WRITING|CREATIVE WRITING
Why Recycling Is As Important for Writers As It Is For the Environment
Waste not; reuse instead
A few years ago a video made the rounds on YouTube in which a pianist showed viewers how he could go from Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’ to Elton John’s Can You Feel the Love Tonight in just a few notes. Similarly, there have been clips demonstrating how certain guitar riffs can be achieved using the same three-chord technique in all of them.
Writing also works along the same lines.
Picture this. A resolute woman gets her own way against society’s expectations of her. She, then, meets a man who at first appears to be indifferent to her charms, only to fall head over heels for her in the end.
Sounds familiar? Welcome to Jane Austen’s world.
This tale, as old as the Earth itself, has been spun countless times. From Europe to Asia, writers all over the globe have retold this story, very often using characters and settings specific to their environment.
However, whilst each work spins from the same Jane Austen-inspired source, they each function as a unique narrative.
Writers recycle. That’s why when I first saw the slogan “Reuse, Recycle, Reduce” years ago, the first…