The Refined Art of Borrowing

Debra takes a look at how we take others' ideas and make them our own.

I have friends who talk about and browse Pinterest all the time. For me, I haven't quite got there yet. Mainly because I'm a bit afraid I'll get addicted and it will be one more thing to do on the computer that isn't writing a book. And believe me, I don't need any kind of distractions or procrastinations there.

And while the site itself is a fairly new idea, the theory behind it has a much longer history.

Everyone knows the mark of a good teacher is to take an idea from someone else and make it your own. I love doing this. Next month I'm heading to the IL Reading Conference, which is absolutely my all-time favorite teachers' conference. My curriculum is chock full of things I've garnered from this yearly event.

One of my favorite winter holiday traditions is our Historical Society's Christmas Housewalk. Each year about a half dozen homes in a local neighborhood are opened to the public to tour. On these walks I've gathered a lot of great holiday decorating ideas. Last year, I came across a year round decorating idea, which I implemented this past summer. I'm sure it's not a new idea, but after seeing it in one of the homes on the Walk, I knew I wanted to do something similar in my own home. It's simple, but it's become one of our favorite spaces in our home.

Black framed sepia-tones prints from the places we've traveled to. These aren't pictures of us, but photographs of scenery, monuments, and historic places we've visited. It was fun tracking down old photos for the project this summer, and I can't wait to expand the gallery with more photos of upcoming vacations.

Now with writing, this borrowing from other people can get a bit tricky. After all, no one wants to mess with that little thing called plagiarism. It's definitely not okay to blatantly take someone else's idea or words and use them as your own. However, as we all know, there really aren't all that many unique and original storylines out there. Think back to Freshman English class: You have your basic man vs. man, man vs. nature, etc. How many millionaire/secret baby romances have you read? These days it's shapeshifters and vampires and zombies. It's what we do with those traditional story lines and conflicts that make our stories unique. And with that, the possibilities are endless.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com