Where do you draw the line between inspiration and plagerism?

[Deadman]

I’ve been thinking about the fact that I have been inspired by a number of the stories on the site to add some stuff to stories I’ve written. Things I’ve seen on stories where characters are doing stuff to each other give me the idea to do something in my own. Not necessarily just for the site itself but also in the context of the site.

There are a few where I actually kinda want to write a new chapter cause the story hasn’t updated in forever but I know, having gone through the site and forum about the whole “adopt a story” part that this isn’t something I can do.

I’ve also discussed this with other fanfic writers elsewhere and many people seem to have been inspired by other stuff they read. My first story from many years ago that isn’t on this site was inspired by a fanfic that I read which made me a fan of the pairing.

 

[BronxWench]

For me, inspiration comes from the strangest of places, and that can indeed include something I’ve read.

The key, though, is the definition of plagiarism. The Grammarly blog has a good post about plagiarism:  https://www.grammarly.com/blog/types-of-plagiarism/  The thing to keep in mind is that there are common tropes shared by many stories and novels, and certain genres of writing tend to follow a very similar pattern (such as mysteries, or horror fiction). So, just deciding that you really liked that pairing, and want to write something yourself in that fandom for that pairing doesn’t constitute plagiarism. If you put that pairing in the exact same scenario, with the same events, then you’re crossing the line. 

[Deadman]

47 minutes ago, BronxWench said:

For me, inspiration comes from the strangest of places, and that can indeed include something I’ve read.

The key, though, is the definition of plagiarism. The Grammarly blog has a good post about plagiarism:  https://www.grammarly.com/blog/types-of-plagiarism/  The thing to keep in mind is that there are common tropes shared by many stories and novels, and certain genres of writing tend to follow a very similar pattern (such as mysteries, or horror fiction). So, just deciding that you really liked that pairing, and want to write something yourself in that fandom for that pairing doesn’t constitute plagiarism. If you put that pairing in the exact same scenario, with the same events, then you’re crossing the line. 

Oh for sure, being inspired by a story to write your own isn’t necessarily plagiarism. For instance, the story I refer to that I wrote inspired by another involved a character having amnesia but the story was AU from main canon. So I wrote a story where that same character got amnesia but intergrated canon.

[Desiderius Price]

1 hour ago, Deadman said:

I’ve also discussed this with other fanfic writers elsewhere and many people seem to have been inspired by other stuff they read. My first story from many years ago that isn’t on this site was inspired by a fanfic that I read which made me a fan of the pairing.

My first fanfic, the one that got me hooked on writing, isn’t coming to AFF because it was inspired by another fanfiction.  My head was full of ideas of where it ought to go—thankfully I didn’t message that author with where their story ought to go.  I began to sketch things out, immediately wrestled the narrative into my own story, and I’ve not stopped.  Like any other fanfiction, I credited the original (and that other fanfic) for inspiration, cobbled together some badly written prose, kept their names for Mr. & Mrs. Granger, kept the name for what might’ve been a Mary Sue muggle that Harry spent his entire fifth year Christmas Holiday...snogging.

It’s sequel is the one I’m still working on, and that’s so different that it’s definitely mine.  (Outside of the name for Harry’s GF.)

[Desiderius Price]

7 minutes ago, Deadman said:

Oh for sure, being inspired by a story to write your own isn’t necessarily plagiarism. For instance, the story I refer to that I wrote inspired by another involved a character having amnesia but the story was AU from main canon. So I wrote a story where that same character got amnesia but intergrated canon.

Still, give that other author/fanfic a shout-out for inspiration.  Always good to know when one story inspires another.

[Deadman]

1 hour ago, Desiderius Price said:

Still, give that other author/fanfic a shout-out for inspiration.  Always good to know when one story inspires another.

Absolutely. I think I did when I originally posted it. But it was before any sites like this existed. Or at least before I was aware of them and they’re now gone.

However, there are also stories that I’ve read here where they’ve posted a couple chapters and the last chapter set up something fun that didn’t end up happening. The story just stops, and I can’t get the idea of what would’ve happened next out of my head. Sometimes I even write down some plot bunnies of what would’ve happened.

But I know if I were to write the actual story I wouldn’t be able to post. At least based on the way the “Adopt a Story” section explains it. So I’m starting to think about how I could write it differently to make it more my own and not dependent on the story that inspired it.

[Desiderius Price]

19 minutes ago, Deadman said:

However, there are also stories that I’ve read here where they’ve posted a couple chapters and the last chapter set up something fun that didn’t end up happening. The story just stops, and I can’t get the idea of what would’ve happened next out of my head. Sometimes I even write down some plot bunnies of what would’ve happened.

Abandoned stories are so frustrating.  This was very common when I first delved into the realm of potter fanfic, because of the number that would get dropped whenever a new book was released.  I think my current potter fanfic (the sequel) is an exception to that trend. 

22 minutes ago, Deadman said:

But I know if I were to write the actual story I wouldn’t be able to post. At least based on the way the “Adopt a Story” section explains it. So I’m starting to think about how I could write it differently to make it more my own and not dependent on the story that inspired it.

On AFF, it’s quite clear, you’d need explicit permission from the author of that other story relayed to the mods here.

[Deadman]

4 hours ago, Desiderius Price said:

Abandoned stories are so frustrating.  This was very common when I first delved into the realm of potter fanfic, because of the number that would get dropped whenever a new book was released.  I think my current potter fanfic (the sequel) is an exception to that trend. 

On AFF, it’s quite clear, you’d need explicit permission from the author of that other story relayed to the mods here.

Yes, I read that in the “Adopt a Story” section. But I’m thinking of it in terms of inspiration. I’m not even entirely sure that I could contact the original authors if I wanted to. Though I’m open to the attempt.

Instead I’m thinking in terms of what I mention with @BronxWench. The story would be inspired by the other author’s work but not an adoption, in the same way that my first fanfic was inspired by an AU story in a fandom I love where a character gets amnesia. It inspired me to write an in canon scenario where the same character gets amnesia.

In fact, theoretically, I could tie it into a story I’ve already written. I wrote a story in which one character becomes essentially goddess of the universe, able to manipulate reality to their whim. Ultimately a multiverse was created out of the conclusion to the story. I could just say “Here’s a version of reality where this happens” and write that.