During the process of writing many aspiring authors strive to find their own style, one that is unique, but they often struggle to achieve it. Writing tips from various experts in the field, teachers, editors, authors, and so on, will suggest reading a lot. It is often stated that the more a person reads, the better a writer he or she will become. Yet, what specifically is the writer to do to create a voice that is fresh and unique?
Reading Actively
Reading fiction is a form of entertainment for many. The story is the attraction. When the reader gets caught up in the characters, anxious to find out what will happen to them next, little else seems to matter. A unique and clever phrase, a colorful, impacting description, realistic dialog, all of it consciously goes unnoticed, unless you are a writer.
Writers usually notice and admire, or occasionally admonish, an author's style with its clever phrases and descriptive passages written in that striking manner. Aspiring authors often profess how the experience of reading has changed for them. No longer passive readers, they pick apart other authors' work, comparing those writings to their own. Though distracting, reading in such a way can be constructive, if taken to another level.
Taking Notes
When writers notice those aspects of an author's work they admire, that is where it usually ends. It becomes a passing thought to interrupt their reading, but then they move along to finish the story. Perhaps that phrase or passage stays with them for a brief while, but sooner or later it's gone, lost in the massive clutter of thoughts inside their heads. However, by taking notes those mental observations can be catalogued and filed for future use.
Many famous authors have found their own individual style by first imitating the style of authors they admire. For instance, Stephen King, early in his career, practiced imitating Melville's Moby Dick. Mark Twain studied the styling of Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe before attempting The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Even Benjamin Franklin practiced a technique of imitating by creating exercises where he paraphrased passages, rewrote them into poetry, and then changed them back into prose. According to Franklin, the process expanded his vocabulary and improved his style of writing. He found the exercise of writing and rewriting another author's work helped him find the flaws in his own and how to correct them.
This method of imitation had already been practiced for centuries before Franklin used it. The Romans called it imitatio (imitation) where classical writers would mimic authors such as Virgil. And if one was interested in rhetoric, the writer would reword certain sentences or phrases in as many ways as possible, each with its own style.
Writing as a Process – Step by Step
The development of any author's unique style does not happen overnight. It evolves, creating and recreating itself. Imitating another's work is one step in the process. Many will state that there is no such thing as an original piece of writing, that everything is borrowed from someone. In truth, each author's style is a combination of many others. In that way, it becomes unique and original. By copying words, phrases or passages, studying them, and then playing with them, giving them a tweak here and there, the writer's style will evolve, step by step, until it becomes its own unique voice.
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