evolution_rex
Inkling
Before I go on, let me say that I've never done this in any of my writing, I'm just curious.
Anyway, whenever I read something and I find a paragraph or sentence I really really like, I write the sentence down. I put them into a folder I have saved on my computer, and my goal is to read the sentences/paragraphs as inspiration when writing. But, I also had an idea that I haven't tried out and it's because I'm unsure if it's a good idea or not.
Basically, is it okay to take a sentence from someone's writing with minimal changes and add it to what I'm writing as a way to pay homage to the work that I like? I almost did it once to a short story I never finished writing that involved dinosaurs. I thought about using a sentence I read in A Sound of Thunder that described the Tyrannosaurus and wanted to use part of it because I thought it would be a nice reference to the material that I very much respected. I ended up not doing it but I thought it was interesting idea.
I see similar thing done with films all the time, particularly with cinematography. Quentin Tarantino copies certain shots, names, and dialogue from older films all the time and he's considered a genius by many people. But I'm not sure how homages work with writing. Is it considered plagiarism or simply lazy?
Anyway, whenever I read something and I find a paragraph or sentence I really really like, I write the sentence down. I put them into a folder I have saved on my computer, and my goal is to read the sentences/paragraphs as inspiration when writing. But, I also had an idea that I haven't tried out and it's because I'm unsure if it's a good idea or not.
Basically, is it okay to take a sentence from someone's writing with minimal changes and add it to what I'm writing as a way to pay homage to the work that I like? I almost did it once to a short story I never finished writing that involved dinosaurs. I thought about using a sentence I read in A Sound of Thunder that described the Tyrannosaurus and wanted to use part of it because I thought it would be a nice reference to the material that I very much respected. I ended up not doing it but I thought it was interesting idea.
I see similar thing done with films all the time, particularly with cinematography. Quentin Tarantino copies certain shots, names, and dialogue from older films all the time and he's considered a genius by many people. But I'm not sure how homages work with writing. Is it considered plagiarism or simply lazy?