On Jump and The Desperate Type
So this is a thing I do not want to say, but nonetheless, here I am.
There’s been some Fandom Discourse on the similarities between Chapter 18 of The Desperate Type and Chapters 28 and 30 of Jump. The take away depends on who you talk to: Some people are claiming that the author of Jump plagiarized me, some people are saying they didn’t notice any similarities between the two chapters, some people say that they liked that the stories are so similar, and in general I’ve kept out of it because I am an adult and my enjoyment of DEH is meant to be exactly that: enjoyment. I don’t want to engage in some petty fight. I’m not interested in a pissing contest. My work stands for itself and, ultimately, was posted and completed to chapter 18 before Jump was ever published. I’m not exactly pleased that this happened, but you know, life goes on.
But having seen a number of posts floating around, I thought maybe it was time I said something.
Here goes: I do think the similarities between Jump and TDT are a little too close to be pure coincidence. I’ve spoken to the author of Jump about it, although my message was never returned, and their latest chapter, published after my message, is also very similar. As the author has stated publicly, their intention wasn’t to pass off my work as their own. I am sure that is true. However, as the author of TDT, chapters 28 and 30 of Jump read like shot for shot rewrites of chapter 18. And I don’t really think the appropriate course of action to this being pointed out to them is simply to say “I didn’t do this on purpose” and then comment vaguely about it on tumblr and refuse to address it further on the fic itself.
The author of Jump is young, and I never want to scare someone off of writing. I love other writers, and in some way I guess I am glad to see my work is so influential. But basically, the rule of thumb I’ve always followed is: if you’re not certain the idea is 100% without a doubt, purely your own, cite it. If someone says it still reads too much like another work, change it. If you don’t, then it’s plagiarism.
For example, The Desperate Type is modeled, in part, on a book called My Heart and Other Black Holes. The main plot outline was directly inspired by that book. I mention it in the summary and in the notes of the first chapter. It is clear as day.
No such indications about what inspired the plot appear on Jump. I know. I literally just checked.
There are other fics on AO3 that have been very similar to TDT in one way or another. For example: Between the Pages by arimarris features Connor working as a librarian, and Now We’re Making Some Progress by murphystarr borrows Dave the Tattoo Artist, Connor’s librarian career, and his pine tree tattoo. Both of these authors include my handle and the title of my fic in their notes, indicating clearly that they were inspired by my writing before embarking on their story. Both of these authors they told me prior to publication about their plans for their stories, and now we chat regularly and I consider them wonderful friends. I would like to encourage others to follow these examples if writing something based on my work is something they are interested in doing.
TL;DR: I don’t appreciate the way the author of Jump has handled this conversation, mostly because I wasn’t able to have a conversation with them about this after I said my piece. I try to assume good intentions whenever possible, but that simply isn’t possible for me now. I don’t appreciate the vague posts on tumblr or the disrespect toward readers. I’m not expecting total professionalism from a sixteen year old, but I do expect kindness to be extended to fans of both of our works.
So, that’s my stance. Take what you want from it; I know authorial intent isn’t really worth a damn. I will not be posting any hate for the author of Jump or their fic at all anywhere, so please don’t go looking for that from me.
Feel free to drag me publicly if you must. I’m certain some corner of fandom will decide to paint me as a jerk because of this or bash my writing. That’s fine with me. I can take it. I’m just a grandpa trying to tell stories.
And my story was published entirely in April of this year.
