Last-Chance Writing Prompt #2
On this day in history, George Harrison was found guilty of plagiarizing “My Sweet Lord.” Pablo Picasso is widely credited with having said, “good artists borrow, great artists steal.” Marianne Moore was known to throw phrases found on pamphlets and advertisements into her poems, and you’re about to come up with your next great idea because of these prompts!
PROMPT:
The thing which differentiates Picasso and Moore’s perspective from Harrison’s (aside from Modernism) is that their idea (and, for Moore, application) of theft was inherently transformative; in a way, what was stolen by the writer became its own entity in their hands. Steal something–steal a line from the syphilis awareness ad on the metro, snag a phrase from your high school yearbook, take a command from a monopoly card. Whatever you take, make it your own. Use detail and steal* so well no one will ever be the wiser.
*NANO Fiction does not now, nor have or will we ever, condone plagiarism.