Unfortunately I had to split this into multiple parts because of Reddit's post limit. Find the other parts here: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6.2 Part 6.3

If You Want to Change Your Rules, You Can

When I posted my first script I only had 3 rules for using my scripts. Over time I’ve altered my rules and now I have 5. Don’t be afraid to change your usage rules when you either find out about something or change your opinion on something you already knew about. Only you can decide how your scripts should be used, and if that changes at any point you have the right to change it.

If Someone Breaks Your Usage Rules, Be Firm

Luckily I haven’t had to do this myself, but I still want you to know. Unfortunately, sometimes VAs won’t follow your rules. This is why I suggest putting them everywhere, so you can make yourself clear. Even still, sometimes people don’t do it. Whether it’s because they didn’t see the rules or didn’t care enough to follow them, you should be firm when talking to them. Don’t be rude, but sending a simple message like “Hello! I am the writer of the script you used in this audio, and you didn’t follow rule insert rule here. Could you please fix that issue/take the audio down? Thank you for understanding.” is necessary in that instance. If they still don’t listen afterwards, that’s when it’s time to get help. Asking some friends you have in the community or making a post in this sub will help send the message and hopefully force that person to respond. Again when doing this don’t be rude or aggressive. It can be tempting when you’re frustrated, but you’ll have much more success if you calmly ask for help rather than calling for people to brigade. This should be a rare instance, but you should still be prepared. And if they continue to not listen, you have every right to blacklist them from using your scripts.

Inspiration is Always Ok, Plagiarism is Never Ok

The question of inspiration vs plagiarism is a complicated one, but something that writers should still be aware of. It’s perfectly alright to be inspired by something. That’s part of the creative process! But you should NEVER and I repeat NEVER copy someone else’s work. That is the quickest way to lose all credibility as a creator. Now, some scripts have concepts that are so common that it’s hard to consider them plagiarism unless they were copied word-for-word (Ex: Partner comforts you after work, Yandere kidnaps you, ect.) but even then you should try to make the specifics different from the work of others. Note that there is nothing wrong with using common ideas, just be sure to not copy. Trust me, you’ll know if you copied.

Now as for inspiration, for an example of me being inspired by another work in the community is this script of mine compared to this series of audios by SkittyKat (definitely listen to those audios if you have the time they’re great). Both of them use the concept of headpats/affection being treated like drugs, but there are many notable differences. Skitty’s audio uses a dealer as the main speaker while mine has a school delinquent. Skitty’s focuses more on the tingles and sound effects while mine has comedy as the main focus. Her’s has little swearing and mine is chock full of it. The listener in her audio is seeking out headpats and the one in mine is pressured into it. Those are just some examples of differences. Another example (that I’m only putting here because I want you to check out the audios I was inspired by) is this series of mine and this series of audios by Dangerous ASMR. Both of them star a succubus speaker, a romance between the speaker and listener, and the speaker’s mother as an antagonist. But again there are clear differences. My series starts with the succubus being staunchly against seducing humans whereas Dangerous ASMR’s has the succubus enthusiastically trying to seduce the listener. Mine is much more teen-friendly and hers is very much adult. My character is asexual coded and hers is very enthusiastic about sex. Hers has the concept of the soul forge and soulmates whereas mine has nothing like that.

I once heard a quote from a video on the Diregentleman channel (I don’t remember which video, but I think it was a “Two Professional Writers” one) that I think fits here. “Don’t try to be the next someone else, try to be the first you.”

Maintain a Schedule

This isn’t something you’ll have to do right away, but if you decide that writing is something you want to do for the foreseeable future I’d suggest getting a posting schedule. It doesn’t have to be very strict. Something like “I’ll post at least 1 script every week” is good enough. This will help keep you in the loop of writing so that you don’t put it off. However, keep in mind that your schedule can change. If you decide that you can handle more/less writing, you have irl stuff in the way, or a script is simply taking longer than expected that’s ok. Just be sure to let your followers know if something like this comes up. You don’t have to explain things like irl situations, but just inform them that this next script might take a bit longer than normal.

Don’t Exclusively Chase Trends

Now, there’s nothing wrong with writing things that are trendy at the moment. Heck, sometimes you’ll get excited about this new trendy thing and want to join in or the trend will inspire you to make something you wouldn’t have otherwise thought of. But if all you do is chase the next trendy thing, you won’t fully be able to get your own voice out there! Trends come and go, and what’s left afterwards is the works that were a part of it. And it becomes glaringly obvious in hindsight if a work was made with passion, or if it was just to capitalize on something popular. (Think about those old Dreamworks movies [Antz, Shark Tale, ect.] that were clearly made because of Pixar movies that were popular around the same time [A Bug’s Life, Finding Nemo, ect.]) This isn’t something I’ve necessarily seen a lot in the community, but I wanted to cover my bases.