are you copying your favourite artists?

“Where do you get your inspiration?” When people ask me this, I usually say something like, “From everything! Paintings I love, and music that moves me, and books I’ve read…”Usually I get a nod and a smile in response, but the other day, at the gym, something more interesting happened. Someone asked, “But how do you make sure you’re not being subliminally influenced by the things that inspire you?”In other words: “How do you make sure you’re not inadvertently copying someone else’s work?”The fear of copying another artist is really fascinating to me, because I think it’s a fear that starts at school.At school, more often than not, we are told not to copy one another. There is an intense spirit of competition and comparison. We are seated in rows, at desks. We are told to hide our work from the students next to us. It’s no wonder that, well into adulthood, we still find ourselves concerned about copying.But art doesn’t work that way.Imagine two writers who are seated facing a window, looking out at the sea, or at a beautiful garden. If you were to ask them to write a story inspired by the view, would they write the same story, word for word? Of course not. Why? Because, although they might be looking at the same trees or the same ocean, they are not seeing the same thing. We all see the world through the lens of our experiences and fascinations, our pain and trauma, our memories and joys. No two writers ever see the same tree, just as no two writers ever read the same book, or look at the same painting.Now, imagine that the thing the writers are “seeing” is something as complex, layered and intricate as Laini Taylor’s Strange the Dreamer, or Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, or The Trial by Franz Kafka. So, I assure you, unless you are going out of your way to do so, you will never write the same book as someone else. The source material might be the same, but the difference is you—your view, your heart, your mind. The truth is, if you have the courage to look through your own eyes at the world around you, you are already a complete and utter original. Own that.(Caveat: I’m not talking about obvious plagiarism. i.e., lifting exact phrases, sentences or ideas from another person’s work. There is no excuse for that.)