Create like you stole something.

How does that Pablo Picasso quote go?  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ Idea theft Good artists copy, great artists steal ​ --------------------------------------------------------------- PSA: Speaking of copy, if you're in the market for great copy, you should hire [Honey Copy](=). If you want to learn how to write great copy, you should enroll in [Snow Cones](). --------------------------------------------------------------- I grew up playing basketball in Indiana, which is like having grown up playing soccer in England. It's something of a religion. During the four years I spent playing basketball at Harrison High School, I was coached by Bryan Speer. Speer wasn't a particularly nice coach. He couldn't be. Speer coached at one of the toughest schools in Indiana. Not academically but culturally. When I first arrived at Harrison, the institution had become so violent, cops patrolled the hallways like watchdogs. I recall a fight breaking out one day during my freshman year at lunch. I looked up from my tray to find one student had grabbed another student by his hair and he was repeatedly slamming his face against the lunchroom table. On another occasion, I rounded a corner to find a small circle had formed around a student who had just been jumped. He was kneeling in the hallway, like a Samurai about to commit Seppuku. Red ribbons were falling out the side of his head, collecting in a puddle at his knees. While Harrison has cleaned up considerably since I graduated, I think Speer recognized the kind of responsibility he was tasked with. For him, it was about more than just winning basketball games. It was turning boys into men; men who felt confident enough in their masculinity, that they didn't need to cave someone's face in. Run Forrest Run There is a scene in Gangs of London where an old gangster says of a younger, blood-hungry gangster... A boy like him would burn cities just to convince the world he's a man. If basketball in Indiana was religion, Speer treated cardio with the sanctity of Sunday Service. Speer started out every season informing our team that, win or lose, we were going to be the best conditioned team in the state. He would then proceed to run us like dogs. If in between our sprints he caught us grabbing our shorts or hunched over with our hands on our knees, panting, he'd run us some more. We were allowed to feel pain. We were allowed to feel exhausted. But, we weren't allowed to show this pain and exhaustion to the opposing team. There is a saying in sports: Run like you stole something. If an athlete moves down the track, field or court at an alarming speed, an announcer might say... Jesus Christ, Phil, that kid is running like he stole something. The fastest I ever moved down the court was when I had stolen the basketball from a player on the opposing team. I would run like a pack of wolves was chasing me through the fucking Tetons. I would run like I was Prometheus and I had just taken the fire from Olympia. God would I run. It was a gorgeous feeling, running that fast, for a few seconds I was no longer a man but a bird––flying. Who discovered fire? Writers, artists, musicians and creatives are constantly scared shitless of other people stealing their ideas. Not only is it insecure. It's an indication they're an amateur rather than a professional. Before Michael Jordan, players would all shoot the basketball the very same way. They'd jump, shoot and then they'd land precisely where they initially took off. This was considered good, fundamental basketball. When Jordan came onto the scene in 1984, he invented the fadeaway jump shot. He would leap away from the basket, creating additional space between himself and his defender. It became so difficult to defend that today the fadeaway is standard practice in the NBA. Everybody has stolen Jordan's move. Yet, you don't see him crying on SportsCenter. That's because Jordan is a professional. Not an amateur. And, Jordan knows professionals steal. We should both celebrate and encourage theft as both a culture and as individual creatives. I'm genuinely flattered when I see someone imitating something I've done. It means I've created something worth stealing. It means I've done my damn job. Idea theft also moves humanity forward. Imagine if the caveman who first discovered fire decided to bludgeon everyone who stole his idea. Humanity would have frozen to death long ago. You never can tell. Any creative who is shaming other creatives for "stealing" are hypocrites because they themselves started their careers stealing from the creatives they admired most... just like every other creative who came before them. Jeff Goins, a writer I very much admire and one I'm lucky enough to call a friend, has a beautiful couple of lines on the subject... Before you become an artist, you must first become a thief. Creativity is stealing. When you “steal like an artist,” you follow in the footsteps of history's greatest creative minds. But before you become an artist, you must first become a thief. Mozart started out by playing Bach. Rafael copied Michelangelo and Michelangelo, Da Vinci. Quentin Tarantino lifts entire scenes from his favorite films. He's been quoted saying... I steal from every single movie ever made. Have you ever seen that iconic scene in Pulp Fiction? The one where Uma Thurman and John Travolta are dancing to Chuck Berry's You Never Can Tell? ​[Tarantino stole it](=) from a film called Weird & Rare. Steal and invite stealing Incessant complaining and whistleblowing about "idea theft" is a sign of creative weakness, especially in the advertising industry where practically every idea has been lifted and then modified in some form or fashion. God is the only original creator. And so anyone who believes every idea they've ever had is entirely original suffers from a God complex. If speaking that truth makes me lucifer, so be it. Great ideas should be stolen. This is how great ideas spread. When you see an idea that moves you, take that inspiration and run with it. Run like you stole something. Create like you stole something. And, when your ideas get stolen, go out and create more ideas worth stealing. By [Cole Schafer](​ P.S. I stole the subtitle of this newsletter from Picasso. --------------------------------------------------------------- A tremendous education When was the last time you learned something new? ​ In addition to running [Honey Copy](=), I've created several guides and courses on a number of different subjects: - ​[Copywriting]()​ - ​[Creative writing](=)​ - ​[Cold emailing](=)​ - ​[Freelancing](​ I've designed each of the above to be as concise as possible without compromising value. And, while they certainly can't compete with Netflix, students have told me they're quite entertaining. [FIND YOUR COURSE]() --------------------------------------------------------------- [[linkedin]​]() ​ [Update your email preferences]( or unsubscribe [here](​ © 2024 The Process 113 Cherry St #92768, Seattle, WA 98104-2205