Everything Is a Remix (and I'm a Remixer Too)

11 Nov 2026 #misc

“Creation requires influence.”

That’s a line I found in a YouTube documentary called Everything is a remix.

If creation requires influence, influence starts with copying.

As a kid, I learned to write by copying from textbooks and whiteboards.
Then in college, I learned to code by copying code blocks from textbooks and whiteboards too.

When I decided to take writing seriously, I learned by copying and dissecting some of my favorite writers, like Seth Godin and James Altucher.

When I read about James Altucher’s bankruptcy stories, Choose Yourself, and his storytelling, I said “I want to write like that.”
He’s probably the non-fiction writer I’ve read and copied the most.
And by extension, I’ve copied the ones he copied too.

Nobody starts out original.
For almost all my books, I can point to someone and something else where I stole ideas from.
By “stole,” I mean inspiration.

Creativity is also copying, transforming, and combining.