: Re: How can I Include a verbatim passage in my fiction without plagiarizing it? In my novel, the MC goes to a resort and at the resort, they offer two types of Buddhist meditations. Those meditations

@Samaraweera193

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Don't plagiarize, paraphrase. Take the paragraph, figure out the main idea, and express it in your own words. If it's important that it be exactly as it was in the original, quote it and cite it. In fact --as mentioned by Jason Bassford in the comments below! --even when paraphrasing, you typically need to cite your source unless you're changing the passage substantively, and not just restating it. Most conscientious writers will even go so far as to credit the original source of a distinctive idea, even if it has been completely altered in the process ("inspired by...", "loosely based on...", etc.).

I've seen books where there is a small note at the beginning or the end to the effect "The passage on page 127 about Buddhism was taken from Mindful Living by..." and so forth. This allows you to correctly cite your source without breaking the flow of the work.

It's always best to (1) ask permission and (2) cite correctly. Even outside of any and all legal jeopardy, it's the right thing to do, it's the polite thing to do, and it builds goodwill (instead of destroying it). It often doesn't take that much effort either. When I wrote my book Hero For Christ, I included over fifty direct quotes, and it wasn't difficult, overly time consuming or expensive to get proper permissions and citations for all of them.

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