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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/35578
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/35578
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Stealing is bad. Quite aside from it being illegal, what satisfaction would you draw from presenting someone else's work? It's not yours, the praise it gets is not to you.

Being inspired by another author, on the other hand, is good. A work of art should inspire. And there's nothing wrong with deliberately going and seeking out the particular inspiration you need. If I'm writing war and I can't quite get the feeling of it, I might reread a bit of _All Quiet on the Western Front_. If I'm writing a love scene, I would go to a book that has one of those, written well. It's not about analytically looking at how somebody else did this. It's about finding that feeling I'm looking for, and then using my own words to make it happen for my characters. The other books help me find that mindset I'm looking for, and I read enough to know where to look for a particular inspiration.

Not just individual scenes either. If I set a story in a particular time and place, I'd read some of what was written then and there, to get the feeling of the particular turn of phrase that matches the setting, the way people thought. For instance, if I were writing something Victorian, I'd look for phrases like "by and by". It's almost a subconscious thing - I read enough of this (whatever I choose _this_ to be), it's easier for me to have my characters talk that way, create the plot that way, etc. So, to continue with the Victorian example, I'd deliberately read Jane Austen, looking to get some particular feeling, I'd be inspired by her style, but I wouldn't steal her words. I'd find my own.

Original score: 4