December 1: this better be worth it
“You were never a disappointed carver of words also known as a writer.”
Is it gauche to quote oneself? I suppose it depends on who you believe is the ultimate source and owner of the words.
I spent today teaching students that the author doesn’t matter and, at the same time, berating them on their use of proper citation for quotations. Yes, the author is not here—we are just “waving at [his] name on the shore,” but you better give Billy Collins credit for that insight or I’ll fail you for plagiarizing and he’ll sue your ass.
I believe words and ideas float all around us and sometimes we pay enough attention to grasp at them but often they call to us so loudly, consistently, and clearly that we learn to ignore them. Last summer, I was barefoot in the backyard and clearly heard a voice tell me not to walk across the grass or I would be stung on the bottom of my foot by a bee. Therefore, I walked across the grass and was duly stung on the bottom of my foot by a bee.
Why didn’t I catch that?
Perhaps I did not want to—perhaps I wanted the story of being stung instead (I have told it a few times). Or perhaps those words were meant for someone else, but I got in the way.
Words, once captured, are mine. But as soon as I say them, they are released to be said again. Committing words to the page traps them in time and space, like a tiger in the tarpits, and they can die a slow, dreadful death unless they are said again.
So, no, it’s not gauche to quote myself because when I resay the words I captured, I release them. When I go to myself as source, I stir my supply. When I leave what is not meant for me, it can be captured by someone else.
If you would like to read more about being a disappointed writer, click here.
