SiteYou Ask, We Answer: Is it smart or stealing?
Kristin asks: I freelance for a variety of publications, about half of which are national and half are regional. I was reading the local paper this morning over breakfast and found a story in the Metro section about a local guy who’s developed new technologies in the field I write about. I’d like to contact this guy and do a story for a national outlet. Is this stealing the idea of a staff writer at the city paper, or keeping an eye on local innovators in order to bring them to a wider audience? I would of course do all of my own research and interviewing. I’ve only been freelancing for a year, and I don’t want to make a rookie mistake.
I vote for “keeping an eye on local innovators in order to bring them to a wider audience.” The smart freelancer (that’s you!) generates ideas from her own life, but also from reading a wide range of materials, from local newspapers to national magazines to those brochures in your dentist’s waiting room. (I’m writing this from a dentist’s waiting room, so I have dentists on the brain.) If writers could only pitch those ideas that came to them without any input from any other person or written materials, magazines would soon dry up — and so would our bank accounts.
As they say, there’s nothing new under the sun. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try brainstorming unique ideas, but it does mean that most ideas sprang from those that came before. For example, I once read an article comparing the health benefits of two foods and expanded it into an article called “Food Fight,” where different pairs of foods fought it out on the health front. As another example, many writers scan their local papers to find interesting women to profile for the national women’s magazines.
If anyone knows of any actual, written ethical guidelines for writers when it comes to idea generation, please let me know. Also, if you have any suggestions for Kristen, please post them in the Comments.
Have a question for the Renegade Writers? Send it to questions [at] therenegadewriter [dot] com. [lf]
8 Responses to “You Ask, We Answer: Is it smart or stealing?”
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Jim McMullen
Said this on August 6th, 2007 at 8:43am:I am new at blogging, but you guys came highly recommended, so I thought I would make contact. I am an aspiring writer. I have a new book out titled How To Awaken the Writer Within,
which is on my website. I hope it will help other aspiring writers get their book published. Also, when I wrote my first book Cry of the Panther: Quest of a Species, I was utterly amazed that it was on the New York Times bestseller list.
Anyway, I am looking forward to contributing to your blog site.
Thank you,
From the swamps of the Florida Everglades,
Jim McMullen
Elaine Grant
Said this on August 6th, 2007 at 11:56am:Linda, I’m with you. It makes all the sense in the world to mine local papers, among other regional or trade sources, for ideas that can go national. In fact, when I was a senior editor at Inc., we all (editors and staff writers) read different local newspapers, business journals, and Web sites, looking for national story fodder. Naturally, doing one’s own research is not only necessary from an ethical perspective, but also from a quality perspective — every publication has its own questions and it’s own take on issues.
Ginny
Said this on August 6th, 2007 at 1:58pm:Here’s my two cents: It’s smart! I once took a class with a very prolific freelance writer - we’re talking dozens and dozens of non-fiction books and hundreds of articles published. His advice was: Steal anything. If you read it in the paper and think you could pitch it somewhere, go do it. It’s a free marketplace, after all.
Ginny
Jen A. Miller
Said this on August 6th, 2007 at 3:01pm:Yes, mine local papers. I’ve heard editors say they don’t want stories that have already run in the New York Times, but those from the local town papers. I get one such paper just to find story ideas. They also tend to run more wire stuff, which sometimes sparks an idea for a trend piece. It’s not stealing — after all, it is public information.
Jim McMullen
Said this on August 7th, 2007 at 7:34am:I believe in writer’s ethics, especially when it comes to freelance writing. There is no reason under the sun to take someone else’s material. However, I deeply believe in long range research on your subject until you have exhausted all of your leads. Kristin wants to interview the person and expand on his subject matter. Nothing wrong in that-as long as quote’s are around all of his statements. By embracing the person’s experience only helps strenght one’s article. I strongly suggest to brainstorm constantly with Mind Thunder to always attempt to come up with new ideas to write about.In my new book How To Awaken The Writer Within, I relaye my personal experiences on Mind Thunder and Lightning to brainstorm for new ideas. Here is another thought. By developing writer’s ethics and staying away from the “Steal Zone” you can only energize your own writing more.
Jim McMullen
Said this on August 7th, 2007 at 10:08am:Further thought that make’s sense. By complimenting other author’s hard work in a book or other writing only enhances your opportunity to work hard be be a successful writer. In http://www.awakenthewriterwithin.com that is one of the thoughts I try to present.
piper
Said this on August 8th, 2007 at 8:10pm:At the risk of sounding rude…
Jim, how ethical is it to flog your own book in every post on a writers’ blog?
Just sayin’.
Jim McMullen
Said this on August 9th, 2007 at 5:27pm:piper, I am sorry if I offended anyone in regards to getting started on the blogs. I have never been to a blog before,nor have I ever had a website. If there are other ways to help other aspiring writers and contribute to the blog I will step up and do that. I did not realize that all one had to do was click on the name. Obviously, it was not unethical to do that because I didn’t know I was doing anything wrong. Again, I apologize to all.