: Re: On copyright infringement and plagiarism So, I'm writing a novella about this guy named Peter, who is an actor living in LA. In the fall, he comes back to his hometown, a small town in New

@Welton431

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It doesn't sound like either to me; if your words are different they are different. Plagiarism is straight up copying text from another writer. Copyright too. Similar ideas are quite common; the notion that nobody can ever write a love story including a bonfire and surreptitiously watching a pretty girl get naked is ludicrous!

That said, what you should beware of is this: The evidence of the Wattpad story proves to me you are employing clichés, and perhaps should be more imaginative. Not because you are doing anything illegal, but because clichés are boring and predictable.

Oooh, he saw the girl he was already attracted to getting naked. I have no objection to that on any moral ground, but I'd ask, what is the point of this? Does it really motivate him any more than he was before? It might be interesting if the girl wanted him to see her naked, and out of respect he turned away despite his attraction, and this hurt her feelings, and so on. That is a conflict to be resolved. OR: He catches her spying to see HIM naked.

In fact, if this is mutual love at first sight, is He pursuing Her this whole time? Is she just prey for him to catch, or just demurely waiting for him to take her? Or is she an actual human being making her OWN moves to capture him? What is HER strategy for landing HIM? Hopefully it isn't just hoping he does something. She can engineer ways for them to be alone, for example. Find reasons to touch him, to get his help, to drop clear hints she is available.

The same for the bonfire. Yes, it is a symbolic primitive driver of sometimes primitive behavior, including courtship and sexual activity. But there are other such drivers; caves (literal or metaphoric), the woods, even the skinny dipping; but what if she purposely got naked in front of him?

"Don't get any ideas, this is just swimming and nothing else," she said, kicking off her shoes and pulling her shirt over her head.When he didn't move to do the same, she continued, removing her bra, and unbuttoning her skirt. "Maybe swimming alone!"

It is said great minds think alike, but that is not the case in writing. Great writing minds find original ways to accomplish these same old things.

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