33 Comments

I live in fear of accident plagiarising in my work - it’s a relief to hear you say we can do it subconsciously- I wrote a story for my dissertation with an epigraph which appeared a couple of years later, almost word for word as a tag line for a Disney movie!! Now I’m sure they didn’t read my dissertation and I know I didn’t have a Time Machine so I can’t have copied them as the film came out years after I wrote my story. I suppose we all soak up bits of this mad and varied world so there’s bound to be some overlap. I love your comics & writing by the way!

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Great coincidence! Simultaneous discovery is fascinating.

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In 2011, I wrote a scene about a character named, Oxymoron, killing Hitler while in the bathroom. Art was completed, but never published. A few years later, Grant Morrison killed a Hitler in the bathroom. In 2024, my story was finally published.

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I've heard it said that imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. 🤷‍♂️

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Great minds...

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Fools… (smirk)

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The words in your post are so free of malice and a sincere sharing of how you reacted and took a big picture and resolved it for yourself. In the process gave us a bigger picture and encouraged us to elevate our world view. Thank you Grant.

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Thank you, Anitha!

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A fabulously gracious perspective. I’d be happy to read something about thinking by someone who thinks like this ;)

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Ha, thank you!

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Your book cover is way way nicer!

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😊

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I love your large-hearted and humour-filled take on this otherwise complex situation. I believe that our creativity is a sum total of all that we see, read, and experience. The more meaningful and diverse our engagements, the better we can create.

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Very true! Thanks for the note!

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Grant, you're so generous (and funny) - may all your dreams come true.

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Thank you for this insightful article. And you're right. It is flattering to have someone show how your work has influenced theirs.

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Maybe Charlie can fight him instead? Fantastic, insightful story. Thank you for sharing.

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He's shorter than me but probably a whole lot scrappier. Thanks Greg!

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I was told that every minister only has FIVE sermons and spends the rest of their life preaching versions of them. I also have a huge number of ebooks many with similar titles. Go figure. Not everything is world war 3 thank goodness

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So I'm not the only one using hand-me-down concepts (without involving plaigarism, of course.)

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Maybe all concepts are hand-me-down?

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That's a good possibility. Even Chaucer and Shakespeare adapted previously existing stuff for their own use.

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I love this so very much. I am endlessly inspired by so many things, consciously and unconsciously. When I draw a leaf, or a dog, or photograph a tiny seedpod or a butterfly, I steal the creativity of nature and pass it off as my own... Thank you for this beautiful take on inspiration and creativity

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Yes, nature is the endless source of creativity!

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Dot you I's and cross out your T's? Can someone help me with this line?

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An idiom meaning pay attention to small details

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You should read “steal like an artist” by the always thought provoking Austin Kleon.

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It's great!

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