Philip Yancey is Like a Dog
And I hope I am too
This is not a piece about plagiarizing but this is an illustration to start us off. Whenever I write about plagiarizing, how bad it is, how prevalent it is, how easy it is to avoid, someone always responds, “One of the reasons I’m afraid to write is because I’m afraid I’ll plagiarize.”
Plagiarism is something that happens on purpose. It has intent behind it. The intent might not be to steal, exactly, perhaps it is merely to get ahead, to gain eyeballs. It is almost always used as a shortcut from here to there, from a smaller audience or lesser grade to a greater audience or better grade. The way we avoid plagiarism as writers is not to not write, but instead to write at our own pace, to not rush, to avoid the freneticism we perceive around us and believe is necessary if we want to move ahead.
All the best writers you can name aren’t plagiarizing. And the way you become a better writer is to not plagiarize. It’s very simple to avoid:
Find a place to write down things you read that you like and attribute the person you read it from. Source and page numbers are helpful.
When you write, cite widely. You have nothing to lose by naming your sources and it only increases your legitimacy as a writer.
Question yourself—especially when churning out short, pithy quotes. If it’s a short, pithy quote, chances are it’s been said before. Find the earliest source you can and cite that, if you can’t find a source but are pretty sure you’re not the source, write something like, “I’ve heard it said that…” Again, this only helps your credibility, it never hurts it.
And last of course, just to reiterate, slow, honest work over time is a better service to you and your readers than quick, dishonest work resulting is viral growth spurts. Get that into your brain, say it to yourself often, and then if you want to write, write!
When you’re a plagiarizer or a thief or an imposter, writing is hard, very hard—it’s your subconscious or your conscience trying to say, “Hey, maybe this isn’t for you. Maybe there’s something else for you.”
When you’re a writer, writing is easy, and only becomes easier the longer you’re doing it. Sure, there are moments of difficulty (I’m in second draft edits on my novel currently and, yeah, there’s a hundred other things that feel less hard), but that initial rush of writing? It should feel easy, smooth, like you’re doing the thing you were made to do. If it doesn’t, don’t look for shortcuts. Look for a different profession.
Okay, I know that felt very pedantic and whatever, but I hope you can hold all of that with what I really want to write about. It has to do with the announcement many of you read on CT this morning. Beloved author, member of The Chrysostom Society (alongside writers like Eugene Peterson, Madeleine L’Engle, Lucy Shaw, Walter Wangerin, and more), potent encourager of those of weak faith (like me), Philip Yancey shared of his eight year affair and how he is subsequently withdrawing himself from writing, speaking, and social media.