Plagiarism or "Hey, I wrote that"

[Writing North Idaho's Brilliant Beginnings contest is open for submissions. Write a comedic, interesting, arresting, tragic, engaging first line for a short story or book. There is no entry fee. Neither your name nor email address will be known to the judging panel. Quick, fun, and maybe profitable! See more information at upper left corner of this blog page.]

Plagiarism is passing off someone else’s work, ideas, thoughts, opinions, theories, statistics, facts, drawings, or paraphrasing the same. There are 5 common forms of plagiarisms:

1. Duplicating another’s words or phrases, etc. without identifying the speaker or author, or not using quotation marks.

2. Same as #1 except including quotation marks.

3. Using another’s ideas by paraphrasing them without noting sources.

4. Submit, enter or sell as your own work by merely rearranging words and/or phrases without footnotes.

5. Intentional or unintentional, ignorance of the law is no defense.

The devil is in the details, however. According to copyright laws established in 1989, works are now protected with or without the copyright symbol; they are considered intellectual property. As long as the material can be shown to belong to someone other than you, even though altered but similar to the original form, without acknowledgement, it is considered plagiarism. Copyright laws do not protect facts considered “common knowledge.” Common knowledge is defined loosely as information generally known or known by a large group of people, e.g.,

Another gray area is “public domain.” This often, but not always, means intellectual property that “belongs” to the public and can therefore be used freely. There are variations of law depending on copyright laws in different countries as well as patents and trademarks. It is best to check with an attorney.

The punishments are of varying degrees often depending upon the venue and the amount of material copied. The greater the amount of material copied the greater the punishment can be. Most cases are considered misdemeanors bringing fines between $100 and $50,000 and can be accompanied by up to one year in jail. Generally, your offense is considered a felony if you earn more than about $2,500. The punishment could be upwards of $250,000 and ten years jail time. In a business situation, the punishment is usually not of the prosecutorial kind (unless sued by the original author). It takes the form of a demotion, denial of promotions, monetary fine or firing. In the academic world, the punishment is often meted out by the professor which can result in a failing grade, failing the course or, under the auspices of the dean’s office, expulsion from the college or university. The easy use of the Internet has increased the instances of plagiarism manyfold in all venues

There are a few ways to protect yourself from prosecution of plagiarism.

** Avoid plagiarizing by understanding what constitutes plagiarism.

**When taking notes from various sources for your writing, clearly identify anything that is not in the public domain or not in your original words and thoughts.

**Keep all your notes, electronic, recorded and penned, in several backups in various venues; back up your computer file each time under a different name, e.g., essay plagerism-1, essay plagerism-2, etc. This will give you a paper and time trail to strengthen your case should you be charged or you wish to charge someone else with plagiarism.

**Check the style manuals for the organization for which you are writing as to how to format your written word. APA is the American Psychological Association used primarily in liberal arts settings, ACS (American Chemical Association) for writing in the science field, AP and Chicago styles for general writing. Publishing houses and business often have in-house guidelines they wish authors to follow.

Charles Dickens in A Tale of Two Cities, began his book, “It was the best of times…” If you fail to properly credit your sources in your writing, it could easily become, “…the worst of times."

(Disclaimer: this author does not represent the material in the essay to be thought of as legal knowledge or advice under any terms or conditions.) http://definitions.uslegal.com/p/plagiarism; www.wikipedia.com; www.plagerism.org

Common Sayings Rooted in Religion

Many of our sayings are biblical in origin. Has their recent meaning stayed true to their original intent? Most have, but not all.

Salt of the earth: The best people, especially those most dependable. It had a slightly different mean in Matthew 5:13. Jesus describes his apostles as being “the salt of the earth.” In Jesus’ time, salt was used to preserve and purify. Therefore, disciples were to help mortal souls become purified and preserve their religious beliefs.

Seventh heaven: State of blissful happiness. Jews recognize seven heavens; the highest was the seventh and was the home of God. Muslims also believe in seven heavens. Seven is the place of divine light and pure happiness.

Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak: Even though we may want to say no to something tempting, our bodies cannot resist it. Jesus says to the apostles before he goes to the Garden of Gethsemane, “Watch and pray you do not enter into temptation: the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:41.

Drop in the bucket: A very small portion of the whole. "Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he takes up the isles as a very little thing." Isaiah 40:15

Do not cast pearls before swine: Do not offer something of value to those who cannot appreciate it. “Neither cast you your pearls before swine.” Matthew 7:6. The biblical text is generally interpreted to be a warning by Jesus to his followers that they should not offer doctrine to those who were unable to value and appreciate it.

There is nothing new under the sun: Everything that has been done will be done again; everything that has happened will happen again. "What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done. There is nothing new under the sun." Ecclesiastes 1:9

The handwriting is on the wall: Disaster or danger is imminent (without handwriting in modern times.) “In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another.” Daniel 5:5-6

Bats in the belfry: Crazy, mentally ill. The upper part of church, the belfry, is often known as the brain of the church. Bats clutter or fly around it when distracted by the bell like confused thoughts in a disorder mind.

Land of Nod: Sleep. People sometimes nod their heads if they drop off to sleep while sitting up. Nod is mythical place but has its origin in Genesis in a much angrier context when God is chastising Cain after Cain kills his brother. “And the Lord said unto him, 'Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.' And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.” Genesis 4:16

In the blink of an eye: When something happens very quickly. In the New Testament, Paul talks about what will happen when Jesus Christ returns to earth, saying, “We shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. The trumpet will sound and the dead rise and we will all be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:52

Kiss of death: Something that is ultimately ruinous, destructive, or fatal. This is an allusion to the scene where Judas approaches Jesus and tries to give Jesus a kiss to identify him to the Temple guards coming to arrest him. Jesus sees Judas and stops him by asking: "Judas, are you betraying the son of man with a kiss?" Luke 22:47-48

A multitude of sins: A number of undesirable actions. “Above all hold unfailing your love fore one another, since love covers a multitude of sins.” Peter 4:8

Chapter and verse: Detailed information. This refers to the bible as the ultimate authority.

The ends of the earth: A long way away; the farthest one can go. “And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the war horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the nations: and his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.” Zechariah 9:10

Words We Choose

The moving commemorations of the disaster of the bombing of the World Trade Centers, the Pentagon and the crash of United Airlines flight 93 in Pennsylvania played out on television yesterday brought back vivid memories of the horror we saw unfolding that terrible day. What will children, not yet born, write 30 years from now about the terrorist acts carried out on 9/11/2001? Will they be able to retell stories of families directly affected by these acts of terror? Will they be able to discern our disgust and fears? Will they understand the rebirth of patriotism that followed? How will they know these things?

Our duty as writers is to write down facts or tell a true story so truthfully and with such erudite choice of words that the reader, who may know nothing about the event, can sense our aching hearts, our anger, disgust, shock, fear, patriotism and incomprehension at what occurred. While writing we need to examine exactly what happened, research the hows and whys, and understand what we want to say when we write. We should think of our potential audience and write in ways that convey the feelings as well as the facts of a particular incident. We need to recreate in the reader’s mind the events as they unfolded, people’s reaction to them at the time and what impact this incident left on our consciousness.

Thesauri are helpful to find the right words; they can tell us synonyms for disgust such as abhor, loathe, and abominate. Do we really mean to write that the actions of the terrorists made us despise or abhor those responsible or do we mean to say that we disliked them or found them intolerable? These words carry slightly different impacts from each other although all are listed in a thesaurus as a synonym for ‘disgust.’ Did I dislike the terrorists? No, I abhorred them! Were their actions intolerable? No, they were repugnant, vile, foul.

Choosing the correct word should tell a future reader exactly what Americans felt during 9/11 or ten years later. The words should tell the readers the awe we all felt when the first person landed on the moon. Did we watch with pleasure, with wonderment, with admiration or with disbelief? Exactly what did we feel? How did we feel and act when the Berlin Wall went down or the polio vaccine was first given? How are people in the future going to know exactly how things were unless we choose our words carefully? The retelling of an event or an experience is sometimes the easy part. The hard part is determining words that elicit the exact feeling or picture we are trying to recreate.

THINGS TO DO TODAY

1. Walk the dog.

2. Make coffee.

3. Enter Writing North Idaho's BRILLIANT BEGINNINGS contest (see details in upper left corner of this page.)

4. Write!

Victoriously Persistent

Today's guest post is from Jan Cline. Jan is a freelance writer, aspiring author and speaker from Spokane. She is director of the Inland Northwest Christian Writers Conference held in March each year. She writes Inspirational Historical Romance and non-fiction. Visit her website at www.jancline.net. The conference website is www.inlandnwchristianwriters.com.

My husband and I stayed in Lewiston, Idaho, recently. We drove down the Snake River along the Washington side, heading toward Hell’s Canyon. The farther we traveled, the more interesting the terrain. I couldn’t help but notice the tenaciousness of the river--carving its way through the canyon with determination. There is something about nature that teaches us truths for our lives, our dreams and ambitions, don’t you think?

I was reminded of a quote by Oswald Chambers:

“A river is victoriously persistent, it overcomes all barriers. For a while it goes steadily on its course, then it comes to an obstacle and for a while it is baulked, but it soon makes a pathway round the obstacle. Or a river will drop out of sight for miles, and presently emerge again broader and grander than ever. Never get your eyes on the obstacle or on the difficulty. The obstacle is a matter of indifference to the river . . . .”

Isn’t this true of our writing journey? Our imagination births an idea and we write it. But the path we take after that is sometimes daunting. We flow along, winding down the canyon until we meet an obstacle. It may be a manuscript rejection or a harsh critique, or a disappointing reaction from a loved who read our latest masterpiece. That boulder of discouragement looks like it will block our path-—dam up the whole process.

Then we find a way around the obstruction by learning from the rejections, critiques and emotions. We keep going, making our way to the ocean of our dreams. Our mission is to become like the river—-undaunted by the obstacle. The twists and turns we make are part of the path we are meant to follow, even when we don’t know which direction we’ll go next.

I never could have imagined that I would detour my writing journey to become founder and director of a writers conference. It was a bend in the river that took me by surprise. But I knew it was my chance to facilitate other writers to fulfill their dreams. My personal journey has profited in the process as well.

I hope you’ll imagine yourself to be a river of words and imagination. Don’t let the obstacles become barriers. Just go around them and stay on the journey. The ocean is waiting to be fed.

Blessings,
Jan

Book Review: The Accidental Creative

I stumbled upon an intriguing book recently called The Accidental Creative: How to Be Brilliant at a Moment's Notice by Todd Henry. How could I pass up something with a title like that?

The book is actually written for creatives who work in a corporate setting, like an advertising agency or the marketing department of a company--people who are expected to produce creative, high quality work on demand, day in and day out, and for those who manage them. However, I found much of the information applicable to those of us who are self-employed or who may not work for a larger organization, but who still want to produce the best-quality writing we can, as often as we can.

Henry's basic premise is that creativity is rhythmic, not a constant stream. We are not machines, and we should respect that rhythm. Just as our creative juices ebb and flow, so should the way we approach our work. After discussing some of the things that interrupt or block our creativity, he presents a fresh approach: literally, F.R.E.S.H., which stands for Focus, Relationships, Energy, Stimuli, and Hours.

Focus is just what it sounds like: concentrated time to establish priorities and focus on what's most important.

Relationships refers to those alliances that support our creativity, purposely forming "circles" and "core teams" for brainstorming and accountability (in our case, a critique partner? a writing group? a reading group?)

Energy means maintaining physical and mental energy. Henry advises us to maximize our natural energy through, among other things, carefully planning and pruning our activities and commitments.

Stimuli includes scheduling regular, purposeful time to absorb books, podcasts, videos, and other media with the stated goal of supporting our creative work, not just being entertained, and

Hours means being wise about scheduling our time, especially making time for things that others might consider wasteful or slacking, like "idea time" and "unnecessary creating."

Henry, of course, does a much better and more thorough job than I do of fleshing all this out in detail. If you struggle at all with maintaining your creative edge, I encourage you to visit the web site and read the book.

Labor Day: On Writing About Work

"And the first thing they did was segregate me. They segregated me from the only person in the place I had even a speaking acquaintance with; that was a girl I had met going down the hall who said to me: 'Are you as scared as I am?' And when I said, 'Yes,' she said, 'I'm in lingerie, what are you in?' and I thought for a while and then said, 'Spun glass,' which was as good an answer as I could think of, and she said, 'Oh. Well, I'll meet you here in a sec.' And she went away and was segregated and I never saw her again."

That's the first paragraph of the first short story published by the legendary Shirley Jackson (of "The Lottery" fame). Titled "My Life with R. H. Macy," the story describes in a hilarious way the narrator's first day as a new sales clerk at New York's legendary Macy's department store. You can read the rest of it here.

Why did I begin a post on "Writing North Idaho" with a quote from a solidly East Coast author? Because it is one of the best examples I know of writing about a job, which is what I'd like to encourage all of you writers to tackle this Labor Day: writing about work.

Think back over your own employment history. Surely there's at least one job that would lend itself to a story, be it funny, or poignant, or startling. Draw on all your five senses to put yourself back in that office, or that sawmill, or that greasy spoon where you waitressed in college. What was it like to sell encyclopedias door-to-door, or to work on an assembly line, or to teach fifth-graders? Was there a lesson you learned there, a slice of human drama you witnessed?

Write it down. It doesn't matter whether it's a journal entry or essay or fictionalized as a short story--nobody's going to fact-check, at least not until you publish it and make millions. Just write down what you remember, and see what comes of it. And as you do, take time think about what it has meant to you to be a part of the American labor force.

Can you think of any other literary examples you've appreciated of people writing about their jobs?

While you're at it, what do you think of Jackson's opening line, "And the first thing they did was segregate me"? We bloggers at WNI encourage you to start noticing and paying special attention to first lines, to prepare you to write your own great first lines and submit them to our "Brilliant Beginnings" contest! it's a lot of fun, and prizes are in store for the best first lines. Read all about it here, then send your top 3 sentences to wnicontest@gmail.com by October 15. Good luck!

Brilliant Beginnings First Line Contest

The first line of a novel is like the first four notes of Beethoven's Fifth: everything else follows from it. – Author Crawford Kilian

Every writer knows the importance of that first line. Whether long or short, that first line has a big job to do. It must hook your readers and be powerful enough to tempt an agent or editor to keep reading.

Now is your chance to write that perfect first line. The first place winner will receive a $30 cash prize. The winning entry will also be used as the first line in a story contest at a later date.

$30 CASH PRIZE TO FIRST PLACE WINNER

2nd & 3rd Place Prizes

NO COST TO ENTER!

Contest Rules

Write the most compelling first line ever then send it to us.

1. This contest is open to all writers and readers except those associated with WritingNorthIdaho.blogspot.com.

2. The contest will end on October 15. Winners will be posted on October 31.

3. You must sign up as a Follower on our blog to enter.

4. Your line must be your original work.

5. You may make up to 3 entries.

6. Your entries should be sent to wnicontest@gmail.com and must include your name.

7. All entries will be posted.

8. Entries will be posted as verbatim, typos and all.

9. We reserve the right to refuse any entries considered unacceptable to a general audience.

10. Published writers will judge the contest.

Some Great First Lines for Inspiration

Call me Ishmael. Moby-Dick, Herman Melville, 1851.

This is the saddest story I have ever heard. The Good Soldier, Ford Madox Ford, 1915.

Mother died today. The Stranger, Albert Camus 1942.

Every summer Lin Kong returned to Goose Village to divorce his wife, Shuyu. Waiting, Ha Jin, 1999.

They shoot the white girl first. Paradise, Toni Morrison, 1998.

Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston, 1937.

I have never begun a novel with more misgiving. The Razor’s Edge, W. Somerset Maugham, 1944.

In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1925.

Once upon a time, there was a woman who discovered she had turned into the wrong person. Back When We Were Grownups, Anne Tyler, 2001.

When I finally caught up with Abraham Trahearne, he was drinking beer with an alcoholic bulldog named Fireball Roberts in a ramshackle joint just outside of Sonoma, California, drinking the heart right out of a fine spring afternoon. The Last Kiss Goodnight, James Crumley, 1978.

Of all the things that drive men to sea, the most common disaster, I’ve come to learn, is women. Middle Passage, Charles Johnson, 1990.

The cold passed reluctantly from the earth, and the retiring fogs revealed an army stretched out on the hills, resting. The Red Badge of Courage, Stephen Crane, 1895.

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen – 1813