Plagiarism

Hello everyone! I know I've been MIA these past months, but really I've been trying to focus on college and work. It's definitely a transition from high school, and I'm having some difficulties, but overall I'm having a lot of fun in college. For those who are in college or university, maybe you can symphatize with me. For those who are about to or still have a few years to go till college, look forward to it, but also do well in high school or even middle school while you can. It'll prepare you for what's to come.

Anyway, despite my lack of writing activity, I still do go onto AFF to check on things. A week ago, a new subscriber told me she enjoyed my story, and that she also found a story on wattpad exactly like mine, only the names were changed. I was a little surprised, and decided to check it out. It was true; everything was the same, from the words I had written, to the title names. The only things different were the names of the characters.

I know I'm not a good writer, and I don't claim to be. I write for fun and enjoyment, and I started posting them on AFF because I wanted to share my imgaination with everyone. I know that doing so allows free range for anyone to copy and plagiarize my work, though I didn't think it would really happen. I've heard about other well-known authors on AFF and their stories being plagiarized, but never did I think it would happen to me. To be honest, my stories aren't that up-to-par, nor am I a well-known author.

I know Jason (creater of AFF for those who don't know) does all he can to prevent and discourage plagiarism. Readers can't select the text in stories if authors choose not to allow it, and that's what I've done. But I noticed recently a new "Download" option, and that pretty much allows anyone to download my stories and repost it as their own should they choose. Kind of defeats the purpose, but now I have mixed feelings.

I also have an account on wattpad, though I only go on there to read stories. I was able to contact the web administrators and they removed the story, but I'm still left feeling a bit off.

On one hand, I really do like posting my stories and blurbs up for people to read, but at the same time, I don't want them to be plagiarized. I know that it happens, and that I should just accept it, but something just makes me feel uncomfortable now about posting new stories. I even considered taking down them and just doing away with AFF all together.

But then I know there are people out there who enjoy reading my stories, and I don't want to take that away from them. I just wish there was a way to avoid all of this; obviously I can't, but you know, that's just how I feel right now.

The point is, right now I feel very hesitant about posting anything new. I haven't written anything in awhile, and this doesn't exactly motivate me to write anything either. Please bear with me while I make my way through this phase, and hopefully I'll find some inspiration to write again. 

In the meantime, please enjoy what I have published on AFF, and know that I along with everyone else who publishes things on AFF work really hard to do so. It doesn't make us feel great when people decide to take what's ours and claim it as their own. We put a lot of effort to try to keep up with deadlines and life all at the same time, and to know that people just copy and paste our hard work in a few clicks of a button is just frustrating.

Sorry for this rant, but I really needed to get this off my chest. Thank you to all my supporters and subscribers who have read and enjoyed my stories. Hopefully I can repay your kindness with something soon.