Meredith
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Thursdays after 4:00PM EST, maybe?
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ME ME ME MERE MERE MERE
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💗🙏
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Aha Moment from #17 (page 28): “Steal Without Shame” (It’s about taking ideas from other artists – is that cheating or not?)
“Kid, it ain’t stealing if you put a spin on it.” I’m imagining every original idea as a plate. Then someone who likes that idea comes along, puts a pole under that plate, and spins it. Two more people put their own poles on top of the spinning plate and get theirs spinning as well. And it just branches out like tree limbs. And I like that image because every spin is building on the idea, not taking from it like a slice from a pie. So, we’re not stealing. We’re building. And may we feel honored instead of angry if someone spins from us.
Sometimes I accidentally borrow an idea! In my novel, one character is determined to destroy an object. My book coach pointed out that her quest resembles Frodo’s. “Sure,” I said. “Frodo with a cell phone.” So, yes, you could say that I “borrowed” the “quest to destroy an object” idea. But it’s such a universal, simple, nonspecific idea that I feel like no one can really claim it. Ideas can’t be tamed! They’re wild and free. No one can claim to own that butterfly in an open field.
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I think that the concept that we’re building on what others have brought to the party is freeing! If you spend all your time trying to come up with 100% unique ideas, then your writing time will be Google time. Clench those ideas tight and don’t let go! Then, spin!
