Dare I mention it is Friday the 13th? You didn’t hear it from me.
Today’s video is quite fascinating: Disney animation reusing previous work in a different film.
This begs the question, have you ever reused material in your writing? I wrote about the issue twelve years ago in the post “Can You Plagiarize Yourself?” The answer is, “Yes, you can, but should you? If you do, cite yourself.”
HT: Dan Balow
A hundred words in fourteen lines:
that’s all that’s allowed to me
within constraint of rigid rhymes
in Shakespearean sonnetry,
so do I oft recycle phrase
from a poem I wrote before?
Of course I do! But there are ways
to make it feel unseen before,
like changing context, changing meter,
and its placement in rhyme-scheme.
The result may not be world-beater,
but it helps me chase the dream
of exceeding, if you please,
word-count of Tolstoy’s War And Peace.
In a sense aren’t we always plagiarizing? The location, circumstances and characters change, but we all laugh and cry, dance and sing, triumph and fail. It’s what makes readers love books, we get to experience familiar journeys in new ways. No wonder Disney has captured audiences for so long. They stick to the basics and repurpose them.
Well, that’s one way to save money on backgrounds.
A beautiful reminder of simplicity, the beauty of music and movement, may our days be filled with all!
Reminds me of those vestigial subroutines in complex computer programs, reused (copied and pasted or simply commanded to execute) again and again over the years. Example being random number generator subroutines.
But in literature, too, there are rich and highly regarded allusions, entire scenes, even, with different character names and settings, borrowed from original source material. I suppose The Bible is the richest lode of such allusion mining, and frankly I love it.
However, I think your point, Steve, is that an author ought to think twice before copying and pasting entire scenes and dialogue from an older work into a new one. Smacks of abject laziness, even when one changes names and places. Thanks for a thoughtful post. Happy weekend!
On the other hand, I think your point, Mr. Laube, is that we as authors might rather think twice before we copy and paste entire scenes and dialogue from an older work of our own into a (purported) new one. Speaks to abject laziness, even when one changes names and places. Thanks for a very thoughtful post. Happy Saturday and Sunday!
On the other hand, I think your point, Mr. Laube, is that we as authors might rather think twice before we copy and paste entire scenes and dialogue from an older work of our own into a (purported) new one. Speaks to abject laziness, even when one changes names and places. Thanks for a very thoughtful post. Happy Saturday and Sunday!
Wow! Reruns!
Well, aren’t they efficient! Their CFO must love the art department for recycling.