Borrows

Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) / Tang Yin/ 溪山漁隱 卷

A load of laundry in, I shoulda done two, but just didn’t feel like it.  

Can’t really think of that much I want to put a rant on.  I am kinda exploring the peripheries of the old adage “good artists borrow, great artists steal”.  I finally got a way to help myself write and actually finish and maintain a plotline.  I find a book I have read that I like, and I rewrite the chapters in a slightly different order, using different characters, different dialog, different plots, different worlds…..but borrow how the book is paced.  

So I am kinda thinking that goes under the “borrow” category of the aforementioned aphorism.  If all I am borrowing is the pacing of the book and not using the other four I figure I am safe from accusations of plagiarism.  

Actually managing to write this way.  Most of my previous attempts came up at a dead end when I lost track of what I was trying to say.  Most books (especially fiction) aren’t that complex.  If you make a decision about the basic plot and reduce it to a single paragraph (even better, a single sentence) all the book is is a means of expanding that into an extended form with details and dialog.

I think that what my act of quasi-plagiarism does is to give me an example from a book that I enjoy the way to pace the story and an idea of the mix needed to blend the descriptive and the dialog in a pleasing manner.  

I suppose that Mrs Lake (High School English Teacher who I adored) would have told me that I could do the same thing with an outline, but she kinda ruined that for me fifty years ago.