I'm only writing this because it's 2am and I can't sleep. And I'm distracted by something I'd like to call a "Plagiarism Loophole." This was a random thought I had a couple years ago regarding screenwriting. I never gave it much thought after I considered it, but for some reason it came back to me tonight, and I wonder if any other screenwriter has considered the same thing. If they have, I don't think they've written about it. Because I Googled this topic, and all that came up were articles on joke thievery and Shia LeBoeuf.
The Plagiarism Loophole is this:
"If stumped on writing dialogue, browse through random comment sections on various websites and forums until you find an interesting exchange, then copy and paste the conversation in your script, and adjust accordingly to the narrative."
Is this cheating?... Perhaps. I've never felt the need to snatch any of my dialogue directly from a comment section before, but I always liked the idea though. Because really, who are you stealing from? Trolls, racists and other ignorant assholes? Besides, most conversations online are grammatical nightmares, so I'd be spending more time REVISING the conversation instead of plagiarizing it. However, that's not to say that there isn't a goldmine of material to find when one peruses the comment section of any viral material be it video, article, image, or status update. In fact, this gives writers the opportunity to build on a real life argument in their dramatic work. Where else could a conversation like that go if it was happening beyond the internet? In that sense, comment plagiarism could potentially provide more originality. And isn't that what we're after?
I don't know about you, but I'm about to travel through the land of Trolls with a notebook and a prospector's hat.
