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plinkplonkonJan 7, 2010

"You probably want to look at examples where this has been done and try to abstract a method out of those."

Robert Silverberg in his essay " The Making of a Science Fiction Writer" (originally published in "Worlds of Wonder" and later in "Reflections and Refractions - Thoughts on Science Fiction, Science and Other Matters") explains in great detail (40 pages in my edition of R&R) how he used stories of writers he admired as raw material for extracting the principles of "how to write well" (enough to be be awarded the Hugo and Nebula and sell everything he wrote) and the results of his applying these perceived principles to write stories embodying each technique.

Quoting from azgolfer's comment above, "In music, one huge factor is copying people. Stevie Ray Vaughan not only knew every Albert King lick, he knew them well enough to use them in new ways. To be a good musician, you need vocabulary and facility. Learning to play other peoples licks will help you with both."

Silverberg copied writers he admired. But the principle is the same - study a "work" that has already achieved your desired outcome, extract a principle or technique by analysis, embody it in your work, get real world feedback on its effectiveness. Rinse, repeat.

Caveat: I am not very sure how this would apply to entrepreneurship.

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