Re: Invention
Nick Carbone (nickc@MARLBORO.EDU)
Wed, 3 Jul 1996 10:06:40 -0400
I begin by stealing ideas, lots of them. Then I stitch them together.
Then I summarize the mess. Then I start again from scratch with the
summary. By then I've effectively laundered the ideas, like so much
illegal gambling loot, and they feel clean enough to delude myself that
I'm being original. After I spend some of that ill gotten intellectual
capital I sometimes have enough invested for my own thought to grow. If
it does, I go back and insert the footnotes, paying the royalties and
taxes I owe. If nothing good comes of the theft, I go on a bender.
Nick Carbone, Writing Instructor
Marlboro College
Marlboro, VT 05344
nickc@marlboro.edu