23
Jan
Posted by Ann Bruce in Humor, Thursday Thirteens, Writing. Tagged: Cassie Edwards, Excuses, Janet Dailey, Kaavya Viswanathan, Lanaia Lee, Plagiarism, Plagiarists. 19 Comments
My thanks to Cassie Edwards, Janet Dailey, Lanaia Lee, and Kaavya Viswanathan for the inspiration for today’s post. As you read, see if you can guess who used which excuses. Please note I have reworded and added to some of the excuses to make it more fun.
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13 Excuses from Plagiarists
Number 1
My dog died…what do you mean this excuse isn’t admissible after kindergarten?
Number 2
I write historical romance! My readers are supposed to be too stupid to catch me!
Number 3
I didn’t know…because I skipped the day they covered citations and crediting sources in the third grade, fourth grade, fifth grade, and onwards.
Number 4
It’s only research material…and those academics secretly want the publicity.
Number 5
But it’s in the public domain…so no one’s left alive to fight for it.
Number 6
I have a psychological problem. (I can’t add anything to make this excuse better.)
Number 7
Someone else ghost-wrote it…even though I vehemently declared my writing is something unique to share with the world.
Number 8
I was stressed…my millions couldn’t afford me a masseuse or yoga sessions or even a scented candle.
Number 9
It was unintentional and unconscious…all 29 passages.
Number 10
I have a mental superpower. (Once again, I can’t add anything to make this excuse better. Oh, and the “superpower” is a photographic memory.)
Number 11
But I put in dialogue tags! And the spacing is different! See!
Number 12
But I did it to honor my ancestors and all Native Americans…by stealing from Native Americans.
Number 13
But I didn’t hurt anyone. (This excuse isn’t funny. It’s just sad.) |
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Posted by SJ Reidhead on 23 Jan 2008 at 4:45 pm
Don’t you just love it?
SJR
The Pink Flamingo
http://thepinkflamingo.blogharbor.com/blog
Posted by Sandycarlson on 23 Jan 2008 at 5:01 pm
I have come to see 6 and 10 as the same thing! Great list.
Posted by Ann Bruce on 23 Jan 2008 at 5:06 pm
SJR — I’m amused yet deeply saddened by the actions of these people. I think the real reason for most is they don’t think they’ll get caught.
Sandy — I guess there is a very thin line between 6 and 10. But they still tick me off because with both the plagiarists are saying the copying were beyond their control.
Posted by Nicholas on 23 Jan 2008 at 6:00 pm
Are these actual excuses that have been offered?
Posted by Country Dawn on 23 Jan 2008 at 6:24 pm
Um… I don’t know any of these people. But the excuses were amusing… but seriously sad if they’re actual!
Posted by Greatfullivin on 23 Jan 2008 at 6:47 pm
Are these excuses for real?…sad if true.
Posted by Comedy Plus on 23 Jan 2008 at 7:28 pm
Yep, that about sizes it up. Very sad indeed. Great list of losers. Have a great TT.
Posted by Ann Bruce on 23 Jan 2008 at 10:21 pm
Nicholas, Country Dawn, Greatfullivin — These excuses are all real. I can’t make this stuff up.
Posted by Mechele Armstrong aka Lany of Melany Logen on 24 Jan 2008 at 5:39 am
It is very sad
It’s amazing what people will say to justify their actions.
Posted by Laura on 24 Jan 2008 at 6:23 am
Imagine what they could do if they used all that brain power to come up with something really their own…instead of using it to make up excuses!! Happy T-13!
Posted by Julie on 24 Jan 2008 at 9:11 am
I’ve been following the Cassie Edwards debacle at dearauthor and smartbitches, and I’m not sure what is worse: the excuses made by the author, or that the people that brought this to light are being criticized for doing so.
Posted by jeanjeanie on 24 Jan 2008 at 10:59 am
I’ve been plagiarized. Not fun. Flattering in a way, but more irritating than anything. There is no excuse for it.
Posted by Natalie on 24 Jan 2008 at 1:17 pm
Plagiarists are lame. Those excuses don’t fly with me…don’t copy, and if you do, admit to it and stop making excuses.
Posted by Ann Bruce on 24 Jan 2008 at 5:30 pm
Michele – Like Laura said, imagine what these people can do if they would use their creative powers for fiction writing.
Julie – The CE debacle made my jaw drop, but some of the response from readers AND authors have pretty much ticked me off. I think DA and SB have been pretty professional and, in light of the threats they received, pretty courageous about the entire issue.
My feeling is that a lot of DA- and SB-haters are using the CE issue to trash those two sites.
JeanJeanie – Frankly, imitation, which, according to Webster, is “a literary work designed to reproduce the style of another author,” is flattering, but word-for-word copying is just theft. And I agree, there’s no excuse for plagiarism, but that doesn’t stop these plagiarists from making them.
Natalie – I couldn’t agree more. And to think these people are adults.
Posted by celticlibrarian on 24 Jan 2008 at 7:18 pm
Plagiarists. Ye gods, they need to find a muse and strike out on their own.
Mental Superpower, eh?
Sheesh.
Posted by Ann Bruce on 24 Jan 2008 at 9:43 pm
CelticLibrarian — These people have found muses…just someone else’s or, in the cases of Cassie Edwards and Kaavya Viswanathan, multiple someone else’s.
And “mental superpower” were the plagiarist’s own words. I had to stop and read them over three times before I was convinced my eyes weren’t deceiving me.
Posted by Sources for Plagiarists’ Excuses « The Not-so-deep Thoughts on 29 Jan 2008 at 6:59 pm
[...] Jan 2008 in Ramblings And this post is a follow-up to Plagiarists Say the Darnedest Things. The excuses I listed are pretty unbelievable, but, like I said, I can’t make this stuff up. [...]
Posted by Morgan on 30 Jan 2008 at 7:33 pm
I’m not sure what you are talking about with someone plagiarizing but I don’t think I’ve read any of those books. I started Wicked, and I didn’t finish it. Happy TT!
Posted by LyricalFool on 9 Feb 2008 at 5:56 pm
@ Excuse #12 made me laugh. Out loud. Honoring someone by stealing from him is just the bestest way of showing reverence!