A question about research and plagiarism

I realize the irony of my asking about this on a messaging board, considering I'm a professional journalist with a bachelor's degree in communication and media law, but I have a question about plagiarism. It occurred to me recently that the reason I'm having such a hard time writing a short story is that I don't do enough research. One of the best ways to place subtle detail into your writing is through extensive knowledge about the exotic locales about which you're writing. If you want to know about germophobia, look up Howard Hughes, and so forth, and so forth. But how much of this research are you allowed to integrate into your writing? I'm aware of public domain and all of that, but, say, if I have a character's who's a germophobe, and I read somewhere that Hughes refused to shake a person's hand unless he'd first wrapped his in tissue paper, am I allowed to use that in my short story? If I read a funny anecdote about Katharine Hepburn somewhere, do I need to credit that in a short story? I know you can't copywrite an idea, only the expression of an idea, but I read short stories like "The Shell Collector," where the author credits his sources, but I read other stories like "Farangs," included in "Best New Voices 2005," which also obviously required research, but there's no citing there. I have a lot of anecdotes floating around in my head from my education, derived from textbooks and teachers, do I need to cite these? Do the same rules in non-fiction extend to short and long fiction? Just thought I'd ask:hat

Actually, I think one of the biggest problems with writing a short story that will sell comes from the writer thinking it needs an exotic locale and much research.

What's exotic to you may not be exotice to many readers, and what is commonplace to you is likely to be highly exoctic to readers who live elsewhere. Good, publishable short stories generally come from the writer writing about who he is and where he lives an dthe things he knows. To a reader who lives in New York City or London, Bugtussle, Tennessee is about as exotic as it gets.

As for whether or not you need to give credit, it all depends on what you use and how you use it. You don't need to give credit for facts, but you generally do need to give credit for quotations. This is generally the rule in any form of writing.

Facts are research and fair game, but quotations of any sort should be given credit.

IMHO

Not that my humble opinion is worth much, but who doesn't love a real bargain?

Say you're writing a germophobe and you find the perfect tidbit in Howard Hughes' real-life behavior. You think he's unique? Think again. If you researched sources which exclude famous individuals, you'll find similar, if not identical, clinical observations. So if Hughes wrapped his hand in a Kleenex before shaking hands, maybe your guy uses Saran Wrap, or wears pink or yellow Playtex rubber gloves, and maybe it's not handshakes but flushing handles on toilets... There, a workable germophobic oddity that doesn't rip off Hughes in the slightest.

If you do stumble on something that's both truly unique and appears in any public source, such as a book or website, you may want to take a pass on it not because you'd have to attribute it but because some reader(s) will recognize it and be outraged that you 'stole' Hepburn's quirk.

To me, fiction is about making it up. Find something you like, sure, but put your own spin on it.

Maryn

germophobes, locations, etc.

I agree with the statement about locations, although I can't tell you if there really is a Bugtussle, TN.

As far as germophobes... your best source for variations would be couseling/psychology/psychiatric journals and case studies in those fields... there are literally 1000's of variations that can be used without using Howard Hughes as the source. More than likely HH wasn't the only one who had that particular way of dealing germs, he just happened to be the most notable.