The Plagiarist From Rigel IV

"The Plagiarist From Rigel IV" by Evan Hunter is a science fiction short story that asks big questions about being creative and what it really means to be original in a world that's getting more high-tech every day. The story zooms in on Fred, a writer who’s having a tough time, and a super cheap typewriter he picks up at a pawn shop. This isn't just any typewriter; it starts spitting out stories that sound a lot like Edgar Allan Poe's, but the typewriter is from Rigel IV, a planet far, far away. As Fred gets to know the typewriter better, he tries to figure out how to write his own stories, separate from Poe's style, now with the help of the extra-terrestrial typewriter the unlikely duo strike up a deal to trade stories. This strange partnership gives Fred a shot at making it big as a writer, even though he knows he could be crossing the line between getting inspired and straight-up copying.