A question about how much to reveal (perils of posting on the internet)

When I read the thread title, I thought that the subject would be related to personal information/security. As far as Ideas, there is little to fear. And you don't really know that no one else is working on the same subject, do you? There could be ten very secretive individuals with parallel projects.

I wouldn't blab about valuable sources, but certainly it is not a bad idea to discuss the process.

I tend to talk about my writing process in the abstract. And it's interesting how detailed you can get without naming names, sources or ideas, lol. I know many people say not to worry about ideas being stolen (heck, I'm one of them who says that), but I also don't much feel like going out of my way to make it easier for anyone either. In the end of course, there are no new ideas, it's the execution that matters most. You can give a group of authors the exact same idea and get different stories from each of them. Still . . . if you want to write about the process, why not try without the details first and see how that works for you. If you are finding it too obtuse, then take it to the next level.

Good luck!

I post short excerpts once in a while. Look, if it's so good that people want to steal them, then I really have something great and I'll have nothing to worry about. I don't usually share ideas -- not publicly for general consumption. I would talk about it vaguely, but definitely no details. And I keep my high-concept ideas to myself. Simply put: ideas can't be copyrighted, so I'm a bit more protective that way.

Yeah, I don't like posting ideas publicly either.

As for excerpts, I don't think it's a big deal to post a small excerpt or two. In fact, it's probably a good idea to get a little feedback on it.

I would rather you steal my work than my ideas. I can prove the work is mine. Ideas are different. My wife is sitting on an idea whose time has come, and I searched for something similar, there's nothing.

I answered the poll for fiction, but you are talking about nonfiction, which is a slightly different story. If you'd turned up an important letter or document that is key to your biography, I would treat that with a little more caution than I would fiction -- not so much out of fear of theft but because in nonfiction you have to treat your original sources carefully, cite them, put in context, etc.

I am very careful with my nonfiction project. I don't mind giving a general synopsis of the idea, but I want to protect the privacy of the people I interview until publication. Besides, if anyone else wrote something similar, that would make it much more difficult to sell my project.

As for fiction, I agree with a PP who said that he's rather someone stole his work than his idea. I don't mind posting excerpts, but I wouldn't post my idea for a work in progress.

If your book isn't published yet, keep in mind that some (or all??) publishers don't want excerpts online where EVERYONE can read them. My publisher requested that any previously published material be removed from the Internet before publication.

Yeah, I had to do a lot of site-hopping and paper-digging with that request.

As for ideas, I agree not to go too heavy into details. Sure, talk about the writing process, vaguely mention an idea or two, but don't reveal anything someone would snatch from your site/blog/etc.

I know others post work (and ideas) online but it's not something i'm comfortable with. I'll post questions about a WIP but nothing 'revealing' as it were.

Ideas, I keep to myself.

Excerpts, I use to get feedback. I've got a few things posted here in SYW that I wouldn't have known didn't work without outside eyes. I also generally post the same excerpts to another private (non-writer) board to see if their reaction is the same or different.

As long as the excerpts don't give everything away, you're good. (Of course revealing ideas is necessary if you post a query letter)

I also answered your poll as pertaining to fiction.

I post excerpts in SYW. (And I've found it very helpful.) But I wouldn't post excerpts publically. And I don't post ideas at all.

I don't post my ideas, not because I'm afraid someone will steal them, but because ideas are worth a dime a dozen, although in this economy...

I post on SYW without fear, but it took me some time to get to that point. I don't leave stuff up once it falls off the first few pages though. I don't want people to go back and dig up my crappy drafts.

Nicole