Board Thread:Advice from Ashy, the "Competent Zeref."/@comment-3030647-20170222064316

I know I promised these more often but...well, I grew tired of repeatedly trying to help people and then seeing the comments filled with irrelevant stuff about the direction of the series.

So, from the onset, I am telling you. If I hear a single complaint about how Hiro is taking Fairy Tail's direction, I will immediately remove it. I'm not censoring your opinion, but your opinion should be put in a more appropriate place, not on a thread or blog dedicated to trying to help this userbase out with its issues.

With that out of the way, let's get into the crux of today's little advice blog. Recently, I have been exposed to the idea of originality and creativity on the fanon, especially concerning the usage of Free Use abilities, such as Sword Pressure. This is boiled down to the copying of text from the Free Use article and not adding anything to said text that personalizes the ability/technique for the character it is being added to.

Before I begin saying what I want to say, I'd like to inform you this blog is by no means going to enforce a new rule onto you. I would simply like to add a fresh perspective into this little debate and perhaps influence your writing in a way that will make it more satisfying for yourself. Again, I am by no means trying to compel you to write in a way that would satisfy anything except the established rules. That is abuse of power.

What is originality?

According to the dictionary, it is the "quality of being novel or unusual."

In this day and age, however, does originality truly exist? Are we able to honestly say that any one of our ideas are not influenced by external media in the process of their creation? For the vast majority of us amateur writers out there, this is a no. All writers, amateur or professional, gain inspiration from somewhere. Whether it be personal experiences, other writers or anywhere else.

That being said, I personally believe that originality exists when you are capable of taking an existing source and use it in a way that is clearly defined by your intention. If you are able to take pre-existing source material and have it reflect your own intent and style, then you are original in my book.

That being said, this definition of originality is more in-line with the idea of creativity, that being the use of imagination to create something.

How does this apply to us?

This applies to us primarily in regards to Free Use articles. When an author puts up their article as Free Use, they are giving full permission to use the article in whichever way you, the borrower of the article's idea, desire.

However, should you simply use the article without any care for adding onto it and showing off your own creativity through it?

While I will not debate that question itself, I will give my opinion as someone who does give Free Use articles on this wiki, as to what I personally expect from users who borrow my content.

When I put up an article for Free Use, I do it expecting that those who borrow the contents of said article are using it in good faith. They are taking an idea I have created, and applying it to their character/concept while making it relevant. To this end, I expect a bit of flair from the borrowing author. If I end up reading the article that has borrowed my idea, I want to see the intention of the borrowing author shine through, and thus make this idea their own. I do not want to see my intention shining through another author's page.

The Point?

The point of this little thread is to give you an alternate perspective on how you can go about borrowing the content of other people, or even your own articles.

If you read your own article and can feel the intent of other authors shining through, is it truly your own article at that point? If you believe so, I will not stop you from continuing what you've been doing.

However, if you think that this blog has given you a change of heart, then do feel free to slowly but surely make the modifications to inspire further creativity and originality within your articles.

Remember, when you're taking concepts and using it on your article, those concepts should be extensions of your article, not disjointed attachments. 