Reluctance to share ideas

[Vegos]

Greetings.

Thanks to some stuff in the past where someone took my idea and ran with it (and cut me out), I've been ever since pretty timid and paranoid about sharing my creative ideas with people. And I really need to get over it because, well, can't develop as a creator much if I don't look for feedback and everything. I wonder if anyone has any kind of advice on the matter, how to deal with this mental block, because this isn't getting me anywhere.

[firecat]

there no way to protect your ideas at all, no law exists to protect them. the only way to save your project is by doing some kind of work that you own and made.

[Katta]

It can be different in other areas, but in making VNs even if someone takes your idea and finishes their project with it (which is highly doubtful, because if they're capable of finishing a project, why aren't they able to produce their own idea?), it'll be very different from your own - because the text will be all different, so inadvertently all small choices that you make as you go will result in great difference.
Of course it's still hurtful but I'd say just continue with your project and do it the best you can.

[Vegos]

Well, I'm in no such "danger" currently, my problem is that I'm denying myself a chance for constructive feedback out of fear that I'll put myself in it again. Once bitten twice shy and all.

But, Katta does have a good point about it; and I've got work done on the thing as it is. Ah well might ask for some feedback in the future I guess.

[Didules]

Hi there!
First of all, what people said above is true ^^ When sharing your ideas with some people, there are often things you just can't convey (a personality, a message a plottwist), and this won't be stolen away ever. Your project will not be violated to that point
Then...
The experience must have been hurtful, sorry to hear this
Though remember that not all people are like this. If you wish to take baby steps to get over this mental block, I'd say share your ideas only with close friends or people who respect your work, and do it in private (not on a forum for instance ) (and if you're really feeling bad, share them with people who don't have the skills to manage to make a full game without you 8D ).
If you wish to get more feedbacks on your ideas and share it really publicly, I'd say.... show you've worked on your idea and that there's more to it that what you've just said. When seeing something that seems well - thought and already a but worked on (first drafts if writing or drawings, etc), people are often less prone to...let's say, take too much of inspiration of your work.

However, ideas aren't copyrighted, and I think everyone who shares their ideas have somehow this little sting of fear inside their head "what if someone took this idea?". But you learn to deal with it, because it's not that much the idea that matters, but how you use it, how you develop it, and how you feel with your achieved work afterwards.

Good luck to get rid of this thing blocking your path, I hope you manage to solve it and enjoy sharing your ideas again!

[KuroOneHalf]

What scope of ideas are we talking here? Very rough premise (something like "protagonist is infected with a weird disease and embarks on a journey to find a cure")? Is it characters? Is it the whole package of setting, characters and plot? And did they just take the ideas and expand on them, or also stole script you wrote?

Depending on which one it is it can vary quite a lot. If it's just ideas then I'm afraid you're just gonna have to let it go. Ideas are not only cheap, but they're also just a small part of a work, and execution is a much more important and distinguishing aspect. They can start from the same basic ideas, but their work will inevitably branch into something different than what you would've done.

Also how did this even come to happen? Did you join a team and only helped with brainstorming? Did you try to recruit a team based on these ideas you had, and the volunteers quit early into development, then went out and made a game based on those ideas?

You're not giving us a lot to go off of here. It's best that you be more specific if you're looking to get some help or discussion going on the topic.

[Gambit74]

I used to think this as well, but I have since learned not to care because there are no original ideas, and all ideas are borrowed from somewhere. During my creative writing class in high school, one of the assignments we got from my teacher involved everyone in the class to write a story about a homeless kid with a dog who lived in an urban city. Once everyone was done, the teacher read all of the works out loud. Turns out that no one had a similar story to each other even though we all started with the same basic idea.

The point here is that even if you have similar ideas as someone else, your works will never be the same.

[Kailoto]

As Kuroonehalf said, if it's just ideas, there's not much to do about it. If you want feedback on the formative process of your story, like from a fellow writer to evaluate your story and find areas to improve, then you'll just have to try again. It can help if you're friends with the person outside of the scope of your project, but even without, you can still make it through. If this is what happened to you before, then you just were unfortunate, and while there's a small chance of it happening again, it's a chance you'll have to risk if you need the feedback.

If we're talking a piece you already put work into - if you had actual outlines, concept artwork, etc. and someone stole the idea - then that's more punishable, since unlike ideas there's very clearly assets involved that are devalued. If this is what happened to you, not only will I say that it's unlikely to happen again, but I'll also add that if it does happen, you can easily accuse them of taking your ideas with the evidence to back it up. So if that's what you're worried about, then there's nothing to be worried about at all.

[vigaman]

Greetings.

Thanks to some stuff in the past where someone took my idea and ran with it (and cut me out), I've been ever since pretty timid and paranoid about sharing my creative ideas with people. And I really need to get over it because, well, can't develop as a creator much if I don't look for feedback and everything. I wonder if anyone has any kind of advice on the matter, how to deal with this mental block, because this isn't getting me anywhere.

Ideas are a dime a dozen, and not to be rude, but probably the idea you had was at its crude state. That's what that person ran off with. You probably are still refining the idea you have, so there's that to consider. I've been in a similar situation, except it's business related. I can't do anything about it because I signed a contract and the guy has access to a lawyer. Luckily I got the boot when money wasn't really involved yet. I tried the whole "sweat equity" bootstrapping out of nothing method, and nothing major came from it.

Your ideas are only worth something when all or most of your vision is executed well. That takes time, effort, and the right talents to pull off.

[Ozitiho]

It's true that ideas aren't worth much. But what you should take from that is that you don't have to be afraid to share them. Like Gambit said, even though you set out to make something with the same idea, it's very likely you'll create a different work entirely. When you want to share your idea, do it! And if someone takes it, be complimented! That means it was a GOOD idea! And don't ever let that demotivate you from making your own product anyway!

To add to that, as it's been said in here before, the story changes as soon as you've done work on it. Don't let someone else take credit for your work. Write your name on it. Maybe even include a date. Make sure you have evidence that you've done work on it. Don't let anyone take your creative work from you.

[RotGtIE]

I do not recommend sharing your ideas if the purpose is to obtain feedback. If you must expose your ideas ahead of time, it should be with other people who are also throwing ideas into the pot as part of the story development phase of your project -the part that comes mostly before and a little bit during the writing of the script itself.

Feedback is candy for the creator. It's yummy, you want it, and every little drop leaves you wanting more. And all the time you spend absorbing feedback is time you're not spending hammering out your product. What you are doing by seeking feedback is seeking the reward for creating, and by seeking feedback before you are finished with your work, you are failing to delay gratification, which is how shit winds up not getting done.

It can be difficult to pull away from this behavior, especially given that you can doodle or write in short spurts for message boards (CYOAs got pretty popular over the last couple of years in some places), generating immediate and usually positive feedback for tiny amounts of work on your part. It's completely different when you're building a VN. You're doing the opposite - deliberately concealing large amounts of work until absolutely everything is finished, in order to build a quality experience for your audience and deliver it all in one go.

If you don't feel confident that you are capable of generating enough original content on your own, you can try to grab a couple of folks together in IRC for a couple of sessions to bounce a bunch of ideas around before you begin writing a story out of it. This may sound like a bunch of Ideas Guys just shooting the shit, and it kind of is, but even Ideas Guys can be useful for a project if you understand how to wield them properly and don't expect more from them than what they are - good for generating fair starting points, but not going to be producing any assets on their own. Sometimes, Ideas Guys are also good for initial feedback and corrections, but it's really hit or miss - a lot of them get really specific ideas in mind and are not flexible enough to bend as the needs of the story demand once they latch onto one of their own ideas. With these folks, it's best to either get out of them what they're willing to offer from the start and then thank them and let them go their merry ways, or let those who want to stick around for the long haul do so and continue to provide their input as the story progresses, provided they demonstrate that they are willing to let some of their ideas go unused, as is the case for everyone else - leader writer included - who put their ideas into the pool for the project. As long as everyone is credited and compensated as agreed upon from the start, there shouldn't be any problems.

Theft is not my greatest concern, especially theft of ideas, because Ideas Guys who cannot or will not produce any content of their own cannot steal any ideas - if they don't write, illustrate, or compose, they can't actually do anything with what they "steal." The biggest concern is that someone gets into personal drama during the course of the project's development, and decides to leak everything they can. This is why the idea phase is best completed before the writing of the script goes underway. People who do not have a need to access the content of the project should not be granted access unless they are actively contributing something which moves the project from an idea to a tangible product. Those who put in any real work to produce something have more invested into the project, and are thus much less likely to leak anything, as they have something to lose from doing so.

The best situation, especially if you're the lead writer, and especially if you're already in the midst of writing your script, is to be capable of being your own idea bouncer. You should be well-versed, both in reality and in the type of story you're aiming to create, and you should be in the practice of producing rather than seeking feedback whenever you hit a rut. If you get a simple case of writer's block, instead of looking for someone to provide you with feedback, you should try to write whatever you can. Get yourself in the practice of solving your problems by writing rather than seeking feedback. This doesn't even mean that you should keep trying to write your story with no ideas in mind - just write anything. Write some crap for a different, completely unrelated story. Write about whatever thoughts are tumbling around in your head. Write a dialogue between you and yourself about what you're thinking. Just get in the habit, and sooner or later it will become second-nature to solve your own writer's block by writing more. Eventually, you'll loop yourself back around to progress, and every time you do it, you will get better at it.

This is really all about developing good habits and dropping bad habits. Bad habits are ones which feel good now but are bad for you later, and good habits are ones which feel bad now but are good for you later. Seeking and getting feedback feels good now, but it doesn't progress your story in a meaningful way - it just feels good to have someone paying attention to what you've been spending all your time doing. Pushing yourself over your own hurdles is a huge pain in the ass and feels awful now, but it pushes your story forward and gets you over hurdles without wasting your time engaging in meta talk that doesn't need to be had. Force yourself to develop this good habit and drop the bad habit of seeking feedback early and often, and you'll write better and produce more content as you go. Before you realize it, you won't be in a position to be worrying about whether someone is going to be stealing your ideas at all.

[Ozitiho]

Ah, that's true too, though. In reality I've gone out of my way to not talk publicly about my project for that same reason.

[Quelcezot]

Adopt a nihilistic mindset.

It doesn't matter if someone steals your ideas.

Ideas are important, very important. It doesn't matter how well you write or draw if you lack inspiration.

If you don't have anything significant to build on, the best you can hope for is meaninglessness and mediocrity. If someone steals your idea, and that inspiration isn't sincere anymore - then change it.

If it's so important that you don't want to change it, then you can still work on it sincerely. It doesn't matter.

My honest advice is to tell me all of your ideas. I'll tell you if I like them or not, and maybe I'll steal them. Then you can keep your eyes open and look for other ideas to pilfer. Stuff them together, and tell a story.

Ideas are sacred, and they're free. They exist outside the material world, even with no-one to think them they float around waiting to be thought. Treasure your ideas, but it was luck of the draw that you could come up with them to start with.

[Vegos]

Greetings.

Thanks to some stuff in the past where someone took my idea and ran with it (and cut me out), I've been ever since pretty timid and paranoid about sharing my creative ideas with people. And I really need to get over it because, well, can't develop as a creator much if I don't look for feedback and everything. I wonder if anyone has any kind of advice on the matter, how to deal with this mental block, because this isn't getting me anywhere.

Ideas are a dime a dozen, and not to be rude, but probably the idea you had was at its crude state. That's what that person ran off with. You probably are still refining the idea you have, so there's that to consider. I've been in a similar situation, except it's business related. I can't do anything about it because I signed a contract and the guy has access to a lawyer. Luckily I got the boot when money wasn't really involved yet. I tried the whole "sweat equity" bootstrapping out of nothing method, and nothing major came from it.

Your ideas are only worth something when all or most of your vision is executed well. That takes time, effort, and the right talents to pull off.

Well in my case it was a RP campaign that I pretty much set up, had swiped, and later kept getting told "That's John's campaign, you aren't/weren't even there" (tho the name of the offender wasn't actually "John").