Artistic Work

It never ceases to amaze me the liberties some people will take. I have just had communication from a fellow writer, a very talented chap, about an experience he's had on another blog site.


This fellow wrote a bit of local history in such a way that he captured the spirit of the 1960s high life + World War II drama + "It's a Wonderful Life" all rolled into a jolly good read. He did version after version to get the words and tone balanced in a harmonious blend that was a delight to read, and then he submitted it to the local blog site run by a committee woman of that town. You know the type... pearls and "Darlings" and a lot of pretension... a small mouth that makes moues and a weak chin. She is new to that town and, desperate to fit in, she has taken up the torch of town historian, though she is from a place far away.


My friend, who is a native son submitted his piece thinking that perhaps a chance reader would see it and remember. He looked forward to reading it himself! And then he did... and oh....


She'd chopped it up! She took out sentences that made sense of the lightness of feeling, and rendered dialogue to inane prattle, in one fell swoop. In effect she'd taken the paint brush out of the hand of an artist and said "Paint it THIS way!!!"


And that, Dear Reader, is a sin. In publishing or critiquing you can offer advice and suggestion, insert notes and queries, and brain-storm with the artist to your heart's content, and theirs. You can even say "I can not use this work in this form" and that is fair dues. Everyone gets rejected at some point.


But you must never ever do the actual re-write yourself. And should you stoop to that depth you must never follow through and print it... especially without the writer's consent. That is not only bad taste it is possibly illegal. I am no expert on copyright laws, particularly on the Internet, but I know they do cover the existence of your material.


So... writer and publisher beware. And be in communication. And be honest. But don't be spraying your graffiti over someone else's work. 


Good writing and reading to you!


Shar