Yesterday, when we ran out of gossip and ideas on how to make her dog live forever, my friend asked me what it is that I do exactly. To give her a clearer picture, I showed her a few treatments, described their purpose and explained the typical chapter structure. As a savvy businesswoman, she came up with a valid point: 'So, I guess you have some chapter templates, right?'
Wow! Actually, that never crossed my mind. We ordered another glass and mulled the idea over. So, would it be something like a text reservoir? With sentences categorized by topic and genre? Metaphors that fit a specific style? Entire chapters ready to be re- or up-cycled? Now that creating infinite variants of one text is a matter of seconds with AI, it's easier than it has ever been. Our brainstorm was interrupted because a dog passed by, and my friend got dog-struck.
While she was baby-talking to the retriever, my mind continued pondering the vision. Treatment designers have layout templates and photo banks (thank goodness). Could it work for writing, too? I guess so. After all, my brain already has a kind of text reservoir. And I run it. But if this reservoir existed in my computer, stored in files and docs, wouldn't I feel more like robbing it than running it?
Take Tarantino – his films have a signature style, but he doesn't copy-paste the scenes from his previous movies. Not that I'm comparing myself to him; he definitely has a thing for blood, whereas I can't stand even those bloody five days a month.
But Tarantino is an artist – I'm not. Yet somehow, it's another reason why I might feel uncomfortable about copy-pasting texts. I'm the voice of the director. If the text represented me personally, it would be my choice and my problem to be repeating myself. But the fact that I write on behalf of others makes me feel responsible for their originality.
Leonardo (the retriever) left, so my friend's attention got back to me. We picked up the threads of the topic – the dog immortality one. As for the reservoir idea, I didn't come to any conclusion. The only decision I made was to watch Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs once I arrive home.
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