Stop! Thief!

I know a lot of writers who also blog.
I know a lot of bloggers who also do things other than write.

For the sake of general clarification, when I say “I know” I don’t always mean it in a “we’ve-had-coffee-or-latkes-together” way. Some of us really only know one another via our writing and that teeny tiny photo. We are each other’s biggest fans and harshest critics. It’s what makes it easy to post scathing comments from our readers. But I digress…

So there’s this blogger-“friend” of mine, not so much a participant as a lurker, who is stealing my hard thought, vodka-sopped, painstakingly written ideas.

[Sidebar: I’m going to try to remain gender neutral here so please forgive the use of random pronouns.]

This person reads my work, cleans up the language, dumbs down the idea, then repeats it using flowery adjectives. Really? Is this what the world of online writing has come to? You can’t have an original thought without it being shoplifted, only to see it turn up in another store? And the really shitty bit is that sometimes, I actually like this person’s version. Not very often mind you because frankly I don’t believe he/she/it has the life experience and general wherewithal to fully appreciate my perspective. And of course, since it was my idea/thought/rant to begin with, I can only assume that the style is stolen, too.

I’m not so sure imitation is the sincerest form of flattery in the case of writing. I feel violated and I’m not certain why. I mean, this isn’t out and out plagiarism. That, my friends, would bring down a wrath of fury unlike any to be court recorded since…

*decides probably not allowed to discuss that yet*

Where was I…

Right.  This isn’t so much plagiarism as it is…. personality theft.  Now why people would want to steal one instead of developing their own, I can’t begin to imagine.

Weird as it seems, we all know at least one person who morphs into the people he/she spends time with. I know this guy –  let's call him Fred – who is a master at this and I’m not sure he even knows. The crazy thing is, way back in the beginning, when we first met, I thought he had the best personality. Fred was interesting and funny and had opinions that belonged to him, not the people around him. I haven’t seen “that guy” in a long time. Which is a shame, really. People are so much more attractive and compelling when they’re not busy stealing someone else’s personality/mannerisms/ideas/opinions/cadence/shoes.

In a world where the boundaries that used to separate people are blurring at a nearly phenomenal rate, being different and original is an asset. Long gone is the “in crowd.” It’s been replaced by supremely interesting people who think unassisted.

I’ve decided that the only real remedy for my malady is to stay away from everything written by the thief.  I’m just going to suck it up and hope that they aren’t selling the material… for her sake.