Rage, Rage Against the Dying of the Light

Hello everyone! It's Chaos'sWolf speaking at you once again.

A very, very serious matter has been brought to my attention. For the sake of all readers, writers, and lovers of this fanfiction site and the band, please read what I have to say. This is a very serious topic....

Stealing stories/plots.

Is it okay? No, not at all.

As I look through the stories on these fanfiction sites, I've been noticing a lot of this book popping up...but it's not this story exactly. I see that a lot of writers have been starting stories that are suspiciously similar to Rage, Rage, Against the Dying of the Light. They all start out with a girl waking up, not being able to sleep. Her birthday is a few days away. She's taken and abused in the human trafficking business. EVERY STORY STARTS OUT LIKE THIS AND GUESS WHAT? THIS ISN'T COOL, GUYS!

And it's not just happening to my story, but a lot of other authors as well!

I'm not using this PSA to target one specific story or author who has copied mine/someone else's story. It's happened a bunch of times and i'm fed up of seeing them pop up. I'm using this to provide a rule. I never thought i'd have to say this. I thought we were all above stealing each other's stories, but here it goes....

THIS IS MY STORY. ANY CHARACTER BESIDES THE BANDS ARE MINE. YOU MAY THINK I'M GREEDY, BUT I'M NOT. I'M TRYING TO PROTECT MY IDEAS AND THOUGHTS.

YOU MAY NOT TAKE ANY PART OF THIS STORY. YOU MAY NOT COPY THE PLOT OR CHARACTERS FROM THIS STORY. PLEASE, HAVE RESPECT FOR EVERYONE ON THIS SITE AND MYSELF. PLEASE BE COURTEOUS TO ME AND THE READERS.

Even if your character names are different, or you use a different color of contacts for her eyes or color for her hair doesn't mean our stories are "completely and utterly different". No. Stop. Please. I'm begging you. Just stop. You are still copying a plot that I have literally spent months planning out. You're stealing not just words, but time and effort.

Now, I don't care if you say that this story is an 'inspiration' for another story. Guess what? That's fine! Completely fine! If you loved this story so much that you wanted to make your own story about human trafficking (using the same idea as another story is okay, copying the plot will get your head splattered) is utterly okay. Go ahead! I have no copyrights on human trafficking! I don't support it, I just write about it!

HOWEVER....claiming that this story is an 'inspiration' and then proceeding to copy the plot is not inspiration...it's stealing. You're being an ass and you need to please stop.

If you realize that you copied a plot unintentionally, the polite thing to do is to either stop your story, rewrite it and make it take either a plot twist or some other form to get it into a different direction, or just delete it all together. Tell the author that you accidentally copied their plot and that you're deleting/rewriting/changing the story to make it different than theirs.

I guarantee you, they won't hate you. If you just let them know, they'll have A TON more respect for you than just cheating off of them.

If it was me and you alerted me to unintentionally making a plot similar to any of my stories and promised that you're either rewriting it/deleting it and starting again, I won't be mad! No, not at all! You're actually quite awesome for having the guts to say that, even in a private message!

I'm just trying to protect the authors on here. Please, let's all be friends. Let's all have great ideas and not steal from each other. You are a unique person. Use your own ideas, not someone else's.

IF I CONTINUE TO SEE STORIES COPIED TO RAGE, RAGE, AGAINST THE DYING OF THE LIGHT OR ANY OF MY OTHER STORIES, I WILL SHUT DOWN THE STORY. THE END. GOODBYE. I'LL BE DONE WITH IT. I'LL SHUT DOWN THE STORY AND DELETE IT.

Honestly, when I see people just often copying directly my work and changing the names, I feel terrible. I don't want to be used for a story. I don't want someone else cheating off of me.

Rant over. Please, be nice to others. We're all here for the same reason: the bands that brought us together. Don't be that terrible person that ruins it for everyone else.

Notes