Filip, I don't know you. Before I read about your review scandal, I can't say that I have ever even seen your writing prior to this situation. I was hoping so much that you had unintentionally plagiarized, and it would all be rainbows and unicorns for you.
But it's not.
I started digging a bit, and I saw your major. Mass communications. Again, I had hoped you were a neophyte writer, and that IGN had given you a chance to write about what you love.
You weren't a neophyte. You weren't ignorant to what unintentional plagiarism is. (I guess if maybe you lied about your college degree, then perhaps I could make a case for that.)
What a conundrum. Although I have met and read many who have unintentionally plagiarized others' work, I have also read intentionally plagiarized work for the past twenty years.
People plagiarize for a myriad of reasons. However, the one I see most often is the writer in question not starting with the end in mind. For example, I know that students will often underestimate the amount of work that must go into to completing a project by the due date. With that in mind, you have to teach yourself how to plan backwards. One has to have a good grasp of how much each step will take, and the process is quite challenging in the best of circumstances.
Here's my English teacher comparison from the past week: school started last week in Florida--I made one class set of the syllabus, and I placed the file online. It's truly a stupid assignment. I mean super ridiculous. Students have to print out the parent signature page. Then, they have to have it signed. Next, they have to scan it. Finally, they have to upload it.
Smart kids, they said, "Hey, this is a dumb assignment. Why do we have to do it?"
(I encourage them to ask me why I assigned something with whatever ridiculous parameters I give.)
Most of the time, I am trying to help them practice a skill that I know they will use later in high school, or college, or work. For real, we all end up scanning some document for something.
My point to them was this: "I would rather have you practice this with something that doesn't matter much, than to have to try to scan that file and upload it at 3AM because you got behind." People always get behind. They always put too much on their plates. They always overestimate how much they can deliver.
They do. Call it optimism, but that is the main caveat to major projects.
What does any of this mean to you, Filip? This is my theory. I am going to bet that you have intentionally plagiarized for a long while. I don't know your age, but I have taught an entire generation or two for whom plagiarism was not the exception, but the rule. I see it all the time in high school. Cut and paste. Google it. Find an essay on line. Each year, it becomes more and more difficult to catch it or to stop it.
But, Filip, somewhere along the line, you learned this behavior. You didn't get caught then. Maybe, you have an award-winning personality. Or people listen to you because you speak with such authority that they believe in you. This is true anytime you write or speak using emphatic order. Bark out orders. Use the implied subject "you," and people will follow where you lead.
I play games because I want to be able to escape. I am sure people have read or watched your work for the same reason. You get excited. They get excited. It's heady...isn't it?
The pressure, however, is real. I am assuming you would have to play through the entire game. No matter how good you are--that's hours. Then you are going to have to produce content. Anyone who writes or produces creative material knows that this can take an immense amount of synthesis before you have even committed to writing or recording a single word. I have looked at the screen for hours. I have cleaned the bathroom. Eaten some yogurt. Checked the mail. You get the point.
Getting started can be an act of, and often is, sheer determination.
Which does not remotely account for editing, style, polish.
A former neighbor of mine is a fairly successful vlogger. The hours and energy put into a 10, 15, 20 minute video is staggering. Creating multiple videos weekly and monthly is beyond my understanding.
I read an article the other day about how many of the online, internet sensations are burning out. The constant demand for more likes. More material. More clicks. More clicks. More clicks.
I see it daily in my classes. I have young people puking with anxiety over projects or tests or deadlines. The demands of their smartphones, and snap streaks or email or constant texts. Why did you leave me unread? Why did you read me and not respond?
I am fairly certain that we could diagnose most of the country with legit ADHD at this point. I can speak to this with some authority. But i digress.
Anyway, you keep up the juggling and something has to give. In this case, it was integrity.
That's a tough one. Veracity in your field is expected.
My point is--this whole dumb self-assignment--is you must apologize.
Here's a start--
You have to be honest. To your very core honest. You have to cop to the truth. No matter if you get sued. No matter if it breaks your heart. No matter if it breaks your family's trust for a bit. You have to do it immediately.
This is not The Crucible. I am not hoping for your destruction. But I also don't want you to kill yourself or give greater weight to this than it is. That would be a tragedy.
In the end, I do know one thing about you...you love games. I do too. I don't write about them because I have not chosen that as a profession. I get to play during winter and summer break. Sometimes, I have seen the sunrise after playing a video game all night long. (Diablo 3--it was like a casino in my house without a clock to slow my roll.) You get the point.
What I want you to remember when all is said and done--they're just effin games. No one died. Your pride may be bruised. Some online people may want to grab their virtual pitchforks. But for real--they're games.
The remarkable truth about this country is that you can have a do-over. You can screw up. You can fail. You can screw up in new ways. My truest, most sincere hope is that you will screw up better next time
"Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail better" Samuel Bennett (https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/samuel_beckett_121335)
See what I did there? Fail better. Take your lumps. Tell the truth. And let the haters hate. I'm sure you will never read this. I have 1 follower on my blog. I have 9 followers on Twitter. I lost 1--I had 10 before. I'm not looking to be famous or right. I am not looking to kick you while you are down. But I spend 6 periods a day talking young people off the ledge. I don't get clicks or likes. I get to tell them to breathe, and I get to ask them how I can help them. I have the honor of saying--"What do you need me to do?"
So, I am doing what I needed to do. I pontificated about what now appears to be your purposeful plagiarism. I am going to forgive you. I don't like what you did. I don't like that you took the easy way out because you overestimated your ability to deliver. I don't like that your online apology was a non-apology. But I understand what happened.
As an English teacher for over twenty years who will be dragging when I have to get up at 5AM to be ready for students at 7AM, I had to tell you that you are forgiven. You can move on.
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