Influence of Other Writers

 

June 27 7 CM topic: Terry here, talking about "outside" influences on my writing.

When I was a young writing student, I took a workshop from an esteemed writer. I turned in a short story and he gently said, “This is a wonderful story, but we already have stories by Eudora Welty.” Guilty as charged. I was so enamored of her stories (still am) that I copied her style.

He said it was fine to practice a well-known author’s voice, but the important thing was to develop my own voice. I was so lucky to have a teacher who recognized what I was up to and was able to tell me in such a way that didn’t crush me. And it made me a better writer. But then, when I started writing crime fiction, one of my first books was rejected with the comment that it was “too Nancy Drew.”

Sigh. In that case, I don’t think it was the actual voice that I was influenced by, but the dependence on plot and tropes rather than character development. Back to the drawing board! I envy writers who immediately know their voice and seem to have a knack for developing characters right out of the starting gate. It took me too long to learn to trust my own voice and to really give characters their due. In fact, I still struggle with that. 

I’ve read advice that says aspiring writers should imitate authors they admire as an exercise, just to get a feel for how they accomplish their work. And it’s not a bad idea to study successful authors to find out how they organize and pace their stories, how they develop characters, and how they use setting to best effect. But it’s always best to keep in mind that we already have Lori Rader-day, Elmore Leonard, Elizabeth George, Don Winslow, Sara Paretsky, Ellen Byron, Deborah Crombie, and Michael Connelly. We have many, many creative, singular authors. They are great partly because their voices are distinctive. Their stories may not be anything particularly new; it’s the way they tell them that sets them apart. 

That’s not the same as saying you shouldn’t write in their sub-genre. Female detectives, British police procedurals, thrillers, cops, and ex-cops, amateur detectives are all fair game. But you have to develop your own version of those sub-genres if you want to be authentic. It means thinking of your own take on what those sub-genres have to offer. And then put them in your style, your own voice, your own understanding of the world. 

 So it isn’t a sin to let other writers influence you. Just be aware that it’s happening, and use their work to help you build writing that is your own.