How To Copy Without Being A Cheat (Or Losing Credibility)

Like getting in a car strangers and looking both ways before you cross the street, not copying is one of those life lessons that are drilled into your head. And not without reason.

Adults were looking out for us. They didn't want us to get kidnapped, hit by a car, or in the case of copying, end up dependent and uneducated. Little did they know they were drawing a line in the sand that limited our growth.

This post is all about why and how copying is good, and leveraging the best practices can bring you immense levels of growth.

Good artists copy, great artists steal. — Pablo Picasso

Copying is bad, right? 

Looking over your friend's shoulder in class was going to get you a one-way ticket to detention. Wearing the latest style of some celebrity would put you on the fast track to getting teased by your friends (I learned this one the hard way). 

There are so many negatives that come from the concept of copying that, for many of us, it's permanently anchored to ideas of punishment or some kind of backlash. But should it be this way?

Binary thinking is always dangerous, and it's no different here. Copying as a form of cheating is bad. Copying as a form of development is good.

The gap in understanding the difference creates a requisite for originality. But is originality all it's cracked up to be?

Don't waste your time being original

John Marrow of Copyblogger has mentioned a story about copying that I like to retell when I have this conversation with people.

He tells of his days in university when an English professor of his asked the question if it was better to be original or to copy the greats. The answer is obvious.

John was shocked when he heard the answer. Of course, the answer is stealing. I choose to say copying, but he is saying the same thing. Think about it.

The professor went on to describe how the great — Shakespeare, Hemmingway, etc — copied greats that had come before them.

Clearly, this doesn't mean go word for word through their works and try to resubmit it as yours. By no means. So what does it mean, then?

Put your original twist on the what has already been done. But it's not that simple.

Copy without being a copycat

You'll have to study their formulas, or how they structure their content. How they create conflict. Which emotions they trigger and when they do so.

Famous copywriter Joe Sugarman suggests a writing exercise in which you take some ad or text you like and use it to write your ad or text. From headline to layout, do what they do.

Sugarman calls it patterning, but it's copying. He warns not to copy too closely because it might end up looking too much like the inspiration. And that's the trick.

That is how you copy without being a copycat.

As kids, we're taught not to copy, but we are not taught about the contexts of copying and why it can be awesome.

Copying in personal and professional development, business, training, or skill building can propel you to success faster than you can do it trying to be original.

That's something the adults in your childhood surely never told you.