Comments on: A DISTANT SOIL: The Ascendant Chapter 4 Page 4

By: Colleen Doran

Colleen Doran — Tue, 07 Mar 2017 05:09:01 +0000

UPDATED

By: Colleen

Colleen — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 21:33:40 +0000

But Marina, you can’t steal an idea! LOL!

By: Marina

Marina — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 21:21:32 +0000

I still think its a very pretty page. I love the detail. I’m sorry you had your idea stolen like that.

By: scribblerworks

scribblerworks — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 19:27:00 +0000

“Nice lecture from JMS”…. LOL. Come on, Colleen. I’ve heard him talk about writing! He doesn’t pull punches.

😀

By: Colleen

Colleen — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 18:59:33 +0000

You got it. It’s a terrible habit.

I got a very nice lecture from JMS about this awhile back.

By: Arlnee

Arlnee — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 18:41:53 +0000

oh I thought it was just me! Yeah, the minute I tell someone about this great scene I came up with or whatnot, it’s like it already exists and I don’t need to create it and it definitely takes the air out of the balloon. So, okay, it’s not just me. Oh yay.

It’s kind of like going up to someone and saying “it’s May but I bought your Christmas present, wanna see it?” :-/

By: Colleen

Colleen — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 18:13:03 +0000

And not even those.

I realize some people don’t mean any harm, but they manage without even trying sometimes.

And this is important: sometimes the act of telling your story can give you the satisfaction of creation without putting forth the serious effort of placing that creation in fixed form and finishing it.

It’s best not to talk about your story too much. It’s a catharsis. It is better to live with the discomfort of the secret inside you than it is to blab too soon, drain your energy, and see someone else walk off with it…and gloat about it later.

By: Arlnee

Arlnee — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 18:04:06 +0000

oh yeah. Trusted a good friend/roommate with a lot of stuff. Then saw her turn them all into filksongs. And perform them. And then get the “can’t copyright ideas nyah nyah” thing thrown in my face.

The only ones I trust right now are the ones who DO NOT WRITE ANYTHING EVER.

By: Colleen

Colleen — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 15:53:34 +0000

Yeah, I told Jeff Smith too, but I absolutely trust Jeff. And you know what Jeff said to me? “You need to keep this quiet! Don’t tell ANYONE!”

But I did because I am an idiot.

By: scribblerworks

scribblerworks — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 15:19:53 +0000

It’s a fine line to walk. Because we do sometimes need sounding-boards to test stories. But you have to trust the person you do it with. I have a couple of friends I can do it with — the types of stories they like to write are different than most of the ones I want to write, so we’re unlikely to be stealing each other’s ideas.

And it’s possible to be genuinely inspired by the work of a friend, and have echoes of that show up in one’s own work.

But of course, that is different than flat out lifting a story idea from a friend’s work and running with it, because [begin sarcasm] YOU can make something SO MUCH BETTER from the idea than your friend can. [end sarcasm]

But yeah… not fun being upstaged by someone running away with your own idea.