hey all you amazing writers out there...i need your help.

[chlarks_cupid]

hey guys, im in the middle of writing a novel, but all my ideas seem to turn out like stories/books that have already been published out,i dont know it just seems that way to me, like im not coming up with anything origional and im like scraed that its going to be copyrighted and stuff you know if its the same, its just really getting me down, i

Comments

[pen37]

I attend a lot of Science Fiction conventions to network and promote my books, and at one of the panels I attended I was told this. Once, there was an editor who classified everythign he read as either Cinderella or snow white. He bought the cinderella stories, and rejected the snow white stories.

Remember Romeo and Juliet? Based on a greek story. Pyramus and Thisbe. Wicked? Based on the Wizard of Oz.

After centuries of storytelling, there really isn't an original story. It's the way in which you tell the story that makes it fresh and new. Try to look for a new angle on an old story.

For inspiration, I read. Folklore from other cultures, books on writing, other books and short stories in my genre. Even research for other stories that I'm writing can get recycled into a new story.

The way copywrite in this country works is thus: You don't have to copywrite something. If you created it, if it's an original work, then you automatically own the rights to it.

If you sell the work (for an anthology or literary magazine or such) then you are actually selling a portion of your rights for a period of time. depending on the contract you sign, the rights revert back to you.

After you've been dead for a period of time, the rights pass out of the hands of your decendants and into public domain. That's why Shakespeare can be put on by anyone. But if you want to put on a Neil Simon play, you have to pay for the rights to do so.

If you publish your work on the internet, then it's considered 'published.' Which is why I dont' put my original fiction up for people to read, because most magainzes want to buy first rights, not reprint rights. They don't want something that's been 'published' on the internet.

Copywrite right now is the same for artwork, but there's some legislation in Congress right now that might change that.

More on that here:
http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=pageone&article_no=3605&page=1

[chlarks_cupid]

thankyou sooo much, this has really helped me! i mean thanks a bunch :)
your stories are amazing and you are a really great fiction writer. thankyou so much xx

(( hugs you back)) ")