A bone of contention, to share or not to share your book idea.
One of the big takeaways from the Covid-19 lockdowns was the importance of staying connected to other humans for our mental health. While reading Productivity is for Robots, by Corey McComb this week, something really stood out.
“…when it comes to reaching our highest level of creativity and flow, the need (for connection) goes deeper. Our brain and our ego are constantly working to keep us the hero of our own story. We naturally attach our identity to the things we make, and because of this, we’re not always capable of seeing the flaws and missed connections in our work. Whether you’re directing movies, launching a product, or raising a family – we all need people who are willing to challenge our ideas, praise our genius and call us out when we are just plain wrong. We all need peers – peers who know what it’s like – to not only critique us but to also remind us we’re not alone on the journey.”
I loved these words by Corey McComb because I’ve come across a few writers who don’t want to share their story due to plagiarism concerns. No agent, or editor, or publisher is going to steal your idea – don’t worry! It’s way too much hard work. If you promote your story idea on Facebook or the internet and it is good, someone might steal it. But in the professional literary world, no one is going to copy your original thought. For me, that trust is also given to writer friends. The writers in your personal orbit are not likely to nick your idea.
All this may seem obvious. But one of the reasons I love being in a room full of writers is because I love their ideas. Frankly, in the ten years I’ve been running the Art of Writing, I have not come across one person who has stolen an idea from another writer.
I did, however, come across a New Zealand girl in Jordan, outside the archaeological site of Petra, dressed as a Bedouin who was apparently married to a Bedouin. I said, ‘oh my goodness, you live here? You work on the stalls outside Petra every day? You have to write a book!’ She made me swear I would not tell a soul that she was indeed writing a book. Till this day I’m not sure exactly what her fear was, but she did mention someone might pinch her idea. I’ll never forget her reticence. Her memoir, I noticed, was eventually published. But how many people could legitimately write her story? She was the only one with her journey, her voice. I dutifully swore her secret was safe with me, thinking ‘well, she just missed a great opportunity for a profile piece!’ At the time I was regularly reporting for several newspapers and radio sources. We could have stayed in touch.
I also have a writer who shared her title suggestion The Silent Scream on an internet writing site. Before long a book appeared with that title. Plagiarism? A coincidence? Universal consciousness – the way you have a whole heap of babies born in a certain year registered with the same name? Who knows? But for me, it is way better to share.
One day in a taxi in Florence, I shared the Death in the Mountains storyline with a particularly chatty driver. His own father had died in Mugello during freezing temperatures. He said when the ground was soft enough to dig a grave, his father’s hair had frozen to the hessian bag in which he was shrouded awaiting burial. They had to snip his father’s hair off the hessian before they could lay him in his coffin. I adored that detail and asked if I might use it in Death in the Mountains. He heartily agreed, saying he was glad to offer something I could use. I shared, and the taxi driver shared. I did use this story and it was fine by him. (Journalist’s tip here: always ask for sharing permission.)
Nobody really wants to be bombarded by a full chapter-by-chapter, blow-by-blow description of your book idea. But I do find that sharing the story-telling process brings so much joy to you and others. And so many fantastic ideas from others. Talking about your story also brings enormous clarity to your thoughts too.
Corey McComb says it best:
“A community that is striving towards the same goals provides an extra layer of motivation and accountability that lives outside ourselves, protected against the ebb and flow of emotions., And it’s often accountability to others that moves mountains, pushing humans to accomplish things they would have given up on had they not made a commitment to someone else.”
There are still a couple of places left for the October 2-6, Drilling Down on Writing retreat here in Florence. Let me know if you’d like to join us. We really have some amazing workshop leaders lined up for you in October, including HarperCollins UK. This retreat is for those with some words on the page as well as beginners thinking about their story ideas. It’s the last retreat at 999 Euro in 2022. The price will go up to 1,300 Euro in 2023!
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If you’d like to share any comments or thoughts, I’d be happy to hear from you. Email me directly at lisacliffordwriter@gmail.com.