Is it plagirism if you recycle an event a previous author use, but not the same words?

Question

I'm writing a story now and I had been reading another book at the time. It happened subconsciously, I guess, but an event that happens in my book also took place in another book.Is it still plagirism?

Answer 1

Actually, it is. If you turn it in for a grade, or if it is published, you are liable for a charge of plagiarism if you do not credit the original work. It might not matter much if you are in, say middle school, but from high school on, especially for college entrance and college papers, your work AND ideas have to be original, no matter how many words you change. If the theme is still there, and recognizable, you could be in a bit of difficulty if caught. I'm sure you have read about best selling books, or big movies, where someone claims to have shown the manuscript to someone else, prior to publication. You'd be amazed at how many best selling authors have had to cough up...and sometimes the writing is original, but the theme was not. If we are talking grades, depending on how much integrity a school has, a student can be expelled for lifting an idea. Just ask Teddy Kennedy, who was expelled from Harvard.....

Answer 2

You'd have to ask a publisher to clarify it better, but depending on how completely and specifically you used the corresponding event. For example, there are many, many books written about murders. So you can only kill someone so many ways, and then they have to be reused to keep the genre going. But the events leading up to a murder, the conversation between the murderer and the victim would be very different. It's an over-simplified example, perhaps you can use it to guide your book to a successful conclusion.

Answer 3

If the event is the Great Depression, you're OK.

If the event is the war of the Ring you're just Dennis L. McKiernan.

Answer 4

It's not plagiarism - I'm recycling words, as any good environmentally conscious writer would do.
~Uniek Swain

An original writer is not one who imitates nobody, but one whom nobody can imitate.
~Chateaubriand, Le Génie du Christianisme, 1802

Answer 5

i dont think so