[Dr. Drib]

I have a question about plagiarism. First, I would think most writers understand the concept of plagiarism. In my research about the issue, I have come to no definite consensus on the issue I am facing. I am almost finished with a novella-in-flash piece that will be approx. 10,000 words. (Only approx. 2,000 words remaining.)

I take as my inspiration these two mock-biographies:

Doctor Faustus: The Life of the German Composer Adrian Leverkühn as Told by a Friend (Thomas Mann)

Edwin Mullhauser: The Life and Death of an American Writer 1943-1954 by Jeffrey Cartwright (Steven Millhauser).

My inspiration (for the 'fantastical' element) was inspired by The Strange Case of Benjamin Button (F. Scott Fitzgerald).

As a mock-biography, there is no problem whatsoever. However, I realized early on that I needed to emulate the structure of Millhauser's book, in that my story revolves around two children who are both the same age. One child is the biographer and the other is the writer. This is the same set-up Millhauser uses.

In my novella-in-flash story, their friendship lasts from ages 2-5. At age 5, the 'writer' and his family move away. It becomes increasingly obvious that the 'biographer' is actually the real 'talent' - but he's narcissistic and deranged, and he has no idea what to do with his 'life' as an adult. He is a complete failure.

Millhouser's wonderful novel ends in ambiguity (some would argue); whereas, my novella-in-flash has a definite ending (I would say) and is different than Millhauser's.

Let me make this very clear: What I am using is a conventional way to tell the story that has been used before by Millhauser: a biographer recounting the writing antics of the 'writer'; and, the fact that they are both children, with one of the children telling the story.

My novella-in-flash is a tongue-in-cheek attempt at examining how an artist creates, and it is also about how a narcissistic personality (perhaps 'diseased' is a better word?) copes with his deranged view of himself. And it is also supposed to be funny. Hopefully, very funny.

Tentative, working title: The Biography of Horror Writer Johnny Masturbator By His Childhood Friend Mikey Rakowski