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Post by ScintillaMyntan on Jan 12, 2024 1:00:44 GMT -6
Have you ever tried to emulate writers you admire, or artists in other media? Or written an homage? Where do you draw the line between emulating and ripping off?
When I was a preteen, I had a phase when I tried to write like Lemony Snicket. I wanted the other kids to see me as funny and entertaining, and imitating a pretty funny author seemed like a straightforward way to do it. That was definitely copying him rather than just taking inspiration, using the phrases and style of narration he uses a lot, though it was on my own original, wacky stories.
Now my thing is, for some of my stories, emulating Andrzej Stasiuk, his very atmospheric, metaphor-rich prose. I like to think I pull it off pretty well sometimes. I want my novel to sound rather like him.
I hope what I'm doing is different enough, though. According to the translator's introduction of one of his books, the translator showed some Polish writing students an unpublished excerpt of Stasiuk, and they all immediately identified it as him. So I'm copying a style that's highly well-known and recognizable in the author's homeland. But my topics and themes are very different. I suppose that alone would lead to some differences in style. He often tries to make generalized observations and sort of impose a narrative on a place, whereas I'm doing quite internally-focused fiction, so my style would be a little less bold-sounding, concentrated within what one character thinks instead of trying to make generalizations.
I told a writer once, a senior man who has published novels, about Stasiuk. The novelist wasn't impressed; he said Stasiuk uses too many similes, or at least his English translators do. "Good writing doesn't use 'like,'" the guy said. So I've been continuing to try to write 'Stasiukally,' but introducing poetic comparisons in ways other than saying that something is 'like' something else. It's been a good exercise.
I hope writing in a similar style but in a different genre, about a different demographic of people, in a different original language, would be okay—
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Post by Alatariel on Jan 12, 2024 13:13:44 GMT -6
Have you ever tried to emulate writers you admire, or artists in other media? Or written an homage? Where do you draw the line between emulating and ripping off?
When I was a preteen, I had a phase when I tried to write like Lemony Snicket. I wanted the other kids to see me as funny and entertaining, and imitating a pretty funny author seemed like a straightforward way to do it. That was definitely copying him rather than just taking inspiration, using the phrases and style of narration he uses a lot, though it was on my own original, wacky stories.
Now my thing is, for some of my stories, emulating Andrzej Stasiuk, his very atmospheric, metaphor-rich prose. I like to think I pull it off pretty well sometimes. I want my novel to sound rather like him.
I hope what I'm doing is different enough, though. According to the translator's introduction of one of his books, the translator showed some Polish writing students an unpublished excerpt of Stasiuk, and they all immediately identified it as him. So I'm copying a style that's highly well-known and recognizable in the author's homeland. But my topics and themes are very different. I suppose that alone would lead to some differences in style. He often tries to make generalized observations and sort of impose a narrative on a place, whereas I'm doing quite internally-focused fiction, so my style would be a little less bold-sounding, concentrated within what one character thinks instead of trying to make generalizations.
I told a writer once, a senior man who has published novels, about Stasiuk. The novelist wasn't impressed; he said Stasiuk uses too many similes, or at least his English translators do. "Good writing doesn't use 'like,'" the guy said. So I've been continuing to try to write 'Stasiukally,' but introducing poetic comparisons in ways other than saying that something is 'like' something else. It's been a good exercise.
I hope writing in a similar style but in a different genre, about a different demographic of people, in a different original language, would be okay—
Oh yea, definitely okay! I think all major authors are inspired by and try to emulate their writing heroes. I know Guy Gavriel Kay wrote a whole trilogy as an homage to Tolkien's style or Lord of the Rings in general. He was actually hired to help Christopher Tolkien finish writing The Fall of Numenor because his style so closely resembles JRR Tolkien. I also think readers specifically look for authors that mirror each other. I love how Allison Saft writes her atmospheric light-fantasy novels and often want to find similar books after I'm done reading one of hers and sadly can't find many who match. Same with my other favorite authors: Laini Taylor, TJ Klune, Everina Maxwell, etc. It's like tropes and archetypes. We worry that our story/plot/world/characters (all of it) too closely resemble other beloved stories and think "oh well, I'm not original enough. I shouldn't keep writing this" when, in fact, people CRAVE familiarity. Soooo yes!! If you find an author inspiring enough to write in that style and inspires your creativity, I think thats MORE than okay, I think that's worth continuing with in earnest. And of course there are going to be people who don't like it. No everyone likes every writing style or genre. It's easy to say "don't pay attention to the negativity" but it can be so loud. I can say with absolute heartfelt truth: I LOVE YOUR STYLE. It's unique and stunning and YOURS. I personally adore similies and sure, some people might not but that's their preference, not a rule. |
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Post by saintofm on Jan 15, 2024 20:58:42 GMT -6
We take inspirations from different writers, styles of entertainment, and more. From there you can pick apart what you like and what you don't to make your own voice.
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Post by RAVENEYE on Jan 16, 2024 12:20:42 GMT -6
When I was trying to develop my own voice while trying to improve my ability to express ideas/action/etc. I studied the writing styles of authors like GRRM, Anne Rice, and other early favorites and tried to emulate how they used words. Examples: GRRM snuck extra verbs into sentences where I hadn't thought to put them (sounds weird, but it really kicked up the action and movement of things). Anne Rice's descriptions are so thick with sensory triggers. Too many adjectives a lot of the time, but who cares? On the negative side of emulation, when I first started writing fantasy, I didn't know there could be anything besides the cliched combination of races established a century earlier by Tolkien and copied later by Dungeons & Dragons. My imagination was so limited to these two influences that that's what I wrote, and now in one of my worlds I'm stuck with that boring old system. But inventing my first conlang, incorporating songs/poetry into my early fiction was all heavy and obvious emulation of Tolkien.  Oh, well. One learns and grows, right? |
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Post by Sundrinker on Jan 17, 2024 20:46:07 GMT -6
In the past, I would have most likely been felt like I was being unoriginal or ripping off and felt bad about it.
How I feel these days though, is quite the opposite. "Imitation is the best form of flattery", as they say, no? The way I see it now is that your desire to emulate an author is a compliment to him. It means that it touched/resonated with you deeply.
Actually, I'm remembering just now— that one poem I wrote, Dogs, was originally a class assignment in college in which we had to write a pastiche (i.e. imitate the style of another work and/or artist).
So emulating can be a good thing. It doesn't have to substract anything to what you're trying to do either. You might borrow the style but it's not like it stops there. There's still your story, your ideas and views, etc. It's more like something you integrate into your own work to give a result that's unique to you.
Also, it'll eventually come up when people ask you about your work and your inspirations. You'll refer to this and that author and some people will discover them though you (again, you're paying compliment to them like that).
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Post by HDSimplicityy on Jan 17, 2024 22:52:54 GMT -6
Yes I suppose so. It's an easy way to ratchet up the quality of your story. Use JRR Tolkiens visuals, CS Lewis's tone or voice, Troy Dennings physical immersion, Timothy Zahns cinematic and realistic narration...or Kelly Gays ability to draw from expanded lore to current game stories that throw you off guard in amazing ways. Or yes, Marvels screenwriters and their heroes' quips. However, I try to form a unique style moreso than copy/paste theirs. Those authors as examples guide me in a few ways. Like how visceral to make action scenes, how immersive my landscapes and physical locations, how evocative my sensory details, or how far my internal character thoughts go versus how external they are. So it's kinda hard to avoid taking that much inspiration from already popular writers, ya know. If my book sounds too much like a conversation between Tony Stark and Black Widow, I need to read other books  |
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Post by RAVENEYE on Jan 18, 2024 10:11:20 GMT -6
Ooo-ooo, overnight I remembered two other influences I tried for a while to emulate, because I was fascinated by how they used words: China Mieville and Margaret Atwood.
Going for Mieville's style, whew, that resulted in some bizarre word combos and was fun beyond, er, words. When I first took a chance on reading one of his novels (had only a single LFer that recommended him) I was blown away by the prose and inventiveness, and experienced an electric charge -- "I have to try to write like this!" But Atwood? That living legend? Pff, I can't even.
Hehe, right? Yeah, I think the more widely we read, the more versatile we'll be, and also able to establish a writing voice that is YOU, that the writer can nail down what they want in their voice and what they don't.
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Post by HDSimplicityy on Jan 18, 2024 21:51:25 GMT -6
Ooo-ooo, overnight I remembered two other influences I tried for a while to emulate, because I was fascinated by how they used words: China Mieville and Margaret Atwood. Going for Mieville's style, whew, that resulted in some bizarre word combos and was fun beyond, er, words. When I first took a chance on reading one of his novels (had only a single LFer that recommended him) I was blown away by the prose and inventiveness, and experienced an electric charge -- "I have to try to write like this!" But Atwood? That living legend? Pff, I can't even. Hehe, right? Yeah, I think the more widely we read, the more versatile we'll be, and also able to establish a writing voice that is YOU, that the writer can nail down what they want in their voice and what they don't. Short stories are great for experimenting with bizarre word combos. Now Im trying to come up with a sentence...... hmm nothing bizarrer. Ive had writers' block lately. Disclaimer: Ive read maybe two marvel comics. My dialogue has inspiration from the movies. Those sharp, rapid firing lines. Well, that and Ive read too many Halo books. Im too used to that YA military science fiction style. But yet, I need to read more widely. |
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