My ideas are being pinched…

                                                                            Picture credit: Freepik

There is a bug in my brain. Somehow my utterly brilliant writing ideas are being stolen. Whoever is doing it must be super sneaky. My conclusion is that a criminal mastermind (probably working for a major publisher) flew a drone the size of a gnat into my ear canal whilst I was asleep and implanted a miniature mind-reading device. Sherlock Holmes worked on the theory that once you have eliminated all other possibilities, whatever is left must be true. I have indeed ruled out all other possibilities, so I urge you to wear earplugs at night in case you’re targeted next. Maybe one of those swimming nose clips and a motorcycle helmet too, just in case. It’s too late for me but save yourself. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

You see, occasionally, an idea pops into my head and I know I’ve hit on a unique, never written about before, completely original storyline that everyone is going to love! Like the kids from the Ready Brek advert, you can see me walking around with a warm glow, knowing that turning this idea into a completed work is but child’s play.

Last summer, I visited Harrogate and popped into the lovely ‘Imagined Things’ bookshop. I was thoroughly enjoying browsing the shelves until my eyes settled on a newly published book that had the barefaced cheek to be using my exceptional, but as yet unwritten, idea. The author had nicked my theme, title, the lot. My warm glow evaporated as I realised my innermost thoughts were being scanned by nefarious book bandits.

Where does that leave my idea? No one wants to be accused of plagiarism. But then I notice bookshops are full of tomes with remarkably similar themes, titles, and plots. Indeed, when a particular style of book is in vogue, publishers race to get comparable works to market with suspiciously familiar covers.

I’m no expert on how God communicates, but is it likely more than one of us might hear the same thing? I think so. All of us on MTW want to be Christian writers, not just writers, and that must mean trying to be faithful to writing about what God has placed on our hearts, whether it seems new or old. Sometimes God may choose to amplify a message by urging many Christians to write, preach or share a similar thematic. There’s ‘nothing new under the sun’ so perhaps as writers we shouldn’t overthink the need to be truly original. Maybe the ideas you have are already being blogged, published or screened so you feel you should think of something else? Perhaps not. If we all submitted a response to a writing prompt, every one of us would create something unique and our offerings would appeal to different readers, so throw off the shackles of originality and write.

What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.

Ecclesiastes Ch.1 v.9