Hi, folks!

I’m a newbie here posting from the north east of England. First of all, let me ask you to call me Bruce. I only use Northumbergull as it’s a name I can remember and I often use it on forums. It refers to the fact that I live in the county of Northumberland and that I am a supporter of a football (soccer) team called Torquay United whose nickname are the Gulls!

Now, on with my question for today: I am currently writing a novel which, I feel, in common with so many, could be the next big thing. I say that, but the thing is, unlike somebody who, say, is writing a straightforward crime novel, very much in genre, this is a mould-breaking story. Because of the nature of my book, I’m very protective of it in case somebody beats me to the shelves.

How, then, might I get good feedback on my progress without exposing myself to somebody stealing my idea?

Any thoughts?

Bruce

Heh heh. You have confidence, friend! At Urbis, we embrace this confidence. It fuels our creativity and makes us all happier writers.

There are many miserable people who will attack you until they read your work first. They might think it is arrogant you want to protect your work because you believe it is potentially mould-breaking. Generally, no-one steals any work on this site since it is not good enough for stealing. If you are worried, put a phony copyright at the beginning of the story to frighten those who might want to thieve your words!

I look forward to reading your work! You sound like an exciting new writer. If there anything you can tell me about this great work I would love to hear it! I am Mikhail_S on Urbis.

Good luck friend.

Mikhail_S

Thanks for the welcome! Although I still want to play a bit cat and mouse with you over my book, it IS a story with little precedent before. There have been, to my knowledge, only four books written on the subject but none with my particular twist which makes it unique.

It’s bugger, really, when you’re writing something that you sooo want to share, but feel worried about others racing you for the line. Maybe one way of gaining some feedback would be to put up a few paragraphs at a time from different sections without giving the plot away.

See, this forum is helping me concentrate my mind already!

Cheerio for now!

Bruce

Yes, that is a very good idea! You can get critiques on various aspects of the writing and ask people not to concentrate on the actual plot for the time being. Most people here do not follow a book the whole way through, so it would be unlikely anyone would get to read and appreciate it in its entirety. Anyway… post it paragraph by paragraph if you have to!

Bye!

Bruce,
(An Australian in Northumberland?)

Everything you write automatically becomes your copyright.
Of course, proving that it is yours originally is the deal.
The common trick is to put each finished section in a sealed envelope and post it to yourself, never actually opening it again.
The postmark validates the completion date.

Personally, I am not worried about theft – and that is not saying my work is boring run of the mill la de da.
It has been pointed out before so often, completion of the first draft and getting it accepted is the tip of the iceberg.
Would a plagiarist be able to do the required edits, and keep the original style?
Defending the parts that need fighting for and accepting those that should be changed?

Until Urbis provides the chapters facility, tis not really an worry at all anyway – I’ve never posted more than the first few chapters here. A plagiarist would have to make their own endings. lol.

Avedis is right. Putting your work on Urbis gives you a time stamp, giving you proof of when you wrote the novel. That said, there are lots of things writers can steal from you besides your IDEA. They can take nice turns of phrases (some writers have blatantly told me that they are going to steal my humor); you can take this as a compliment or you can choose to leave the particularly original ones out of your text on Urbis. Just substitute something a little less brilliant.

Urbis gives you a group of writers commenting on lots of different aspects of the text. Some writers like to comment on structure, others on style, others on historical inconsistencies – you name it. And then there are the proofreaders (like me) who help you get the text ready to present to an agent or publisher. In general, I’m happy with the reviews I received here; and when I’m not happy, I get a refund.

Hello Bruce

I’d say it depends on what kind of feedback you’re looking for. It doesn’t sound as though you need feedback on storyline, or assistance with the plot. So perhaps select a good example for the feedback you’d like – e.g. dialogue, grammar, exposition etc etc – and specify in your notes that’s what you’re looking for. Serious reviewers will take your notes seriously. If you’ve written other work which has the same “issues”, post that instead. You can get what you need and apply it to your other work.

OT- But I can’t read Gorbachev’s posts without hearing Boris from Rocky and Bullwinkle.

:( Gods I am old and in need of a life!

Generally, what Avedis and DC say is correct. Besides, ideas are not protected by IP law (for obvious reasons). Only the material manifestation is protected. I’ll charge you $5 every time you think about my idea. See?

If you really are worried about it, you can hire an editor to work with you privately and have them sworn to secrecy under a NDA (non-disclosure agreement). That’s a bit extreme.

At the end of the day, the potential benefits of getting a community of help working on a manuscript so far outweigh the risk of somebody stealing it, it makes no sense to stress over it. Just post it.

Hi, everyone!

Sorry for disappearing for a few days, been busy with job applications of late. Hmmm, I think you’ve all made some very valid points! It still worries the heck out of me, but I’ll put up a few paragraphs for you soon. Do I just post them on this thread, or should I be putting them elsewhere?

Btw, I’m finding having Urbis available is great as I live nowhere near a writing group and, as a Registered Nurse, my shift working means it’s difficult to get to one anyway.

Thanks for all your help so far.

Kindest regards

Bruce

You post items on Urbis proper – Urbis.com.

Join there and play with the system do a few reviews. THEN post