Lesson #255 - Originality

We've spent years pondering the nature of originality - and how it's possible that we as a society can still pump out so many new books, movies, TV shows and other stories without copying something else that's already been done. If you seriously think about it, it seems that there MUST be a limit, eventually, to the number of truly new ideas that we can come up with without directly or inadvertantly taking from other works.

Maybe that's why so many movies are remakes, or take their stories directly from books or graphic novels, lately. Maybe that's why some authors are blatantly ripping off themselves.

Our real concern is to make sure that whatever we do is as original as it can be - and if we happen to borrow or use a style of presenting the comic that's incredibly similar to someone else's work that's better known and came first, at least be aware that that's what we're doing.

Anyway, most of that is rambling. Spay and neuter your pets, people.

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If you agree with our argument on originality in relation to the written word, you've GOT to agree that music presents and even more amazing challenge - the number of chords and combination of notes is way more limited than the number of words available for use. Thus being challenged to put out an original song in almost no time at all is pretty amazing - and especially when you succeed. The first round of the Song Fu contest we linked to is almost over, and it's pretty clear Molly Lewis won (and a lot of you might really like the rest of herwork, like we have for a while), but Hank Green isn't far behind with his TMBG like song.

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Feel free to send in questions for recitations - BUT - good questions, please. 'Mar?' is not a question. Not really.

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Thanks to everyone who ever voted at any point - we're about done with all our requests.