The dangers in imitating other writers

By Dennis Mellersh

In your journey of becoming a writer and learning how to write a book, a habit to guard against is that of imitating, consciously or subconsciously, the writing style of a favourite author.

Although it is important for you as a writer to follow the general guidelines or market principles for the book genre that interests you (writing a mystery novel for example) imitation of another author’s style will hurt your writing and your credibility with your potential reading audience.

One of the reasons that imitation can surface in your writing is if you greatly admire the work of a particular author and perhaps think that if your writing were similar, you could be a successful writer too.

But, it is a dangerous trap.

I recently came across a good explanation of why this is so in a book titled Creative Authenticity (1) written by Ian Roberts. Roberts is a painter, but he explained in his book that visual arts and writing both require authenticity, or speaking with your own voice in your art.

Here is what he says about using the yardstick of comparing ourselves to others:

“We can run into trouble comparing ourselves with another artist’s work when our temperament is completely different from his or hers, which means that we could never do what they do…it is unproductive to compare and evaluate ourselves against someone else’s work. What we’re trying to compare doesn’t. And it can be harshly discouraging to try.”

Developing your own style as a writer will take time – time spent writing every day. By disciplining yourself to write every day, eventually your own style will emerge.

(1) Creative Authenticity, by Ian Roberts, Atelier Saint-Luc Press, 2004