Plagiarism in the context of Immorality

According to Wikipedia - Plagiarism is the "wrongful appropriation" and "stealing and publication" of another author's "language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions" and the representation of them as one's own original work.

Just recently I was reminded of how easy it is to be lazy in one's writing. By no means did I have the intention of stealing anything, or not doing my own work. I had written an article on Hubpages which had to do with how authors get through Writers Block. Every writer goes through phases in which they just can't think of a thing to write. A very common malady. And there are a number of techniques to get through it. I thought it came out pretty well. I had examples of some techniques a writer could use, and a couple videos by well known authors who tell how they get through it.

Like I said, it was pretty good. At least I thought so. But what I didn't realize at the time, Lazy and stupid on my part, I had taken a shortcut to my writing the article. On another of my own sites, my own blog, I had already used some of this same article. I wasn't thinking of anything like plagiarism. I was thinking of the sharing of the techniques used to get passed writer's block.

So here is my Ethical Dilemma: Does using my own original work on another site constitute plagiarism? According to Hubpages and Wikipedia, yes. To my mind, no. I just wanted to share what I had written. And if it wasn't plagiarism, it was simply laziness on my part for not re-writing the article. And I knew better. I have a Journalism Degree that should have reminded me of it. The article was taken down for violation of their content policies until it could be re-written. And I agree with the decision, and I have re-written it for re-consideration for publication. Also, on Hubpages Facebook page I wrote an open apology letter to the editors. My intention was not to pass off anyone's writing as my own. It was, after all, my writing. But I do realize why.

Hubpages and other sites like it want original content and original thinking on their sites. It does not matter if you used form your own site or not. When published on the net or in paper form, your own or another, if used somewhere else, it is still stealing. I don't know whether I can admit that stealing from myself is plagiarism, but it is lazy writing, and I have never been accused of laziness when it came to my articles or short stories, or whatever I've tried to have published.

The moral I have come to learn from this is that content is king. Original content is what will make or break any forum such as a blog, paper articles, newspaper, media, or Hubpages. And I am deeply sorry for my lapse. And the old axiom that of old dogs not being able to learn new tricks is bull****.

You tube has wonderful reference guides for the teaching and understanding of plagiarism. I would recommend that anyone, including myself, 'bone-up' on what it really means and how to avoid it in the future.

Lazy writing is no excuse for original writing.