Diversion from FP
For someone who spends most of the day on the computer I really should be better at fiddling around with online stuff, but guess I'm not quite as adept as I thought. Hmmm. Well, it'll probably take me some time to get used to LJ (I've gotten so used to Blogspot over the last few years), but hopefully things will pick up soon.
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To be honest I never really had the intention of setting up an account on LJ. But given the recent flood (no, make that avalanche) of plagiarism on FP, I have to agree that it's high time to stop posting on so open a site, and turn towards a more private and screened network of writers/readers. It's really saddening/disappointing that many of the best writers on FP have left due to the despicable acts of plagiarisers. The practical/cynical side of me says, 'hey, plagiarism is and has been an undeniably ugly fact of the writing/academic world -- let's face it, anti-plagiarism rules wouldn't be in place in schools otherwise', but the optimistic side of me is truly saddened and sickened by the lack of morals on the parts of such word-stealers. As such, I'd really like to lend my support to all the FP writers who have been affected, and hope that Samantha Nicole, JD Allen and the others who wish to seek legal action against the plagiarisers succeed in doing so.
Plagiarism.
It's an ugly word and act to begin with. And I've gotten really really sick and tired of seeing the same word thrown around time and time again. Initially, it was only a couple of known cases on FP and in my academic field (sad to say, I was one of the victims because this girl in my class took one of my essays, summarised it, and presented the work as her own -- thankfully she didn't get away with it), then it became the 'It' word for one of my Creative Writing classes, and now it looks like the FP community has been hit, big-time, by Hurricane P.
In a way I'm glad that so many writers have banded togeher to take a firm and decisive stand to put a stop to plagiarism, in spite of the doubtlessly countless protests and heartaches from the readers. Will it work? I don't know, but I think for the time being it will definitely help to keep out lazy plagarisers who happen to chance upon a fine piece of writing and claim it for their own purposes. As a long-term solution... well, only time will tell (and I'm trying to keep optimistic about this!).
I'm again doubly glad that all the affected FP writers are still willing to place their trust in a more select group of writers/readers and continue posting online. In time to come, perhaps we will all look back upon this as a painful but beneficial learning experience and create an even better community of Expression outside FP.
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As a side note: Since it's summer break for me, perhaps now is a good time to pick up writing again. Writing for academic purposes sucks the life out of me during the school term (which explains the constant lack of updates), but it just doesn't hold a candle to writing fiction, which allows one's imagination (and pen! Or fingers, actually, since it's all type-written) to run wild. So I guess my summer resolution is to go back and hash out some of the ideas I have, and add a couple of one-shots to my repertoire. =)