Do you ever fear your excerpts and story ideas will be stolen?

Question: Do you ever fear your excerpts and story ideas will be stolen!?

I'm just curious!. I am an aspiring writer!. I have seen many people post paragraphs and excerpts, some even with a synopsis and I am just curious if this is just a hobby or do people actually want to have these postings published one day!. If you want to become published, don't you think it is extremely risky to post your work online where anyone can steal your idea since it surely is not copyrighted!?Www@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

I'm downright paranoid about that!. I'll barely even put my character's names up anywhere, let alone a plot line or - heaven forbid - and excerpt!.

My main reason for this, is because I know that if I see an idea that I really really like, I'll often steal elements of it, and then just proceed to make them my own!. And, truth be told, I don't really want that happening with my story!. To be a writer is essentially to be a thief, and if people are careless enough to put out entire globs of prose where anyone can read it, there's no way they can complain if their ideas get stolen!.

Or, at least, that's how I see it!.

~TigerWww@QuestionHome@Com

Nothing that is not already legitimately published should be posted, UNLESS it's for fanfic, for fun, for feedback on style alone; that kind of thing!.

This is because anything under copyright before publication is not available as a publisher wants it to be (THEY buy the copyright, in one form or another-- that is what an author sells), and because I know publishers and editors, even an agent, who occasionally scroll through writing sites to be sure that what they see as a possible publication (a piece under their consideration) isn't anywhere else, already seen, for free!.!.!.
!.!.!.thus making the 'story' not a good pitch for a salesperson to ever try to sell as books, a short story, an essay or article!.

(long sentence!. ah, well)Www@QuestionHome@Com

Hah, nope!. First off, I don't post anything, and second!.!.!. I don't really have anything to post, nor do I have any ideas worth stealing!. I'm not a very creative writer!. =)

I do agree with you, though - posting something you've created online is very risky when you haven't obtained a copyright for it!. While I'm sure that if you posted an idea, and someone stole it and made money off it, you could probably get a lawsuit going (if you could prove it was your idea first, anyways)!.!.!. it's still a lot of trouble to go through that easily could have been avoided!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Yes I wonder the same, especially since so many people post these things on yahoo questions!. With me I have a specific site that I go to and I usually just post things that I don't really care to publish one day!. However, if my story does take a strong hold and I want to go somewhere with it, then I will take it down and work on it!. Right now I'm just at a time in my life where I'm trying to grow in my writing so posting things online are a risk yet at the same time I take caution with it!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

If I post something online I will also email it to myself or a trusted friend and save the email (gmail is great because you don't really have a space limit)!. That way if it ends up stolen in one form or another I have proof of the day it was written!. It's not failsafe, but it gives me peace of mind!. (I don't post stuff that often though) Definitley don't post anything you absoloutely plan to publish!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

I won't post more than a few paragraphs of anything, and ONLY on the NaNoWriMo site during Novemeber, because my buddies can read it and give me encouragement and feedback!.!.!.

You have to be careful when posting stuff you write on the internet, especially if you want it published!. A lot of publishers won't take anything that's been posted online, because they consider it "self-publishing!.!.!."

So no, I don't post my work!.!.!. not really!.!.!. I'm aiming to get published, and I don't want to take ANY risks!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

I've thought of that myself!. I make my synopses vague for that very reason, and I don't usually post entire works!. I'm not worried about excerpts!. If somebody's really lame enough to steal an exact paragraph or two from somebody else when they don't even know where the story's going!.!.!.well, it's no concern of mine!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

I've only ever posted something once, a wannabe first chapter of something I wrote months ago!. It could be risky, but you take risks!. Why did I post it!? It means nothing to me, nothing is dispayed in it- it's a good way to see what people think of your writing style!. I've evolved far beyond that chapter!.

It is a risky thing if you're serious about it- i'm just!.!.!. not ready to be SERIOUS about it!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

I've wondered this too, and I myself haven't posted anything for that reason!. It might just be me being paranoid but I've always wondered what would happen if you found something that you wrote and put online published somewhere else a year later!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Yes, sometimes!. But you'll have proof that YOU wrote the stories, so you can potentially sue or publicly humiliate them! (-:(
Answer my Question!!

http://answers!.yahoo!.com/question/index;!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

I fear it, so I don't post my ideas up here!. Better safe than sorry!.Www@QuestionHome@Com