Thursday, May 30, 2013

Armchair BEA 2013: Ethics and Non-Fiction

It's day four of Armchair BEA and today it's all about blogging ethics and non-fiction.

As Gianne is busy with school, it's just me (Kristin) again.

On ethics

*knocks on wood* I have not had to deal with plagarisim on the blog just yet and hopefully we can continue this trend; you know, indefinitely. However, if it were to happen I would definitely apologize and remove the post. (And I would be extremely embarrassed. Extremely.)

Here's the thing though: this is why I don't read other reviews (usually) before I write my own. I don't want other reviews to influence mine--whether that means raising or lowering my rating or accidentally saying something extremely close to what they've said. And memes? Well, I always give credit where credit is due--or I seriously try to. (This is actually why I've never really tried to start my own meme--I have a sinking feeling that I'm not that original.)

What it comes down to is this: don't plagiarize. Ever. It's not worth it and it seems like it's next to impossible to come back from. (And now I'm going to have to run around to other blogs to see what I've forgotten to mention. I'm guessing the answer is, "Lots.")

On non-fiction

*crickets* Non-fiction is like a distant country that I admire from a distance but never really intend to visit. That's probably because I touch on it so rarely that I wouldn't know where to start. Wait, that's not entirely true. Give me something related to fashion and I'll probably be engrossed.

However, non-fiction really isn't my thing. I'm not afraid to admit that I'm an escapist and I'm more likely to choose (to read) a fictional world over the real one.

11 comments:

  1. Excellent post! Couldn't agree more, as I don't read other reviews either (just to be on the safe side). Just say no should be the plagiarism motto!

    Love your take on non-fiction! I don't visit the Land of Non-Fiction very often either, and don't really intend to in the future. Just not my thing. And you're right, if we read to escape, why read NF?

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  2. I second this. I never read reviews before I post mine. I do not visit Non-Fiction land mainly because I rarely get offered a non-fiction book to review. I would love to review more of them.

    Nice post.

    Sue @ http://kid-lit-reviews.com

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  3. I love my cookbooks and they are non-fiction. Reading period cookbooks from centuries past is a great way to find women's history since so many women did not have voices.

    I have been plagiarized and I have busted plagiarist in my classroom and on my blog and it is horrific and devastating. Do it yourself. I am up at almost 5 AM again posting on blogs and working hard to make it count! Love your blog!

    my post today

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  4. Thanks for this. Plagiarism - don't do it. That simple. Why would you? Where's the satisfaction?? And as for non fiction: never used to go there either in my youth. But in my less youthful years, I'm not adverse to reading about (some) history, psychology, health, photography, language and culture... Biographies and the like really don't do it for me though :0)

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  5. Non-fiction is not really my thing either. I like to take a look at cookbooks and I read study books, but that's it. I love fiction.

    I agree about reading reviews. I never read them before I've written my review. I'm so scared that I accidentally use similar words or sentences. Plagiarism is the last thing I want to do! :)

     Mel@thedailyprophecy.

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  6. I SOOOOO agree with you on my reasoning for not reading other reviews before I read a book!!! In fact, I talked about it today too. I have a feeling a lot of people feel that way. Ratings however, I'm ALL over those until I read a book for myself.

    Great thoughts!
    Holly @ Words Fueled by Love

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  7. I prefer fiction too, I like the journey to a different reality. I never started Menes for the same reason. It is hard to not read reviews on my friends blogs of books I'm planning to review because I want to comment but I don't to make sure my reviews stay original. Great post!

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  8. I don't usually read reviews of books I'm either currently reading or planning to read. Sometimes a review makes me want to read a book. But I definitely find that my expectations of the book is usually influenced by the original review I read. But I always link back to the person who inspired me to read the book in the first place if based off a review. Great post.

    Sandy @ Somewhere Only We Know

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  9. Ethics is such a tough but important issue. I always worry that I am doing something wrong inadvertently. I agree with you and try to write my review before reading others thoughts on it. Here are my thoughts on ethics and useful links I've found to help decipher what I need to do. Hope you will stop by. Happy Friday and keep up the good work from your friendly ABEA cheerleader today!

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  10. I don't read reviews before I read either. It's sort of weird that we review books to let people know whether or not to read it, but we don't read reviews because we don't want to unknowingly plagiarize someone else's words.

    I don't read non-fiction either... it's probably a bit under-appreciated, haha>

    Leanne @ Escaping With Books

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  11. Lovely blog! Please follow mine; it's new: readandlovebooks.blogspot.com
    Thanks♥

    ReplyDelete

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