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Same here. Came to say the same and to explain how i publicly share all my 'great' ideas publicly even though so many friends think I'm nuts in case someone 'st

Same here. Came to say the same and to explain how i publicly share all my 'great' ideas publicly even though so many friends think I'm nuts in case someone 'steals it' and makes a successful startup from my idea. My answer: "Great for them. At least they had the determination and focus to follow through with bringing the idea to fruition when I couldn't."

dhosek 4y ago
People tend to overvalue ideas. I see this all the time in writing where people are worried someone will steal their great idea for a story. The truth of the matter is that it’s unlikely that you’ve come up with something truly new and in any event, ideas tend to breed and multiply. I will never write all the stories and novels that I have jotted down in my notebook before I die and there are more every day.
- qorrect 4y ago
  On that note though, is there a way to protect your story if you want to pitch it to a publisher, or anywhere else ? Like a registry for story ideas ?
  - aardvark179 4y ago
    Not really, and it’s not a problem. Ideas for stories are abundant, the ability to turn them into finished books or scripts is much rarer.
  - Gene_Parmesan 4y ago
    There's no IP protection for ideas for stories. Regardless, almost no fiction shop is going to agree to print a book on spec, just off a story pitch. Write the book first. Then you already have protection, in the form of copyright (which is automatic and doesn't require registration).
- ncmncm 4y ago
  If an idea is any good, you generally have to fight tooth and nail to get anybody to listen to it, and put in a hundred times that to get anybody to understand it, and that again to act on it. If you don't directly control how that happens they will implement it fundamentally wrongly. But after it is finally implemented more or less correctly, everyone will agree that the idea was trivial and obvious, and they had already thought of it themselves, in exactly the form where they first encountered it, even if that is actually not quite right.
  - thombat 4y ago
    Victory has a hundred fathers, but defeat is an orphan.
dspillett 4y ago
Same. I'll often share relevant ideas in comments here and elsewhere in the hope that I inspire someone to go implement something I might like but will never find the time+organisation to get around to creating!

dhosek 4y ago

People tend to overvalue ideas. I see this all the time in writing where people are worried someone will steal their great idea for a story. The truth of the matter is that it’s unlikely that you’ve come up with something truly new and in any event, ideas tend to breed and multiply. I will never write all the stories and novels that I have jotted down in my notebook before I die and there are more every day.

qorrect 4y ago
On that note though, is there a way to protect your story if you want to pitch it to a publisher, or anywhere else ? Like a registry for story ideas ?
- aardvark179 4y ago
  Not really, and it’s not a problem. Ideas for stories are abundant, the ability to turn them into finished books or scripts is much rarer.
- Gene_Parmesan 4y ago
  There's no IP protection for ideas for stories. Regardless, almost no fiction shop is going to agree to print a book on spec, just off a story pitch. Write the book first. Then you already have protection, in the form of copyright (which is automatic and doesn't require registration).
ncmncm 4y ago
If an idea is any good, you generally have to fight tooth and nail to get anybody to listen to it, and put in a hundred times that to get anybody to understand it, and that again to act on it. If you don't directly control how that happens they will implement it fundamentally wrongly. But after it is finally implemented more or less correctly, everyone will agree that the idea was trivial and obvious, and they had already thought of it themselves, in exactly the form where they first encountered it, even if that is actually not quite right.
- thombat 4y ago
  Victory has a hundred fathers, but defeat is an orphan.

dspillett 4y ago

Same. I'll often share relevant ideas in comments here and elsewhere in the hope that I inspire someone to go implement something I might like but will never find the time+organisation to get around to creating!