Valeria Publications

As a content writer, one of the most recommended suggestions is to select a niche. And there’s nothing wrong with this advice.

But be honest. Don’t you find it hard to not write about the same thing over and over again?

I know I do.

And it’s more than just writer’s block. Depending on your niche, it may be hard to expand on the same talking points without repeating the same things.

Which leads me to my following question: is it possible to plagiarize yourself as a niche writer?

Let’s find out.

Is It Possible To Plagiarize Yourself?

What is the definition of plagiarism?

According to Merriam Webster’s Dictionary, it is the act of plagiarizing, or stealing ideas and passing them as one’s own.

Writers can commit the act of plagiarizing when they use a source’s original idea and fail to credit that source. Some of us may have even been victims of plagiarism.

But what if you are the original source? Is it possible to commit plagiarism against yourself?

As silly as it sounds, yes. You can commit the act of self-plagiarism if you’ve used pieces of your own work and did not give yourself the appropriate credit.

Examples of Self-Plagiarism

You’re probably mind-blown that self-plagiarism even exists. But what are some examples of self-plagiarism?

• Using the same wording and ideas from your previous works.
• Using previously collected data from your previous work.
• Copying and pasting passages from your previous work without citing it.

In the academic world, self-plagiarism can be a serious issue.

Now let’s be honest. When you write for a specific niche, no one is going to give you a failing grade if you copy certain passages from a previous blog post. But self-plagiarism can still hurt your writing career in different ways.

My Personal Experience

Last year, I wrote for several legal blog posts for different law firms. And I was constantly writing about personal injury topics that several law firms practiced.

And I’ll be honest. It was definitely hard to bring a new perspective to car accidents. Every. Single. Blog post.

There were times where my client had to remind me not to repeat the same points in different blog posts or even landing pages.

Even today with my personal blog posts, I have to constantly ask myself, “Does this sound familiar? Have I written this before?”

And that’s one of the ways that self-plagiarism can affect you as a niche writer.

The Dangers of Plagiarizing Yourself

You may be thinking, “It’s my work. Who cares if I repeat the same things in my blog posts?”

But you should care. And here are some reasons why.

You Can Seem Boring and Redundant

You don’t want to seem too predictable to your readers.

If your readers can guess what your blog post is going to be about, that’s a problem.

No matter what your niche is, your goal is to keep your audience’s attention. You don’t want to bore them.

When your audience becomes bored with you, they’ll stop reading your work altogether. And you don’t want that.

You May Come Across As Limited In Your Niche

I know. There may be times where you feel like you’ve written all that you can about your particular niche.

But that’s not entirely true. There’s always something new to learn about your niche and a different topic to write about.

When you use the same wording in your blog posts, it can seem as if your knowledge about your niche is limited. Or that you’ve stopped learning about your niche.

And neither perception is good for your writing.

You Can Lose Credibility With Your Audience

Your audience reads your written material expecting to learn something new about a particular niche.

And something new doesn’t always mean a new trend or a new discovery. It can just be your own unique perspective.

Plagiarizing yourself once or twice may not seem like a big deal. But eventually, it may cause you to lose credibility with your audience.

Why? Because nothing new is being written. It’s just the same old words or the same viewpoint.

How To Avoid Plagiarizing Yourself

So now that you know how dangerous plagiarizing yourself can be, what can you do to avoid it?

Review Your Past Work

Before writing your blog post, make sure to at least skim any past blog posts that you’ve written about similar topics.

When selecting my blog post topics for the week, I make sure to review my previous works to make sure that I’m not writing the same thing twice.

Even while writing, I always make sure to ask the following questions:

• Does this sound familiar?
• Have I written this before?

Sometimes reviewing your past work can even inspire new writing topics for your niche. You can expand on different points that weren’t mentioned in detail from previous blog posts.

Stay Creative With Your Writing

Another way to avoid self-plagiarism is to stay creative with your niche.

Even if you’re writing about a particular subject in your niche, approach that subject from a different angle.

As a legal content writer, some of my favorite topics to write about were premises liability accidents and medical malpractice incidents. The reason why is because there were so many different topics that I could write about.

I could mention different types of accidents like amusement park accidents and mention the legal options that victims have. I could write about birth injuries and how they can happen.

When writing about your niche, think about the different subtopics that you can write about. You can create different blog posts just from that alone.

Cite Your Previous Works

Last but certainly not least, make sure to give yourself credit when you do reference your previous works.

This is another great way to be creative in your writing. You can leave links to your previous work while mentioning something new in your current work.

Citing your work is a win-win situation. You can introduce your new readers to your other works and maintain your credibility with your old readers.

Final Thoughts

Yes, it is possible to plagiarize yourself.

But it’s also easy to avoid plagiarizing yourself.

Continue to write new and exciting content for your readers, avoid repeating the same words and concepts, and most importantly, cite yourself.

Check out my other blog posts centered around writing: What Most Writers Don’t Know About Their Copyrights – Valeria Publications and How To Make Your Writing More Profitable – Valeria Publications.

What are your thoughts about self-plagiarism? Share in the comments below.