Okay, he didn’t directly copy. He actually tweaked it a lot.
But the underlying concept?
The same.
I’ll let you have a game of spot the difference.
Here’s my article.
And here’s Darius’s.
How do I feel about this?
My first thought was I’m pissed. Then it’s morphed into I’m flattered. Then it flipped back to I’m really pissed that he hasn’t given me any credit whatsoever.
And so it’s continued.
But it’s also taught me how to be a better writer.
Darius has 319K followers on Medium alone. He’s published 8 books and has a raft of bylines. NBC, Fast Company, Vox. You name it.
So I’ve studied his article to see what I could have done better in mine.
Here’s what I’ve found:
- Use broader topics. “Lifestyle”, “Productivity”, “Self”, “Work Life Balance”, and “Philosophy” have more stories than the ones I chose.
- Make it more about the reader. My intro is bloated. Darius says more or less the same thing in six short paragraphs.
- Tie in broader concepts. Darius links his personal experience to mainstream experience. He also quotes the Dalai Lama and Anthony De Mello. I do none of this.
Overall?
If other writers copy you, it suggests you’re doing something right.
Keep doing it.