Living things are imitators by nature. Regardless of age, era or perspective, they tend to study other things or other people’s creations. Whether it is a cave painting, a nation’s technological advancement, or a composer’s musical composition, there will be emotions in it. These emotions may be respect, ambition or jealousy. But they will always be there.
Living beings are also creators. The existence of a human being brings creation and destruction. We make things and we consume things. And if this work requires a lot of effort, struggle and patience, perhaps we need to learn, experience and consume first in order to be able to create in a better way.
There are other ways to create a work. You can either be inspired from the beginning, be influenced along the way, or plagiarize/copy at the end. I want to talk about these.
I do not want to categorise them as good or bad. It is up to you how you feel about these concepts.
Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash
Some people are inspired by the work of others in the creative process. Usually we feel captured by the work of others before we begin. We love to see, read, examine, experience the perspective of other people’s thinking on the similar things we are working on. We enjoy or rather dislike the other sides of them and make a sense in our mind. Within this sense we can discuss or come up with other works.
It is understandable to fall in love with these works or to really think on opposite poles and create something new, but in a familiar approach to what we have experienced. In the end, in order to be able to create our work, we had to examine it and feel pushed or perhaps motivated by it, apart from our own thoughts. In fact, it does not always have to be a resemblance; what you create can be in a completely different field from where you were inspired. But it had an impact on you nonetheless.
I think inspiration is inevitable. No matter where you look, you can find a piece of inspiration for your work. That is why there are tons of different ways to create a work, that is why we have different categories for different tastes. Otherwise it would be homogeneous and meaningless. Inspiration would not mean what it means.
When you are working on your work, we can assume that you are inspired by something or someone. So it is normal to ask the question: “What inspired your work?” Surely we will answer with a smile and passion. Because that is what inspiration should bring us: joy and motivation. But it doesn’t necessarily have to inspire us to continue working in the same field. Totally original ideas and detailed compositions can be concentrated in our work.
So we go further. Influencing is about some details. If it is a novel, we develop a style, a voice for ourselves. But it is normal for us to be influenced from time to time by the authors we have enjoyed reading. You can expect to see some familiar examples from their novels with our originality. A few easter eggs, similar names for our characters or funny anecdotes can bring joy and respect.
You don’t copy a work completely when you influence it, but you take what is given and create something new thanks to your thoughts, ideas and creativity. Of course, sometimes things can be unexpected. Your work may look similar to known works. People may accuse you of stealing aspects directly. But in the end, the beauty of a creation lies in the fusion of the responsibility to be original and to consume what we love to experience. Not to bring it into the work as it is, without shame.
But there is another story in this narrative. You may be inspired by what you read, you may be influenced in some parts of your creative process, but you may still feel that something is missing. You need a better approach and you lack that creativity in your mind.
Your heart wants more for some reason. Perhaps to feel better, to get more attention and fame, or simply for income. There is a way to get it. You can sell your soul to the devil. Boost your creative process quickly, without any struggle, and plagiarise someone else’s work.
I said I would try to be impartial about this, but I can see no good reason to plagiarise or copy someone else’s work completely. In fact, it is stealing. However, the importance of this concept lies in what it is really about. The difference has to be clear. Copying does not have to be direct; it can be inspired or influenced. You may be able to create a similar work or find something similar to what you have already done. But directly copying a finished work is basically stealing. Making a few changes here and there will not change the fact that there is a lack of work on it. But in the end, as we have said, it is a question of achieving more with less effort.
Photo by Mahrous Houses on Unsplash
When you are creating something that is important to you, you can clearly see the differences between these three concepts. When you have a great concept in your head, you are passionate about working on it. When you see your baby take a few small steps, you get excited and want to teach it more. But when someone comes along and takes all your memories and experience, it is obviously a shameless act that no one should applaud.
In short, inspiration from a book might motivate you to work on your own (it might even be something else rather than a book). Influencing might give you some interesting details to tweak and weave into your story. In this case, plagiarism should be your nemesis.
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