Good artists borrow, great artists steal.

I went through a bit of a progress last semester in coming terms with this wonderful idea, (which, I'm pretty sure, is originally Picasso's). I was in a Medieval Lit class titled Heroes and Warriors, which ended up being pretty disappointing as I’d had very high expectations for that class and I soon learned that they were higher than the professor’s. 

Well, one of the books assigned for that class was the Nibelungenlied and as I got farther into the book I begun to see details which I’d always thought of as being completely original to, first the Lord of the Rings, and then later the deathly hallows from Harry Potter, which I now know are also in Chaucer’s Pardoner’s Tale. 

Anyway, (I realize this is not very organized, I blame approaching finals), I was upset that these authors who I had looked up to for so long had stolen! from other writers. I could even go as far as to call this few week period a spiritual crisis concerning writing. I questioned my own desire to write, and felt that if it meant stealing and not being able to come up with something completely original, (I keep hearing this is not possible), then I did not want to write. Well, long story short, I finished reading the book and by the end the details that had been borrowed were minimal and I realized I had overreacted, though at the time I'd felt completely justified. 

To recap, I used to feel that writers stole from previous works. I begun to understand the sources of the works I love and felt cheated in response. The more I write myself the more I realize that it doesn't work that way. That the borrowing—the stealing—is not purposeful. Could even argue it’s not always conscious. As those of you who follow my posts know, my WIP is a fantasy novel in which dreaming is a big theme. I completely blame my Dream as Form lit class last semester. But anyway, turns out I myself am a thief. 

I am re-reading Chaucer’s Book of the Duchess and there are tiny details that I borrowed. I had purposefully borrowed an image from it, but it worked more as the inspiration. When I asked my independent study (and Chaucer) professor about it she hadn't realized what I had intended to be from the Book of the Duchess was actually from there. Two weeks later, I rushed back into her office to tell her I’d read the Book of the Duchess and she wore a knowing smile, she’d been waiting for me to come back and finish the “stealing” rant I’d had with her earlier this semester. 

Turns out that I had stolen a setting, completely and subconsciously. I didn't mean to, but I guess I just thought "well of course that’s where this specific mythical figure lives," and had assumed that it was an inherent part of my story (I was close to the end, so it was really all I thought about during those three weeks) and not that I had read it somewhere else. It's not extremely obvious, and they really are minor details that I borrowed, so no harm no foul, but this personal experience made me see the truth of this idea, and how truly wonderful it can be when it comes out right. 

I realize this was an extra ranty post, and I apologize, I promise to have more brains before my next post :-). 

Did anyone else have to come to terms with the magpie nature of writing or had you accepted this before you begun?