Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

, I hear.

In Prose Style with Dr. Allison, we learned the importance of imitation writing. Three of the essays we wrote that semester were imitation pieces. I wrote a short story imitating As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner, for example. It was about the death of the president and switched points of view all the time. It had the potential of being awesome.

Anyway, when you imitate someone’s writing, it’s not just about form. You aren’t just trying to use the same words as they or the same sentence structures. You’re taking on the mind of the writer. You adapt her philosophy.

It’s a lot of fun to do this, I tell you.

I’m trying it again right now with e.e. cummings/William Carlos Williams. I’m imitating both of them in a poem I’m writing. It’s very imagistic. Short. Lots of odd punctuation.

Why bother? Well, I realized that my best and favorite poems are ones that are different than how I usually write. I would never have written them if I were so stuck in my ways. You can’t be stuck in your ways. It’s great to have your own writing voice, but don’t let your devotion to it keep you from trying something new.

Scriptwriting Archive:
Broken-down Poetry, and what it means
The strenuous marriage of writing
Poetry as Therapy, pt. II
Imagination
Sh*tty First Drafts
Cross-train
Go get a life
Wishing writing could change me
Install me in any profession
Tell all the truth but tell it slant–
Poetry to creative nonfiction and back again

 

April 21, 2011

Posted in Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry and tagged poetry, writing.