I received a comment on this site last week claiming that I am nicking my content from someone/somewhere else which I found rather surprising, just before I got a little bit annoyed that someone would not only think that but would also decide to make a fairly public comment to that fact via my website. Then I got downright hissy about it, hence this particular blog entry!
There could be a number of reasons for that pithy little comment but just to set the record Very Straight here…I Do Not Plagiarize Other Writers!!! Like, why would I??! If you see anything anywhere authored by Lisa Ashurst, that’s me!
Okay then, having stated that fairly clearly I think this would be a good time to mention that I have also written some articles for other writing sites as well as on an old MSN blog site that I no longer do anything with. Actually my first blog on this site was “The Unknown Writer” which has also appeared elsewhwere. I used it as my first blog post here because this is a writing site and it seemed appropriate and besides, I wrote it!. I also put “The Diner” somewhere on here as well because it was an exercise I did in writing a story to a given title, and then I added a twist at the end that worked.
So…chances are the comment writer has seen MY work elsewhere but failed to note MY By-line! Well that’s his problem, not mine.
Of course, there’s always the chance too that someone out there likes my work so much they are nicking it for themselves and reproducing it under their own name (which could be viewed as flattering in a roundabout way except that it’s also a really low act so I’m not flattered at all!!!) so to anyone out there who may have done just that…Google and I Will Hunt You Down! On that you can depend!
The thing is, writers are really territorial when it comes to their own work because they put a lot of sweat and often some very late nights into producing good solid copy that is of a standard good enough to be published. I should know as I’ve done it myself on occasion. I was published intermittently all through my school years and have been appearing in print on a weekly basis for around 25 years now! When you’ve been writing solidly (and successfully!) for that long you don’t need to snitch someone else’s work! It’s totally unethical anyway and as I value my reputation as a writer I have absolutely no intention of putting it on the line via such underhanded tactics.
Meanwhile, I’ll keep writing my posts because writing is something I really enjoy doing and while others enjoy reading them I will continue to put up the goods. So, to everyone of you who have visited my website and liked the content enough to leave a friendly comment…I thank you because I really value your feedback and appreciate the fact that you took the time to post it!
To anyone out there who thinks I may be plagiarizing others…well no, I am not. I can definitly assure you that I am not. Feel free to read all of my content in the full knowledge that what you are reading really was written by me. No one else and I sincerely stand by this statement.
And to the guy who took it upon himself to leave such a baseless, vapid comment on my website…do your research hon! And if you left your comment out of pique because you suspect my ability to write quality content may have outsripped your own…then chances are you are right!
Now you need to get over it.