Imitate, Then Innovate
We have news: you’re a copycat. Your ideas are not all yours. Somewhere, sometime, you heard a lyric, read a novel, or admired an outfit that inspired your big idea. You’re soaking up inspiration everywhere, every day, and unconsciously using it for your own creativity. This makes you a copycat, but that’s okay.
Everyone is a copycat — even your favorite writers.
We tend to think that the best ideas are completely original, and that imitation isn’t art. Let’s reverse that thinking. Imitation is a skill. More than that — imitation is the path to mastery.
By imitating your favorite writers, you can discover your voice.
Some would say, “Voice is just something you have. Don’t think about it. It’s natural. It just comes out.” While this might eventually be true, it’s hard to know your voice when you first start writing. A quick and powerful way to start uncovering your voice is to study and imitate your favorite writers.
Your taste is a helpful clue for developing your own writing voice. After all, if you’re inspired by a writer, it means there’s a part of you in them. But it doesn’t mean you copy them word for word. The goal is to understand how they express their personality and their ideas.
To start reverse-engineering your favorite writers, you need to change how you read. Instead of just highlighting interesting ideas, take notes on how the author uses language. Notice their word choices, their sentence structures, their images, rhythms, and tones. Instead of reading their entire book, open to a random page and re-read it three or four times. Pay attention to how they’re writing. Underline like crazy, and walk away with some things to try next time you write.
For example:
- Use short sentences after long ones.
- Break the fourth wall using parenthesis.
- Tell a joke once per paragraph.
Test things out, exaggerate, and see how the tactics feel. Some moves will feel unnatural, but others will ring true, as if you’ve unlocked something within you. Double down on whatever feels right. The more you read, analyze, and experiment, the more you’ll start sounding like yourself.
The path to creative innovation starts with imitation.
