Twelve Makabuluhan-kuno Writing Tips (Baguhan Edition)

Eight Writing (not-so) Secrets

INSPIRATION VS PLAGIARISM

Magkaiba ang inspiration at plagiarism. #SHOCKING pero totoo! As in. At hindi lang spelling ang pinagkaiba nila. Meaning din at consequences!

Amazing, right?

So anong pinagkaiba ng inspiration at plagiarism?

INSPIRATION

Inspirations are everywhere. From people, to what we watch, read, hear, taste, smell, feel and question. Kung saan-saan tayo makakuha ng idea - and that's the best thing about it.

Hindi tayo mauubusan ng inspirasyon.

Writers are granted with skills to perceive the world around us. And writers are gifted for translating those ideas to words of their own work of art.

Maraming pwedeng gawin sa isang inspired-idea:

• Improve

Lalo na kung ang pinagkuhanan o pinanggalingan ng inspirasyon ay not enough. Tipong may mali. May something wrong. Nangyari na sa akin ito nang makabasa ako ng epistolary novel. Okay na siya, maganda na - hanggang sa dulo - biglang naging narration. Hindi napanindigan ang epistolary.

So I created my own. Pinanindigan ko ang epistolary mula umpisa hanggang dulo. In-improve ko.

• Bend and Stretch and Twist

An idea can be bent and stretched if needed. Not a good example, but just like Fifty Shades of Grey - it was inspired (and a fanfic) by Twilight. Kaya pumasa sa mundo ng publishing world ang FSOG kahit inspired at fanfic ito ng Twilight dahil hindi ito sobrang magkalapit.

Is Christian Grey a vampire? No. He's a normal young billionaire. Parehas na possessive, yes, pero BDSM ba ang peg ni Edward? No. That's Christian's thing. That's FSOG's thing; while Twilight is vampire.

Although, may mga scenes na naka-peg talaga sa Twilight. Sabi nga ng isang reviewer na si Christine Riccio, "It's like twilight all over again for the first 40 minutes of the movie."

Doon nagkamali si author E.L. James. Okay na siya, eh. Magkaiba na - but a lot more bending and stretching and twisting could do the trick; to get the Twilight-feel out of the story.

That's how you make an idea into your own. Improve it. Bend it. Stretch it. Twist it. Until the idea is waaay different from the inspiration.

OR ELSE, IT'S CALLED. . .

PLAGIARISM

Ang plagiarism ay nagsisimula sa sobrang pagka-inspired, at sa sobrang pagka-inspired, ginaya na nang buo ang idea, passage, character, dialogue, chapter, core story, scenes, at kahit ano pang pwedeng kuhanin, sarilinin at angkinin.

1. A word per word copy-paste kind of thing is plagiarism.

2. Copying the core story is an act of plagiarism.

What is core story? Iyon 'yong main plot.

Girl acts nerd > Meets gangster guy > Romance (away-bati trope) > Girl is daughter of the lord gangster who killed gangster guy's father > Revenge of gangster guy to lord gangster > The conflict of revenge and love > Girl killed lord gangster before lord gangster kill guy gangster > Girl kill self > Guy kill self

That is the core story. Maraming girl acts nerd story. Maraming away-bati romance. Maraming gangster story. Marami ring revenge story. Conflict of revenge and love. Sacrifice. Tragedy of love.

BUT!

Not all stories have the above core story. Ito ang naging kakaiba sa kwento - at once na sooobraaanng parehas ng above story ang sinulat mo - wow.