“Sampling” other writers

[I’ve decided I’m going to use this blog for screenwriting thoughts sometimes. To no concrete end beyond getting process-related thoughts out onto the page.] // They say great artists steal. I think I have a preconditioned aversion to directly implementing ideas/motifs I see in other work. Maybe it stems from a desire to be original/authentic in my voice and end product. But I’m slowly discovering that writing becomes a lot richer when you can freely weave in the cloth created by other people. I think of it less as stealing and more as taking the next solo in the quintet… taking a motif the trumpet player used in her solo and riffing on it as a bridge into my solo on sax. Using my work as a commentary on — and reflection of — the work of the screenwriter I’m so inspired by. I think it’s not only okay to spin their thread into yours… it’s essential. Nothing exists in a vacuum. This is all obvious but I think it helps to write it down once in a while.