We’re all Thieves
(Uh, nope this isn’t the second in my naval contemplation of genres. I’m on the road today, crew, and will be posting periodically. So I went with an easier one to bat around. Enjoy!)
“Sin? Sin! Blast it, where did that sneaky tart go?” Chance held up the vial of perfect brightness, figuring even that ninja couldn’t hide from that elvish light. She hadn’t counted on that cloak Sin had flinched from the wizard’s school. The Quartermaster was invisible, still!
“Wow, this thing is great!” Terrio spun, holding out an old looking compass. “If I think of my daughter, it points to her! If I think about a job, it points toward toward the southeast! This is so cool! Slipping into that script was a great idea, Chancy!”
Chance rolled her eyes, hating that new nickname. She glanced over toward Marnee, who was gazing intently into a large mirror of water.
“I can see my son…he’s going to be so handsome! Oh, and the new baby...!” Marnee beamed, being careful not to let anything touch the oddly still bit of water. On a ship…and it didn’t move. Gotta love magic.
“I’ve got twelve things done and in the oven!” Santa twisted the lever of the time piece she’d lifted from the girl at Hogwarts. “And I’ve finally caught up with all my e-mail!”
This ship was becoming dangerously full of stolen ideas.
Chance thought it would be fun to slip into other books and lift a few bits of sparkle. After all, they are pirates and pirates…uh…borrow. A lot. But she had a feeling the Captain wasn’t going to agree about this. Though her never ending barrel of rum was stolen from an idea from her own book…
But Hogwarts! There was going to be hell to pay when the Captain made it on the ship.
Damn.
You do know there are no new ideas. No new plots… Everything that seems new is just a different perspective on an old idea. I, personally, have lifted ideas from numerous sources. My sexual witch? Janet Morris did it first. (Though I’m sure the erotic pubs have played this. It’s a natural!) Traveling through time and space? Thank you, the BBC and Dr. Who. Riding through space without a vehicle? Thank you Doris Piserchia and Star Rider. An infinite variety of alternate worlds? Michael Moorcock. A world without people? Left to rot without human intervention? The History Channel and Life After People. I am sure there are more examples in my books. Dozens. Or more.
J.K. Rowling purportedly credited Diane Duane and the So You Want to Be a Wizard? series as inspiring Harry Potter. (An American version… I like Duane. It’s a good series.)
Tolkien borrowed extensively from the myths of Northern Europe. (In the movie, anyone else see Saruman’s Orcs and think…Klingons?)
The entire Star Trek universe, personal opinion, can be traced back to A. E. van Vogt and The Voyage of the Space Beagle. Van Vogt had an episode in the Beagle book that had to be the inspiration for Alien.
We all do it. We all read something that just twinkles for us and like the good pirates we are, we steal it. Er…borrow it. Now, we generally disguise it. Give it a different name, twist elements of it. Be it a basic universe, a magical toy, a plot device, a character’s profession…
The key, I’m certain, is to brand it in some unique way. To make it ours. Change it so that it isn’t instantly recognizable. Now, some readers are going to see it and be offended. Or entertained. Sometimes, we’ll do it better. Sometimes, we’ll do it worse. But we must make it ours.
I tread close with A Caribbean Spell… I struggle to separate it from fan fiction. And I am constantly tweaking it, changing this and that…pulling it away from the roots of the idea. I think I need another good rewrite to cement it as an individual work of fiction. I won’t mind if it be seen by those who love pirate stuff as a tribute to Pirates of the Caribbean. It certainly won’t be the last!
You can’t steal characters. You can…borrow elements that inspire you to create a new character, a new universe, a new romance. Of course, it won’t really be new, but if you really take care, it will be yours.
Because nothing is new, and we are all thieves. In the strictest definition of the word. Or perhaps just the spirit…
How about you? Noticed anything when you read that you know is the hallmark of another author? I know I’ve read books where I say to myself, “She read Jennifer Crusie… But it’s good! Nicely done.” And I’ve read ones where I thought, “Oh. Big Eloisa James fan. Eh.” Ever read one book and then every other book by that author reminds you of the last? (Yup, we borrow from ourselves, sometimes it works, sometimes it don’t…) Same with movies, television…
Can you admit to what you’ve lifted? Give credit where credit is due! Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, or something like that. Confession is good for the soul!
Have an idea you want to flinch? Need some help on how to make it yours? We’ll help! Well, I’ll help.
Because I admit it, I’m a thief.
Stolen articles: Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak, the Phial of Galadriel, Jack Sparrow’s Compass, Galadriel’s Mirror, Hermione’s Time-Turner
Books by the Crew
37 comments:
I didn't lift my last WIP plot from anywhere specific. I'm trying to think of stuff that I borrowed from elsewhere on it and I'm not having any real luck. At least not from other writers' works. I did get the idea from the Bible and a bunch of other religious writings. The idea of warriors, well, that's kinda pretty standard romance fare.
The current ideas? The biochemical weapon idea I got from reading about Plum Island. The Regency one I'm having a hard time fighting back came from watching the Count of Monte Cristo... again.
:)
But I wouldn't say I lifted the exact idea. I just think these different things inspired my own thoughts.
I'm guessing the stuff I lift I do unconsciously so narrowing down the sources is pretty hard. Most of my stories ideas showed up a couple years ago and seemingly out of thin air. But I'm sure there was a impetus for each.
My Ocracoke story came out of me vacationing there and then seeing My Life as Dan. It's a love triangle with two brothers and the woman engaged to one of them. That's basically the same as the movie.
Though Joe, the hero of that one, is my alpha hero. Really, I know you're all thinking, "She can't write an alpha," but he is. All surly and moody and grumpy. LOL!
Probably most of what ends up in my story is inspired by SEP & Crusie. For some reason, reading Crusie makes me feel like I can make this work. It's like magical writer fairy dust falls of her books everytime I open them. I don't know how it works, but I don't care as long as my fairy dust doesn't run out.
And that shoulda' been suckiest blog debut!
OKaaaaay! Suckiet debut of a blog in a long, long time! What's a' matter? Ya all ain't willin' ta admit yer inspirations?
Marnee - Ain't always real direct links. But ya found a bit a' overlap. Anythin' that be 'borrowed' from the Count of Monte Criso is goin' ta be golden in me book!
I think I have a bizarre head fer details, which may be why I can see me connections pretty easily...
Bo'sun - I think the way we find ideas generally comes from perusing the bookshelves and thinkin' ... I'd like a story like that one I read X number of years ago where... It wasn't the best book I've ever read, but it had some moments... Then we can't find that book and evenually we realize it isn't out there and we better write it ourselves.
It be likely wit' paranormal and it's numerous cousins, it's easier fer me ta see where I lifted stuff... And if I'm lucky, others will borrow, from me at some point!
Jennie always be a safe bet ta flatter wit' immitation.
It does seem odd that everyone is boycotting this particular blog. No one is willing to incriminate themselves. LOL!
Does it count if we steal it from real life?
I count everything! I have to, or there will be nothin'...
http://www.amazon.com/Story-Structure-Architect-Situations-Compelling/dp/1582973253/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263574185&sr=8-1
There are lots of articles where there are 55 or 36 dramatic situations: revenge, betrayal, et al.--and if there is that limited number of dramatic situations, then yes, we're going to see similiarities in books we read. Part of it is our fault as readers, because readers tend to gravitate to certain themes.
If, as a reader, you enjoy dark broody conflicted heroes who've been betrayed, then chances are the dramatic conflict is that his heart was broken or a family member was killed he needs to revenge. If you enjoy sci-fi worldbuilding on other planets, you're going to get similar cities and animals and aliens. We write from our realm of understanding and relevance--so it only makes sense they're going to overlap.
I've stolen from my real life. (Girl on a Grecian Urn--however fictional--has some nearly lifted word-for-word scenes.)
I'm not sure of anything I've read where I "stole" my idea for Lucifer. I have read bits of John Milton, but not enough to be informed. But my idea of Lucifer is more Milton, where Lucifer is more of a rebel, an anti-hero, but heroic nonetheless.
I definitely lifted the marriage counseling scene in Adam & Eve from Mr. & Mrs. Smith; and that's why I gave Adam & Eve the last name Smith. They are not assassins though....
My "cowboy" story has elements of City Slickers and Maverick.
And I had entertained the thought of starting a series, but after some initial brainstorming, I thought it sounded way too much like Sherrilyn Kenyon's heroes and every other paranormal urban fantasy, that I discarded it as anything good.
Cap'n...hi! Ah...no tossin' me overboard fer leadin' a raid on Hogwarts? We were stealthy and I'll make 'em give them all back...eventually. And if you see Sin, ya might want ta handcuff her somewhere or we'll never get that cloak back...
I agree, there are no new ideas. And some things just beg ta be 'lifted' and given new life. I enjoyed the Janet Morris books featuring her sexual magic user, but it just petered out and never really developed. I took it, twisted it and tossed her somewhere new to figure it all out...
I can't think of another book where Lucifer is redeemed, but there've been a few movies that touch on the idea... It's a lovely idea, btw. I just love it.
Love, love, love...
Santa! Give me back that time piece before Hel sees it!
OK. I win. The dead on arrival blog. It's official.
Cap’n…hi! Ah…no tossin’ me overboard fer leadin’ a raid on Hogwarts?
No, but mainly because I don't believe you could steal anything from them anyway. 1) Sin wouldn't steal a cloak--because she doesn't even know there is a cloak of invisibility in that series--nor does she care; 2) Hogwarts is unplottable, so you'd never be able to find it even if you did know about the cloak.
Well, how about this for discussion--and it sorta relates:
WHAT cliche or "lifted" idea/theme are you tired of reading about in novels?
Unplottable? Is that a word?
Yeah, but Sin would tag along and if she'd find anythin' a' interest, it would be the cloak... And I'd tell her about it. Because I'm stupid that way!
Ha! The secret baby...
No, the big secret that keeps them apart that is really nothing more than some stupid little bit of nonsense...
No, anything with vampires. Or shifters. And sex with vampires. Or shifters. Or shifting vampires...
Ha! Chance you owe me a rum. LOL!
I read something about the first Iron Man movie this morning, which I've yet to see, and the entire description was the hero's journey. LOL! I thought of Hellie.
How about no more "He could kill me. That is oooooooooooooh so sexy I must have him."
*cough*vampires*cough*
Oooooh! And maybe he'll kill me while shifting and having sex while he sucks my blood!
The Triple Fang?
3 kinds of rum and three cherries!
In his 1920 essay on dramatist Philip Massinger, T. S. Eliot wrote, "Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal; bad poets deface what they take, and good poets make it into something better, or at least something different." I think Eliot's comments apply to all writers. I agree that we're all thieves, unconscious thieves perhaps, but thieves nonetheless.
I don't think this kind of thievery is in the same league as plagiarism. We learn to write from the writers we read. I know I owe my efforts to create the extraordinariness in the lives of ordinary people to writers from Carla Kelly to Kathleen Gilles Seidel. When I struggle with the "guyness" of my male characters, I pull one of Nora's MacKade or Quinn books from a shelf and study how the best in the business at making her male characters real did it. When I use a literary allusion and then wonder if I'm being too much the English professor, I go to an Eloisa James book for help. My preoccupation with word choice certainly has its roots in my love affairs with many poets over many years. Hellion has said several times that my voice reminds her of Marsha Moyer. I'm flattered by the comment, and I recognize that my admiration of Moyer may well have influenced my voice. I could go on endlessly, but I've said enough I think to show that I agree with Chance.
and, Hellie, I think your Lucifer owes more to the Romantic's interpretation of Milton's Lucifer than to Milton's own creation. :)
I love you, Janga. Ya say it all wit' so much more polish than I be able ta!
Janga, you're probably right. *LOL* I was a Romantic obsessed fan back in my English major days, so that's very much where my version of Lucy comes from. Hell, I'm still a fan of the Romanticism era. And the era right after it, that carried a lot of Victorian literature. (Not anything by Dickens, because I think he's boring to read, but as a template, I do admire the dark beginning, the hopeless struggle, and then the bright and happily ever after. *LOL*)
Although I will never like Wuthering Heights because I loathe characters--especially heroines--who are made unlikeable and yet they're the HEROES. Not that that book ended happily, but awful. I don't like my heroines bipolar. Unless they're medicated for it. I prefer the Jane Eyre sort of heroine...the stable kind, but still passionate. I don't understand why being passionate means you have to be mentally unstable. That's not fair. *LOL* I think a person can be passionate about their beliefs, but still have reason in order to express those beliefs.
And wit' that, I'm outta here for a few hours...
I'm with you on Wuthering Heights. I much prefer Jane Eyre. I did go through a stage when I saturated myself in the poetry of the Romantics, but except for Blake and Keats, I find they haven't worn well.
Ugh! I caught an error in my first post. That should be "the Romantics' interpretation of Lucifer." I'm getting careless about proofing before I post.
There's a handful of Byron's I enjoy. And although he wasn't as well known, one of Byron's friends, Thomas Moore, so I enjoyed some of his stuff too.
I pick and choose my poems, rather than loving all the poems of a particular person. Wordsworth was okay. And there is one by Theodore Roethke that I adore. And I love-love-love the lyrical quality of The Lady of Shallott.
Creative originality separates the women from the girls!
In all fields of study the practitioners build on the 'common pool of knowledge and experience', but the outstanding individuals,that is the women, add their own individual contribution to the pool.
This is very obvious in science when a set of experimental facts don't agree with accepted theory eg 'dark matter' and 'increased expansion rate of the universe' in current cosmology. Some individual will eventually come up with the original ideas that make everything understandable.
In fiction there are no limits to imagination and no excuse for 'stealing'. Life is so complex that every face and fingerprint is different from every other (excluding identical twins Helli *grin*) so that the fictional situations and characters should be unique to the author, and are IMO with good writers. All characters belong to the human species, so must have similarities with previous creations, but every real life character is different and so it should be in fiction.
So with far more words than necessary, let me disagree with Chance's thesis.
Its RHUBARB.
I think weekends make me wordy and cantankerous. :lol:
Throw the rubbish ideas to the Kraken I say.
Miranda is unique in her own way. I never met a witch like her!
HubaHuba for Q!
Quantum, I truly admire A Man who knows how to use his RHUBARB!
The first time I wrote anything I was so intrigued by the movie BLOW that I had to write something drug related. So I suppose in some ways, my first villain is based off the main character in BLOW.
And Chanceroo, I'm invisible with or without the cloak. LOL
I'm sorry. I love you guys. Work is IMPOSSIBLE. Ugh. I want to quit. Walk away. Throw everyone out the door and say "GET THE FCK AWAY FROM ME!"
But I can't.
Ugh. Ugh and double merde.
Sin is invisible ? Uhh yah ... I'm invisible too. Why I could walk around nekked and nobody would notice a thing.
I haven't seen either of you, though you definitely leave a trace!
I think Chance's pet Kraken likes Rhubarb!
...I’m still a fan of the Romanticism era. And the era right after it, that carried a lot of Victorian literature. (Not anything by Dickens, because I think he’s boring to read, but as a template, I do admire the dark beginning, the hopeless struggle, and then the bright and happily ever after. *LOL*)
I think I've been a romance reader and writer for thirty years or so and the HEA is deeply ingrained. In my literature class, it begins past the romanticism era and Victorian era and dives into realism and naturalism of the late 19th/early 20th century. I almost feel a bit "happily ever after" deprived. *LOL* In naturalism, I'm seeing the dark beginning, the hopeless struggle with glimmers of hope for something better, and then an "open" ending. There's no neat wrapping up of the character's struggle. Either you know things will go on as they have been and deal with it with varying degrees of acceptance...or, as I've been doing, you imagine a happy ending.
In one story, I could see at least three "opportunites" for a happy ending for the protagonist. None of them happened, and logically, they probably wouldn't or couldn't happen without "happiness" seeming contrived in the context. But I could still see those opportunites and the imnagination starts clicking away with ways I'd like to immitate these short, pessimistic stories...with more optimism.
There are lots of possibilities for future "stealing," from naturalism to make happy endings, but I don't thik that's what the instructor has in mind. *LOL*
Okay, maybe a reader if not a romance writer for thirty years...guess that's been sporatic, but in my mind!
The blog ain't lettin' me in...test! Test!
I hate it when I'm clever and the blog decides I'm bein' evil...
Q - Nothin' is new. From the big bang down to the distance future where we all go kerfluffle... It's all big recyclin' center.
Don't mean ideas aren't wonderful, unique in their own ways or...better than the original first thought of an other author...
So, I respectfully disagree wit' ya and stand by me original hypothesis.
If the blog will let this comment publish, that is.
And at this point I'm only chatterin' at meself as everyone has gone fer the weekend... ;)
So, self...brilliant blog today!
Why, self! Thank you!
Melissa...shouldn't you be in school!?
Huzzah!
As fer the romantics... Gots ta agree, WH was a bit long fer angst and why he fell fer that bit a nonsense was always beyond me.
As fer women bein' neurotic if they be passionate, that be a man's answer ta somethin' he can't control.
Now, sorry I missed so much. Been a busy visitin' day...
Brilliant blog, Chance. :)
Melissa's me new favorite commentor!
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