Fiction Fundamentals: Can Someone Steal My Idea?
By Linda Adams
Just Starting Out/Beginner
One of the very first questions a beginning writer wonders is if someone can steal their idea. They may be terribly fearful that if they divulge even the slightest hint of what their book is about someone is going to steal the idea.
So can someone steal one? No. The ideas themselves are not copyrightable. And, in fact, they’ve all been done before. However, many writers are convinced that if there must be some magic spell to becoming published- -all it takes is finding just the right idea.
If only it was that easy. The truth is anyone can come up with one. Don’t believe that? Just tell someone you’re a writer. They’ll immediately pop up with “I’ve got this idea …”
It’s what you, as the writer, bring to the idea. Two writers could take exactly the same idea and come up with two entirely different stories. Many things factor into how that idea is developed including personal experiences, gender, and even age.
The idea is just the first step. It’s what you do afterwards with it that counts.
Copyright Linda Adams 2002
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