I had a very interesting conversation with one of my younger friends and professional colleagues, Becca, this weekend. Becca, by every stretch of imagination, is a fantastic writer who is working towards her first published work, which I can’t wait to have in my hands, given all that I have heard about it.

But the story is that, apart from this work, which she is very passionate about, two or three other projects are already tugging at her heart. I found one of them particularly attractive, and I instantly told her about a book with similar characterisation that she must read. Even though she had never heard of the author or the book, she valued my advice and promised to look it up. She, however, had one concern: “Wouldn’t this author feel like I pirated her idea when I eventually come out with my book?”

This is a valid concern, right? It is, and I completely understand my friend’s concern, except that no one would accuse her of plagiarism if she doesn’t adopt the entire premise of the already published book. If you were writing a book about Gen Z men in Nigeria, for instance, and someone recommends that you read an already published book about Gen Z men or even Gen Z women in the United States of America, they are only hoping that you would get inspiration from reading any of those books. And inspiration is by no means stealing or cheating! 

The truth is that there’s hardly any story that has not been told. Creativity is more or less a relay race in which we are all carrying the torch a little further than our precursors. So, reading a book like the one you plan to write isn’t about finding a blueprint to copy; no, it isn’t. It is about studying how another craftsman or woman handles the tools you want to employ. You want to see how they navigated the nuances of plot, character and voice. Becca wouldn’t be stealing their map; she would only gain insights on how to chart her own course and do it better than this already successful writer. You only need to worry about piracy when you replicate the destination that their map arrives at, in this case, the premise of the book. Inspiration is therefore not stealing but trying to find your own stride by observing some other person’s steps. 

Ultimately, it is your unique perspective, your experiences, worldview, and identity as a writer that eliminate the risk of producing a mere copy of someone else’s work. So, if two people start writing with the same seed of an idea, the soil of their individual experiences, cultures, exposures and idiosyncrasies will produce fruits differently. I am saying that you aren’t necessarily protecting or growing your originality by avoiding the works of others, especially those manifestly similar to what you have in mind. On the contrary, you might just be starving your creativity by locking yourself in. Innovation, whether literary or scientific, can only happen when you let it clatter around in your mind, germinate and come back to you in a voice that is original and clearly yours. That’s something like dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants so they can see much farther than they do.

So, go out there and get as much inspiration as you can. That story you want so much to tell may in fact already exist, but as long as it’s not in your voice, there’s still room for you. Go get it.

Rest assured of my best wishes always. And if you want to talk, just reply to this email.

Have a great week.

You can buy my book, Every Journalist Should Write a Book, here.

Niran Adedokun,

Writer | Communications Strategist | Book Strategist | Author of Every Journalist Should Write a Book