A Tribute to Fate

I guess a lot of what makes me who I am today is a result of seemingly small things that had a huge impact on me when I was younger. My need to be original is one of them.

To me, being original is the single most important thing that affects how I do my work. I’d even go so far as to say that originality is who I am and what I do. And it all began thanks to a kid that I used to know. (Great choice of words, chances are Gotye’s “Somebody that I used to know” is probably playing in your head right now. And if it wasn’t before, it certainly is NOW)

I was maybe twelve or thirteen. I was always an innovative kid, and I used to come up with the wildest ideas back in the day. I used to create all kinds of stuff with paper, cardboard, scissors and gum, and then take whatever I did to school to show my friends. I mean, what else would you do with the things like comic books that you drew up, or the little cardboard helicopter with rotors that actually spun?

There was this kid, AN. He was an okay guy. Pretty friendly with me, nice in his own way. But AN had this really gifted way of pissing me off to an extent that few other people ever could. He’d watch me make something up, and then copy whatever I did, to show it off the very next day like it was his own little brainchild. At first I didn’t mind, really. If what he wanted to do was practically stop every kid walking down the hallway and exhibit his genius, well, it wasn’t my business. For my part, the only ones I showed my stuff to were my close, personal friends.

But it became all too personal when a guy examined one of my gimmicks, did this condescending little display of sticking out his lower lip and said, “So how come you’re copying AN’s stuff?”

I was a stubborn kid with a short fuse. And needless to say, we all pretty much know how that could be one dangerous combination for most situations. Heck, I had put in too much love and effort into my stuff, and when that guy said that to me, I flipped.

I wasted no time slamming good ol’ AN against the closest wall and suggesting that maybe it was time he stopped production for good before anything regrettable were to happen. And would you believe it, this little jerk had the nerve to tell me that it was ME infringing HIS intellectual property and that I would have to back away before something happened to ME. And since that little rat had the larger fan base and much more publicity than I did at the time, I actually ended up on the losing side of that confrontation.

Besides, lets face it, kids are cruel.

It was, in short, my first introduction into the world of business. And it gave me a lesson I won’t forget in a hurry. Backstabbers will always be everywhere, and copying will always be easy. It’s up to you to never be stupid enough to make it easier for them.

And another lesson: advertising really does work.

Anyway, I’ve actively hated people who rip others off since then. And that lead to one of the major reasons why I respect originality so much; I never want to be identified as someone who copies from other people’s work. Thank you, AN.

It’s not that easy, though. It pains me to say this, but too many of the people I find myself around these days are just too narrow minded to see beyond the the four walls around them. That someone like J.K. Rowling or Rick Riordan can write stuff and get famous is a given. That the guy who sits next to them in class can think up original ideas and write a book roughly six hundred pages long? No way, he’s probably copied from Lord of the Rings or whatever. To them, it just isn’t possible that someone they know can be creative.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, it really hurts when anyone tells me that maybe I’ve copied from something. It also annoys me that even after all the trouble I take to be original, to have my stuff NOT look like anything else out there, these bozos satisfy themselves by telling me not to waste my time copying Harry Potter. That, too, before they even bother have a look at whatever it is I’ve really done. Beyond anything else, I get rubbed the wrong way because every time they say it, it feels as if they’re indirectly comparing me to dear old AN. Need I say more?

True, it’s not very often one can be completely, entirely original. Me, I’m into medieval stuff, with swords, bows, magic and stuff like that. I’m a fantasy buff. And given the sheer volume of material from that genre, I’m bound to have some idea or element in one of my own stories that turns out to be similar to something from some other book somewhere down the line. But even if it happens, as careful as I am, you can be pretty sure that it never was intentional. And if you're into writing like me, know what I say makes sense. (I hope. Frankly, half of what I say doesn't make sense to me, but lets just gloss over that)

Quite surprisingly, that kind of argument never seems to matter to the naysayers that the community has given birth to. (Sigh)

But still, I haven’t completely lost my faith in humanity. There are friends I’ve made who understand what I see in being original. There are people out there who know that it is possible to come up with something new by yourself without having to blatantly rip off stuff from somewhere else and call it your own. And always, these are the folks that really matter at the end of the day.

And these are the people who I dedicate this blog to, the ones to whom I try and reach out.

And if you are reading this, I want you to know. Chances are that you’re one of them.