiarism.pdf
The writer I mentioned is guilty of the top three forms of plagiarism which are considered the most severe in academic settings. What if it was an accident? There are a lot of young writers on wattpad. They didn't know. I would buy that if the summary and terminology and meeting circumstances of the two love interests weren't damn near word for word the same. And you're not likely to find 'bond promise rings' in your google search so how come this person gave their future spouse a 'promise bond ring'?
In my children's schools they were drilled about plagiarism in 8th grade and it followed them through high school. I don't know about the educational system in other countries but I'm sure by middle school kids know what plagiarism is and what not to do.
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How to Irk a Reader as a Writer
HumorJust random thoughts about things that writers do that irk me as a reader. Fueled by caffeine, lack of sleep, or reaction to something I've read. Take none of this serious! Be offended at your own risk.
