Freelance Writing Blog

Worthy Tip: Reuse, Recycle, Repeat

Posted on by lwidmer

Ever get those days you think you worked three times harder than others, but accomplished half? That was my yesterday. Got a client project done in the morning, but like bad Chinese food, it repeated on me twice. Minor stuff, but it made me realize that reminding clients to send all information ahead of time…

Time to Take Up Juggling

Posted on by lwidmer

Yesterday was much more productive than I expected. I finished a smallish project in the morning, then devoted the afternoon to research and outlining an article. A large project due in a few weeks ago has a delivery date – I should see it by the end of the week/Monday of next week. That gave…

How to Blog Like You Mean It

Posted on by lwidmer

Today’s a busy one. Plenty of work came in – none of it from my marketing efforts but plenty from older contacts. You never know. I had a conversation with a few folks about bloggers and trust. We came to the same conclusion; there are some people who ruin it for themselves. Blogging isn’t rocket…

Friday Weirdness

Posted on by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: Into the Mystic by Van Morrison Why am I so glad Friday is here? It wasn’t a tough week by any means. I may be working today in an attempt to finish up a smaller project in order to get going on the massive one due in any moment. At any…

Losing the Career-by-numbers Approach

Posted on by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: She’s Mine by Brett Dennen Got a post up over at About Freelance Writing. Check it out! If you know me, you know I love Lisa Gates and think she practically invented life coaching. In her latest Craving Balance post, Lisa says this: “If you don’t study the masters, you’ll continue…

Worthy Tip: Upping Your Game

Posted on by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: You and Your Heart by Jack Johnson Yesterday was one of those rare days – ones I used to dread, but now am thankful for. There was a lull in the work. Nothing due, nothing coming in that needed immediate attention. That was my cue – I grabbed the laptop and…

The No-wait Policy

Posted on by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: Thunder Road by Bruce Springsteen Super weekend. I know it’s Tuesday, but when you have a nice time off that lasts into part of the week, that’s a good thing. We met with a friend on Saturday for some bonding time and support during a rough period in her life. She’s…

Monthly Assessment – July 2010

Posted on by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: Mustang Sally by The Commitments I’m still in denial about July being gone. It didn’t end well, with a few frustrating moments brought on by people I suspect are fussing to get out of payment. I’ll drop them once again, only this time for good. I don’t play games, and these…

Why Writing is Sometimes Like Spaghetti Squash

Posted on by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: Something Good by The Airborne Toxic Event Back when big hair and shoulder pads were necessary accessories, Oprah and her personal chef put out this cookbook. The premise – if this woman could make Oprah skinny, she can make you skinny, too. In the cookbook was a recipe that used spaghetti…

Trust in God, But Lock Your Keyboard

Posted on by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: Karma by Alicia KeysWhat I’m reading: The Skull Beneath the Skin by P. D. James Yesterday I managed to get an article draft completed and worked a little on a press release project. I was able to get ahead of the work as I’m expecting a large project to come in…

Yo Prinzel

Well, if your own ethical code isn't enough to stop you from doing something like this you should remember–there are only 6 degrees of separation between most people and in the age of Twitter, I think that's lessening quite a bit. People see this stuff happening–they get the query in their feed from the original writer and then the next day see that someone else has covered it. They aren't stupid, they'll put it together and you'll ruin your good reputation–which you shouldn't have anyway if you pull this kind of stuff.

BTW–using the royal "you" here. Whatever that means.

Irreverent Freelancer

I don't write for magazines, but I'm always reluctant to share even vague ideas for short stories, novels, etc. with writerly types I don't know well. You can't copyright ideas, so once it's out there it's really anyone's for the taking. As Yo pointed out, integrity should prevent this, but we all know not everyone holds themselves up to very high ethical standards. I don't know how someone can live with themselves and feel good about it when they've stolen someone else's idea, but it happens every day.

Jenn Mattern

This is a downside of writing in the social media niche for me, and just had this happen. Crowdsourcing and getting feedback via social media tools is pretty common. But of course there's the occasional douche who sees what you're gathering feedback on and says "oooh, I think I'll write about that b/c I don't have an original bone in my body!"

Fortunately as Yo pointed out, people really do notice these things (and often point them out to the original person mentioning the idea). They're not half as clever as they think they are. For example, in the past I had someone do something like this and then go in and change their post date on their blog to make it look like they did something first. (Are people really that dumb?) Fortunately everything is time-stamped these days. You can't change or delete things — not really. RSS readers still show when the post actually went out. And when it comes to the deletion issue some folks forget people can subscribe via email (even if you don't offer that option on-site), and those emails with your posts still exist as a record.

I just have no patience for unethical types at all — not the ones who steal others' ideas, not the ones who sell out for a quick buck, not the ones who delete posts and comments just because they realized they were completely hypocritical or someone dared to disagree with them, not the ones who use people constantly while bitching when people ask them for something. None of it.

Lori

Yo, I think that's true. If your own reputation isn't enough to stop you from acting foolish (royal "you" – love that!) and taking ideas that could harm another writer's career, you're not going to care. If a writer knows he/she is taking someone else's idea and still does it, that's telling about the person doing the taking, isn't it? It takes a pretty low individual, in my opinion.

Kathy, I can only think that those are the same people who would take someone else's article and "rewrite" it in order to earn a few measly bucks. That itself is theft, in my opinion. Ideas can't be copyrighted, but damn if it isn't completely unethical and downright rotten to take someone else's query or idea and trump them. I couldn't live with myself. But again, as you said, not everyone shares the same standards.

I'd actually seen an article in a magazine that was so similar to a blog post here it was uncanny. Was it a coincidence? Maybe. The ideas were pretty common. But I literally said to myself WTF when I read it.

Lori

True, Jenn. I think anyone who has to change a date knows exactly what he/she is doing and is even more culpable as a result. Are people really this stupid?

You said this happened to you recently. How did that turn out? Did it hurt you with clients?

That is pretty lame about the time stamped post subscriptions. You're right. I've had to go back and edit a post or two, but the mistakes still show up in the subscriber link because they went out before I caught the mistake.

Paula

A long time ago I told a writer friend about a big interview I'd just done (a guy who sold his dot-com start-up for several million dollars). Shortly thereafter, one of my editors told me about a new business publication that paid really well. She'd done a couple of articles for them, and could vouch that they were reliable. So I pitched the biz pub a piece about that dot-com guy. Their immediate response was: How funny. One of our writers, who is from the same small town as you, just pitched us the exact same idea, and we assigned it. When I asked her about it, she denied that I ever told her about my great interview (then why do I remember our conversation?). I gave her the benefit of the doubt, that she didn't overtly steal the idea, but subliminally co-opted it.

I didn't know which was more infuriating: the "friend" pitching them my idea as if it were her own, or keeping the juicy new market from me for several months when we had an agreement to share market tips. I won out in the end. She couldn't secure the necessary interview, but I went on to write several pieces for that market.

With one of my regular markets, there's another writer who is on the same wavelength as me. At first I wondered why she had so many articles similar to ideas I'd pitched, or was about to pitch. Then we had a conference call and it was clear: she and I share the same brain. We have very similar interests that influence the types of stories we pitch. The differences come in the nuances. Sometimes I'll read one of her articles and think, "Wow – that's a totally different take than I had in mind." Thank goodness the editor has a policy that when two similar ideas come across her desk, the assignment goes to the writer who sent it in first.

Lori

Paula, that first writer is one scheming, nasty person. I would understand if she heard it, forgot about it, then pitched the idea unaware. However, it sounds as though she's spent way too much time denying it to think it was a mistake.

I've had situations in which another writer and I share the same visions. I write in a pretty selected specialty and it would only stand to reason we'd have similar if not identical ideas. Nothing heinous there!

I remember being at a party and another writer was telling me her killer idea for a book. It really is fantastic. She'll never write the story. Neither will I – I couldn't do that to another writer. I didn't come up with it, so it's not mine to work with, in my opinion.

Jenn Mattern

It was related to a client piece, but no it didn't hurt me with clients. I have a log of ideas I get approved by the client ahead of time. So I just pushed that post off. More time to make it infinitely better than their garbage anyway. And those who matter already know how the other article came about. Didn't really hurt me at all.

As for rewrites being theft… not just your opinion… it's the law. Copyright law (here in the US at least) clearly makes a derivative work infringement if the "rewriter" doesn't get the copyright holder's permission. You can't just change some words around and legally call it yours. Thankfully.

Lori

Glad you were able to recover from that, Jenn. It's pretty freakin' appalling that someone would have to resort to swiping ideas anyway. If it harmed you and continued, I'd be seeking legal advice.

My writer friend mentioned in the original post hasn't seen his business drop off as a result, but what concerns me is that the theft might draw the impression that it was HE and not the other writer who did the thieving. He was trumped, no doubt. But he was also first with the idea and the other writer had no business going ahead with the story knowing full well he/she wasn't the originator of the idea.

True on the rewrites – I've been vocal against these "fast-fivers" – articles that pay a whopping five bucks – because the only way a writer can make a buck is to write a ton of articles per hour, which leads a lot of them to stealing other articles and "rewriting" them. If it's not yours in the first place and it's your only source, you're stealing. AP Stylebook has a section on plagiarism that all writers need to read and memorize.