Imitating Authorial Styles

[yowser]

Now that the ‘Hammered’ challenge is done (I had an offering that just got so complicated and twisted I couldn’t pull it off in time, here’s hoping for another chance next year, maybe I will find a way to finish it) I am curious if any of you have deliberately tried to imitate other authors in your work.

To me one of the marks of genius is the ability to make difficult things look easy (this covers a huge range of human endeavors, from art to sport to writing.) I’m not saying Spillane was a genius (Chandler was a far better noir writer) but it turns out it is not so easy to write noir. You think it would be a piece of cake – short sentences, throw in some violence and mayhem, stereotypical characters with simple motives, action – but it is difficult to do well. The challenge generated some superb entries but many that fell short.

I don’t disparage the second category at all: any writer seeking to stretch wings, push envelopes, try something new is good in my book even if the result pratfalls, if there is something to be gained out of the effort.

Have any of you consciously tried to write in another writer’s style? Were you happy with what you produced? Learn anything?

 

[oggbashan]

I have done some:

Kipling: https://www.literotica.com/s/just-so-elephant

Jonathan Swift:

https://www.literotica.com/s/gulliver-in-lilliput

https://www.literotica.com/s/gulliver-completed

 

[AlinaX]

I love trying to mimic Jane Austen.

 

[SimonDoom]

I think it's a great and helpful exercise for an author because it forces you to focus on what a style IS. You must pay careful attention to word choice. You learn something from it even if the style is not your own.

My BTB Incorporated story was a Mike Hammer spoof, although it was written long before the event took place. It was a ton of fun to do it.

My 750-word story The Bullfighter And The Woman is written in a deliberately Hemingwayesque style, with an emphasis on simple sentence structure, repetition, active voice, and play on the themes and metaphors common to Hemingway.

In my story One Night In Mordor, I tried, just a little bit, to weave into the silly elf-hobbit sex story a mock version of JRR Tolkien's sometimes elevated, heroic style.

By being able to ape the style of other authors I think you help to develop your own style, because you become much more conscious of the key elements of writing style.

 

[SimonDoom]

I love trying to mimic Jane Austen.

What's one of your stories that does this? I love Jane Austen and I'd like to try to do this myself.

 

[Lucy_Lastic]

I'd like to write like Bukowski but making it look that easy is really, really hard.

 

[SimonDoom]

Were you happy with what you produced? Learn anything?

To answer these questions, yes, I was happy with what I produced, but what I learned is that the real purpose of exercises like these is to develop one's own style, and I think these kinds of exercises have helped me do that.

 

[NC_Coastal]

I sometimes write stream of conscious paragraphs as Faulkner did, but there's a fine line between that and run-on sentences. Hemingway's chopped-down sentences are easier to emulate, but even he came off as a hack sometimes. He wrote drunk a lot in his last days.

 

[Bramblethorn]

"Magnum Innominandum" was intended as Robert Chambers/Lovecraft pastiche, at least to a point, and "Riddle of the Copper Coin" is part 1001 Nights pastiche. In particular, it's a lot more visually descriptive than my usual style, as well as having gratuitous poetry.

I'm pretty happy with how they turned out though I can't say that it has greatly influenced my subsequent writing.

 

[SouthernCrossfire]

My story for the Hammered challenge was one that focused on the characters and the story and its noir aspects but not so-much the Spillane-like staccato. That's there in places, too, just like Mickey did, but he also did a nice job of setting a deeper, reflective scene at times (one of his setup scenes on a bridge comes to mind). I tended to focus on things like that while trying to make conversations more conversational and realistic, and, though there's a good bit of violence in the story, I actually toned it down a bit (after submitting for publication, I pulled the story and edited out breaking a guy's fingers, having Les overcome the urge to do it. There was another point where he did something physical that was hopefully unexpected). Based on all of that, I prefer taking "ode to Mickey Spillane" as a tribute to rather than imitation of.

I've only deliberately imitated a late fantasy writer a few times with fanfiction and have been told that I did it well, capturing the characters and the feel of the original, but that helped me develop my own style, too. Unfortunately, not many people choose to read even good stories that are still an imitation of a writer in a niche category, which is why I don't do it any more.

 

[MelissaBaby]

I think it's a great and helpful exercise for an author because it forces you to focus on what a style IS. You must pay careful attention to word choice. You learn something from it even if the style is not your own.

My BTB Incorporated story was a Mike Hammer spoof, although it was written long before the event took place. It was a ton of fun to do it.

My 750-word story The Bullfighter And The Woman is written in a deliberately Hemingwayesque style, with an emphasis on simple sentence structure, repetition, active voice, and play on the themes and metaphors common to Hemingway.

In my story One Night In Mordor, I tried, just a little bit, to weave into the silly elf-hobbit sex story a mock version of JRR Tolkien's sometimes elevated, heroic style.

By being able to ape the style of other authors I think you help to develop your own style, because you become much more conscious of the key elements of writing style.

I think I learned a lot from writing my Spillane story, even though, personally, I think Spillane was a lousy writer.

While I did not try to imitate his style, I took great effort to incorporate signature elements of the genre. For example, I tried to avoid using commas as much as possible. I do tend to write fairly complex sentences, and this taught me the value of sometimes saying more with less.

I actually think my story reads much more like James M. Cain, than Spillane.

The problem, for me, with writing imitations, is resisting the urge to turn them into parodies.

 

[MillieDynamite]

In horror, I try to imitate, mimic, or whatever you call it, some of Bram Stoker's dark style. In mysteries, a bit of Dash of Hammett, a sprinkling of Chandler, and a touch of Gardner, Early Stanley, not Jimmy. I have an affinity for the epistolary presentation in Dracula, though I haven't used it other than in a co-writing project. My second, Written in Blood, is explore this type of writing. So far, changing narrators is a big challenge. But if I'm to mimic the mood of the book, Dracula, as I continue this story through several parts, I'll have to use this device.

As to my entry into the previous Spillane event, a commentator compared it to Hammett's work which pleased me to no end.

 

[AlinaX]

What's one of your stories that does this? I love Jane Austen and I'd like to try to do this myself.

https://www.literotica.com/s/bellway-ch-01-thieves-in-the-woods

But also, not in her style but certainly an homage of sorts:
https://www.literotica.com/s/fam-and-futanari-ch-01-willow

 

[Blind_Justice]

LoquiSordidaAdMe and I wrote a story trying to capture the tone of Robert E. Howard. Those few who commented on "Red Tsonia & The Witch In The Dark" thought we nailed it. Someone even namedropped Frank Frazetta, so that's some high praise.

"The Making of 'A Little Heresy'" was my attempt at an H.P. Lovecraft story. Even by my low standards, the level of apathy it created despite being an entrant in the 2016 Halloween Contest is staggering.

 

[MillieDynamite]

LoquiSordidaAdMe and I wrote a story trying to capture the tone of Robert E. Howard. Those few who commented on "Red Tsonia & The Witch In The Dark" thought we nailed it. Someone even namedropped Frank Frazetta, so that's some high praise.

"The Making of 'A Little Heresy'" was my attempt at an H.P. Lovecraft story. Even by my low standards, the level of apathy it created despite being an entrant in the 2016 Halloween Contest is staggering.

H.P. Lovecraft would be a hard copy to do well. I'll have to check it out when I get a chance.

 

[yowser]

To answer these questions, yes, I was happy with what I produced, but what I learned is that the real purpose of exercises like these is to develop one's own style, and I think these kinds of exercises have helped me do that.

I think that this is an instructive point.

Every good author has a 'voice', distinctive and unique. But for many of us, it can take some wandering to discover it. As has been the case for other parts of my life (I mentioned art and sports, for example) especially on an early learning curve, trying to imitate something good from an more experienced practitioner can lead to insight.

Why does that kind of description work so well? How did that writer manage to explain that character's thoughts so convincingly? What made that sentence/paragraph riveting?

 

[Probus888]

I cannot really imitate another author's style. I'm hugely influenced by HP Lovecraft but noway can I write like him. Stylistically, I really like Elmore Leonard - the Dickens of Detroit.

 

[Probus888]

LoquiSordidaAdMe and I wrote a story trying to capture the tone of Robert E. Howard. Those few who commented on "Red Tsonia & The Witch In The Dark" thought we nailed it. Someone even namedropped Frank Frazetta, so that's some high praise.

"The Making of 'A Little Heresy'" was my attempt at an H.P. Lovecraft story. Even by my low standards, the level of apathy it created despite being an entrant in the 2016 Halloween Contest is staggering.

Lovecraft is an almost impossible writer to emulate. That said, he could not do characterization to save his life and was poor at dialogue. However, still a genius at cosmic horror!

 

[lovecraft68]

Lovecraft is an almost impossible writer to emulate. That said, he could not do characterization to save his life and was poor at dialogue. However, still a genius at cosmic horror!

I agree, which was why his stories tended to be told through other people and devices like journals, or second hand accounts, so there was never much in the way of interaction between the subjects of the stories. His strength, to me, was he was able to capture feeling of dread, of hopelessness, that we're all just specks of dust to be blown away by elder beings that were all powerful, or close to it. I liked his stories when I was in my teens in the sense of they were 'cool' now I see what a nihilistic writer he was...and like him even more.

 

[Probus888]

I agree, which was why his stories tended to be told through other people and devices like journals, or second hand accounts, so there was never much in the way of interaction between the subjects of the stories. His strength, to me, was he was able to capture feeling of dread, of hopelessness, that we're all just specks of dust to be blown away by elder beings that were all powerful, or close to it. I liked his stories when I was in my teens in the sense of they were 'cool' now I see what a nihilistic writer he was...and like him even more.

I came across Lovecraft when I was about 15 and the cosmic nihilism of his tales gripped my imagination. His stories have influenced me so much and I have written several tales based on his mythos. However, I never tried to emulate his style as being beyond me. Anyway, despite his prolix description, I only really realized what an Elder Thing looked like when I saw an illustration. That said, his tales of cosmic terror are unbeatable.

 

[Jmanchu]

Now that the ‘Hammered’ challenge is done (I had an offering that just got so complicated and twisted I couldn’t pull it off in time, here’s hoping for another chance next year, maybe I will find a way to finish it) I am curious if any of you have deliberately tried to imitate other authors in your work.

To me one of the marks of genius is the ability to make difficult things look easy (this covers a huge range of human endeavors, from art to sport to writing.) I’m not saying Spillane was a genius (Chandler was a far better noir writer) but it turns out it is not so easy to write noir. You think it would be a piece of cake – short sentences, throw in some violence and mayhem, stereotypical characters with simple motives, action – but it is difficult to do well. The challenge generated some superb entries but many that fell short.

I don’t disparage the second category at all: any writer seeking to stretch wings, push envelopes, try something new is good in my book even if the result pratfalls, if there is something to be gained out of the effort.

Have any of you consciously tried to write in another writer’s style? Were you happy with what you produced? Learn anything?

That's how I learned my prose for writing. By mimicking... poorly. But the parts I like, I keep with my regular prose if its appropriate.

 

[SamScribble]

I started writing a ‘Hammered’ story. How hard could it be?

However, being an Englishman, and having a tendency to ‘write what I know’, I needed to get myself inside the skin of a British PI. Twenty-first century. And not a handgun in sight. Fortunately, I know three such fellows.

One is a former Welsh Guard. Steely, yet somewhat unassuming. In a busy pub, you probably wouldn’t spot him. Until it was too late. Unfortunately, his ‘home turf’ is the West Country. Gloucester. Cheltenham. Bristol. I spent part of my childhood in the West Country. But the part of the West Country that I really know is the rural part rather than the urban part. Also, my former Welsh Guard is a straight up and down family man. So not him.

My second candidate was formerly a major in the Parachute Regiment. I think he may have a higher security clearance than the Prime Minister. He too is a straight up and down family man. So not him either.

My third candidate is a former Navy man. An accidental member of the Regulating Branch. Rose to the rank of Warrant Officer 1 and Master at Arms. These days he’s a habitual bachelor who mainly spends his days finding people who don’t want to be found. He’s very good at it. Also, his patch is London, a patch I know well. Perfect.

My former Navy man becomes J K (Jake) Baker. My story opens with a random scrote trying to nick Jake’s phone while Jake is waiting to buy a sandwich. Twenty thousand words later, we are in the midst of a rollicking yarn. Jake has a voice. The story has a voice. But it’s not even slightly ‘Hammered’. ‘Oh, well… I gave it go.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I'd like to write like Bukowski but making it look that easy is really, really hard.

I like Bukowski a lot, but he had certain experiences that would be hard for me to replicate in writing. The first, of course, was his alcoholism and, well, I'm not sure if he recovered from it or simply worked around it. He was also very Los Angeles-based - I think he lived there for much of his life. Also, the generational difference is there. I think he was close to thirty years older than I am.

I should read Hollywood next.

 

[KeithD]

I think my writing sometimes will imitate the style of a strong writer I'm reading, but I don't purposely go for anyone else's style. The times someone has remarked that something I've written is in this author's style or that one, I think it's happened because of what I was reading at the time and that if I purposely tried to do it, it wouldn't come off too well.

 

[yowser]

I think I learned a lot from writing my Spillane story, even though, personally, I think Spillane was a lousy writer.

While I did not try to imitate his style, I took great effort to incorporate signature elements of the genre. For example, I tried to avoid using commas as much as possible. I do tend to write fairly complex sentences, and this taught me the value of sometimes saying more with less.

I actually think my story reads much more like James M. Cain, than Spillane.

The problem, for me, with writing imitations, is resisting the urge to turn them into parodies.

Interesting.

Of the 13 Hammered entries, one indeed was Humor and Satire. (Mine would have been the second.) I wonder if that's because the 'imitation' ends up being so far removed from your 'normal' voice it feels like play-acting?

Sounds like it was worth the effort.