----- Original Message ----- From: "Mark Sullivan" <
DJ-Anonyme@webtv.net> To: <
rara-avis@icomm.ca> Sent: Tuesday, July 10, 2001 10:22
PM Subject: RE: RARA-AVIS: Re: Recycling
> For the record, I was no longer asking about copying
from self. I was
> just asking if work for hire applied to writing as
well as to other
> areas of creation. It seems from your reply that
there is.
>
> On a tangent, how much of a work for hire is
programmed for the hired
> writer? Do they really get a plot outline or just
required character
> traits of the main characters? For instance, does
the writer plot the
> Mike Shayne story he writes or does he simply script
someone else's
> story? It's just a guess, but I'd guess that it's
sometimes one,
> sometimes the other.
And that's a good guess. All the Shayne stories I wrote were
plotted by me
(except the ones plotted by my wife, but that's different
from what you're asking). Sam Merwin sent me the Shayne bible
giving the description and background of all the characters
but never suggested a plot. When Chuck Fritch was the editor
the only plot suggestion he ever made was that I create a
recurring Oriental villainess. God, that sounds quaint these
days, doesn't it? I've said before that MSMM was the last
pulp, and there's more evidence.
When I started writing books in a long-running house-name
Western series, the first two I did were based on outlines
written by the series creator. After that the editor told me
to just come up with my own plots. I've done a lot of
work-for-hire, and most of the time I've come up with the
plots. Not the characters, though, those were usually already
established.
Best, James Reasoner
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