Part of evolving as a writer (and a person) is to learn from silly past mistakes. Another way to learn, more subtle, is to learn from your silly past preconceptions. Writers worried about copyright is a great such example.
Just in case it’s not clear, let me be explicit about it. If you’re worried about copyright – and authors typically worry about someone stealing their idea – you’re wasting your time. Completely.
There are several factors behind this. You might be familiar with some, not so with others. Motivation for this article came after someone in an online discussion (elsewhere, not on Home for Fiction), asked for help with their novel, but was reluctant to supply information. Why? You guessed it: they were afraid others (me?!) would steal their idea.
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