To Borrow or To Steal?
Immature artists imitate. Mature artists steal.
–Lionel Trilling–
What do you all think of this quote?
Recently I wrote about this on my personal site, expecting to expand on it, but life got in the way… (Moving, New Job, Holidays and all!)
So I’m going to talk to you about it instead.
I personally agree with Mr. Trilling.
Here’s my reason why — I stole the ending to my book. Yes, I did. I admit it.
But before you start chastising me, hear me out…
A few months ago, I was watching one of those crazy, Japanese thrillers. You know, the ones like The Grudge, and the one that inspired The Ring? Well this one had the coolest idea and I knew something else could be done with it. Something other than what this particular movie did. The movie was great, truly—one of my favorites now, but I knew the idea could be expanded on and used so many different ways!
It wasn’t intentional, but I began to think about how the concept of the entire film could be used in even a tiny part of my story. And, voila—I had my ending. Or at least the beginning to my ending. The main problem that my dear Alexis will have to solve in her own, tragic way.
This dilemma ended up becoming the cornerstone of my entire book. I figured out how it could be woven in to the rest, all the way back to the prologue. And now I couldn’t imagine my book without it. It would be a boring, pointless story. Kind of makes me wonder what my original plan was for the novel…
Anyway, back to the quote.
I take it to mean that mature artists steal from everything around them and turn it into their own. Kind of like American Idol, ‘You made it your own, dawg!’ Ha ha!
But seriously, not to toot my own horn (and I’m far from a mature ‘artist’), if a writer can take anything and everything they see and experience and feel, and turn it into something for their own work, that shows creativity and ingenuity.
Whereas writers who haven’t found their own style yet attempt to ‘borrow’ from other authors. They try to emulate their favorites, but never quite succeed. Their craft hasn’t yet matured.
At least, that’s my take on what Lionel Trilling was attempting to say.
Do you agree or not?
Why?
Let us know!
(And please, don’t be too hard on me about my theft—don’t turn me in…)
Since winning her first writing competition, Eden Tyler, has only fallen more in love with the written word. She uses her English and Psychology backgrounds to create depth to her stories while contributing to and running websites about writing. This is what fulfills her, along with working as an freelance author as well as an editor at Etopia Press — nothing beats being able to write and edit in order to put food on the table (and that ever-essential roof overhead) for her family.
what up Eden !
I definitely agree with stealing from numerous sources in order to create something uniquely our own =)
I think its important to expose ourselves to as many different things as possible !
Exactly! You said it just right — “expos[ing] ourselves to as many different things as possible” is what gives us inspiration. Whether it be reading, watching movies, going to a museum (of art, history, what have you…) — all these things are great for ideas for writing.
It all ties in (in a way) with “write what you know” and “there are no new ideas.”
Thanks for the comment, Rocky! =)
Sometimes the real question is “When does something become your own?” And what do you think about sites like Copyscape writing these rules…
Right? When is it your own??
I write research articles that are all checked for plagiarism (obviously) before they are published. The content is definitely the same as a lot that’s out there (I know…I’ve checked), but it’s the way we write things with our own spin on it that makes it different. (knock on wood, I’ve never had anything come back as even questionable..)
At least that’s my take on it….
Thanks for the comment, Ted :)
I think the main problem with statements like that, are the masses of lazy asses that won’t consider what is actually being said, and they will take away only one fact. If these artists are saying it is alright to steal other people’s work then why can’t I? They won’t consider it thoughtfully and try to understand the nuance of the saying.
I think that this also only furthers the idea that there are no new ideas out there. People hit a road block, and often times they turn away from their story to seek out inspiration. Now like you said, Eden, borrowing on a theme and turning it into an altered action that fits with your story is going to happen, I wouldn’t label it as stealing though, even to be clever, because I do not think it is stealing. I simply label it as co-opting. I also wouldn’t call it that, b/c of the number of sensitive artists I know who would have a strong reaction to the word, so as to not really hear the true idea behind it.
So I probably would’ve chosen other language, but that’s just me.
Hi Rob!
I actually kind of agree with what you’re saying… It does take away from your own writing to say you’re stealing, or even co-opting. I just came across the quote and thought it’d be something interesting to write about. So, the language is more his than mine…I might have chosen a different word ;)
Thanks for reading — as always! You rock!!
-Eden*
I must say, I definitely agree with what Rob is saying. I also find it clever how you used that quote from Lionel Trilling, which was either intentionally / or unintentionally “stolen” / modified from both Picasso & T.S. Eliot. »
“Good Artists Borrow, Great Artists Steal”
Personally, I don’t believe that quote at all, and as Rob stated, “I probably would’ve chosen other language.”
That quote has always been, and will always be an absolute statement, and that’s dangerous, especially in the creative industry, (which consists of nothing but the contrary). Any creative who deals in absolutes has chosen the wrong profession to be in, because to truly be creative, one needs to see beyond black & white, and definitely needs to see outside the box.
Inspirations are inevitable. Everyone, big or small, has been inspired. But it stops being inspiration when one deliberately compromises and crosses that ethical and professional line for their own personal gain. Honestly, I would leave this situation up to the individual. If the individual feels a sense of guilt or remorse for what they’re doing, then they shouldn’t be doing it. If not, then I guess they’re okay with not putting in the hard work to become something greater than just a meager carbon copy.
Also, the movie that inspired the Ring was (リング, Ringu) = The Ring = the original. » http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9Z-MOqAvtY&feature=related
Same with the Grudge. The original was titled Ju-on = the Grudge.
Oh, and in regards to your book, you might want to research the controversy surrounding Kaavya Viswanathan, a Harvard graduate who, very similarly to your situation, wrote a book, but plagiarized several passages from other sources. »
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2006/4/23/students-novel-faces-plagiarism-controversy-beditors/
There’s also some really dope articles from New York Magazine regarding similar themes that I would highly recommend any creative to read. »
http://nymag.com/arts/books/features/16932/
http://nymag.com/news/imperialcity/16935/
Hey Michael!!
Interesting you wrote all that you did….I was actually wondering who, if anyone, would mention, a) the quote itself, b) The Ring (I even said “the one that inspired The Ring” ;)), and c) The Grudge.
I kind of threw them in there (along with taking the idea for the post from my own blog) as kind of a twist on the post itself.
I was talking about it with someone, after I posted it, about how ironic it all was.
I’ll have to look into the Harvard grad you posted the link about. Sounds interesting! In my case, I twisted everything so much in my head and the content is completely different….not even close to the same story….that it’s really nothing the same as the movie I watched. It’s really something as simple as the idea of abandonment and the different things you can do with that concept and the emotions that go along with it. It sounds pretty basic, but it took that movie and seeing it in a fantasy-based world (my book is an urban fantasy) to realize what I should do with my story.
Anyway, thanks for all the links — I’ll go check them out! And thanks for reading =)
-Eden*
–oh, and you’re right about guilt. if you know you’re doing something wrong and it’s not truly yours…then something needs to change. i think that’s a lot of what it all boils down to. (unless you have no conscience or moral fiber…than that’s a whole other issue ;))
Hello Eden,
Congratulations on finding your ending. Or your ending finding you.
It was a gift that you recieved. Your story was written before you put pen to paper. You just had to be in the right place at the right time to receive the creative signal/inspiration to make it happen.
How do you think ideas come about?
It’s not out of the void of nothingness. Rather out of our rich experiences and stimuli we recieve through our senses. It takes creativity, talent, skill and patience to discern this information and turn it into art.
Someone once said that “Creativity is plagerism undetected”. I totally disagree.
As a screenwriter I look for new ways to tell stories that make us feel a certain way. But no matter how clever I craft a “boy meets girl, boy looses girl, boy gets girl again” script…it’s still the same ol story.
The goal is the creative telling as well as the emotion that the audience is left with (which is as old as time itself).
Don’t give a second thought when this happens again…and it will.
To be honest….you have only put to words what happens everyday.
And if your post is your confession…then this response is mine.
Thanks, Marc!
We appreciate you stopping by Fuel and I love that you took the time to leave a comment. Good luck with your screenwriting!!!
-Eden*
In copywriting, “stealing” ideas is so common that it’s taught in copywriting classes. Every new writer is told to keep a “swipe file” of marketing materials that really grabbed their attention. These materials are then used to jump-start ideas – often when writing about completely unrelated products or services.
But of course, we don’t steal the actual words. We steal the concept or the idea, mix it around, turn it upside down, pick little nuggets from it, and eventually turn it into our own.
That said… a few stolen things are so common that we don’t think about where they originated. How many times have you heard “But wait, there’s more!” (I’m a little sick of that one, myself.)
Thanks for reading and commenting, Marte.
That’s interesting — I’ve never done any copywriting, so I don’t know much about it at all…..the “swipe file” is something I’ve never heard of, but it’s something I’ve used (and I know A Lot of writers who do, as well). We don’t actually write down words or sentences or steal anything, but an idea or a mood or a way something’s done—yeah, we’ll take notes on that for future use…if it happens to fit in to something we’re doing later. Nothing’s outright stolen or even borrowed, but these notes inspire us, for sure!
We just keep a file of “good stuff” to re-read when we need to come up with a different approach. It’s interesting how the same kind of concept can work for products that are not all alike, or for a service when it first worked for a product.
Really, it’s just a solitary form of brainstorming.
Okay, so…when does “stealing” or “borrowing” become inspiration?
That’s what I was asking….in a sense ;)
As with Rob’s comment and my response just now, maybe the terminology isn’t the best, but it is what the quote said and that’s what I was going off of.
Everything in life is inspiration. I wouldn’t believe a single writer alive who said they’ve never taken anything from something they’ve read before. Whether it’s intentional or not, it happens…
That’s why reading is one of the best ways to become a better writer. :)
Any instances in life, any occurrence, any story…all the things that happen that we experience, or that we view, inspire what it is that we write or express in other forms of art.
That’s all I was getting at with this post….I apologize if it came across differently than I intended. :/
Thanks for reading and commenting — I appreciate it, Emily!!
I agree with those who have said that the quote should be worded differently, but I definitely agree with the spirit (as I see it) of the quote.
“Imitating” – which could also be worded as “copying” – is surely the mark of a poor(er) writer, and can often result in plagiarism in the worst cases. But “stealing” can be the mark of a good (or great) writer, IF that writer complete takes that thing and, inspired by it, twists it and takes it apart and puts it back together again – making it their own. By the sounds of it Eden, that’s what you have done with your story.
Congratulations on completing the story, and thanks for a great article!
“Standing on the shoulders of giants” has always been how we’ve progressed as a species. We learn from the past, build on what has already been built and take inspiration from those who have come before.
Roger Meyers, Jr. has a good rant about this topic at the end of The Simpsons episode, “The Day the Violence Died.”
I would think then that to steal, as “mature artists” are implied to do, would be to take something directly rather than build on something that inspired them. I don’t know that “mature artists” do this. I think the quote above implies that “mature artists” do their homework and identify from what they are drawing inspiration. Rather than merely “imitating” something that has been drawn into the collective culture, “mature artists” research and find something specific to build upon. (for example, the quotes on which I am basing this response.)
While, in a fictional work, an artist may not point to that certain piece as their source, hence the “stealing,” in a work of non-fiction it seem required to point out the works and references on which you are building. I think, therefore, that “immature artists” know not their specific source, and end up creating something more broad and often less inspired than “mature artists” who draw from specific research and build upon it.
I like your take on this, Eric!
Thanks for reading and commenting =)