Bluenoseuk

Someone asked me recently, 'Would you like to write like Stephen King?'
It was a question that took me back, and many people would probably think that a swift 'Yes' would be my response. However after a fairly short time I said, 'No. I don't want to write like him.'
Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of his. I love his writing, I love his style, his characters, his ideas, his talent. BUT I WANT MY OWN STYLE.
Does anyone feel the same? Or is my observation incorrect? I just find if you try to emulate someones style then you'll eventually get found out, and your work will suffer as a consequence. I would like peoples views on this, as I was a little taken aback by the question, and secretly I was a little surprised by my answer!!

__________________
Imagination is our sixth sense...

Eiji Tunsinagi

I think the might of meant write like Stephen King in that he DOES have his own style. Maybe people need to have a very defined style.

__________________
"nothing is perfect, nothing lasts, and nothing is finished."

"how will you go about finding that thing the nature of which is totally unknown to you?"

Deadally

I couldn't stand to be confined to someone else's style! I feel that people that limit themselves in this way are ignorant to the true beauty of writing...the freedom!

I whole-heartedly agree with your decision!

__________________
My Short Stories

Video Game Musical Treasures- For great video game sheet music!

Alex

I feel people who often find themselves saying; 'Wow, I sure wish I could write like this person' - of a successful author are more saying so because of the success the writer has had. I'm sure it's not too often you'll find someone saying so of an author who has never been published. EVEN THOUGH, they may have superb writing.

I could be wrong.

Good question though. That's something I'll probably spend a couple days thinking about.

Emma LB

I agree with you Bluenoseuk.
I think that everyone has a style of their own, unless they actually try to get rid of it - there are authors out there who obviously like someone else's style so much they try and adopt it. As you said you think your work would suffer if you did take up writing like Stephen King, and I think you are right there too. I just read a fantasy story written like a Terry Pratchett story. That's all I could think of while reading it - he's copied Terry! So yeah, while it would be nice to write like Terry, it's not actually something you really want to do if you think about it.

__________________
"You should be the change that you want to see in the world." ~ Mahatma Gandhi
(Avatar by geckzilla)

DawnMorningStar

I have found myself admiring other people's writing styles, or their gift for storytelling, but I don't want my style to emulate any one else's. I like being unique, and I think a personal voice really helps to make a story stand out.

So no...I don't want to write like Stephen King either. Or J.K. Rowling, for that matter.

Chris

Emulating other writer's styles is a good way, in my opinion, of developing your skills and discovering your own style. I mean, there's only so many "styles" right? I think it's of great benefit to examine as many different styles as you can and pick out the ones you respond to, then add that to your own writing. Ultimately you'll find a style that you'll be comfortable with and hopefully it'll have a touch of uniqueness too.

On the other hand, it may also be good (or interesting) as a writing exercise, to emulate a style which you completely hate or can't warm to. I don't know what you'd get out of it, but it'd probably be useful some way or another.

__________________
"...Biting my truant pen, beating myself for spite:
Fool! said my Muse to me, look in thy heart and write. - Sir Philip Sidney

JSneddon

I don't want to write like him...

I just want people to enjoy reading my novels as much as they do his.

__________________
"Ha-HA ha-ha-ha, ha-HA ha-ha-HEEE, you're going to pay and you're going to pay MEEE!" THE TOLLTAKER

gabriella

I can't say. I've never read anything by Stephen King.

__________________
You write by sitting down and writing - Bernard Malamud.

jules

well, although I have read and admired Stephen King's writing, I definitely would not like to write just like him... I hope my own style continues to develop, and though it may incorporate elements from other authors, I expect it to be truly my own. not to mention... I don't think I could ever write horror...
what an interesting question!!
xoxoxoxoxo

__________________
*hugs*
~*here she comes again, dancin' 'neath the starry sky*~

Wyndham

I don't read Stephen King either. I don't have anything against him, it's just that I don't find that kind of story interesting. I like my stuff grounded a little more in reality. Now, again, I can't really comment on SK"s writing in particular, but I am always suspect of any writer who can turn out that many novels. What usually happens is that Stephen King starts writing like Stephen King, if you get my drift.

But on the actual topic at hand, I don't think you want to so much copy a writer's style, but learn from it. What is it that this writer does that you admire? Is it her vivid descriptions, excellent word choice, or in the case of my favorite author, Hemingway, is it the minimalism. I don't try to copy Hem. With writing that sparse you need some pretty interesting topics, and since I've never shot at a lion or driven an ambulance in a war zone, I don't think it would work, but I do tend to a more minimalist style over flowery descriptions, and I like to cut my writing to the bare bones.

Talia_Brie

You poor thing.

You need to see someone about that right away. I think there are support groups for people like you.

__________________

johnybob

It is good if you have your own personal style of writing. Because everyones writing is unique in its own way. well thats just my opion you belive what you want


Yes I Know I Got Grammer and Spelling Errors lol

__________________
H.W.H. Hawk- Keith hobbs, writer of the Lost Elders.

MisterRaziel

I'm not really a fan of Stephen King.

But you have to admire these authors like Anne Rice and Danielle Steele who can crap out a new novel every ten minutes.

I'm sorry, that was a little harsh.

I find that whatever I'm reading has a pretty big influence on my style.

If I'm reading, say, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, my writing style will be old-fashioned and formal. If I'm reading a crime noir I'll use lots of over-the-top metaphor and simile. If I'm reading Milan Kundera, I sound like crap because I can't emulate his sheer cerebral power.

My writing style is, therefore, still very rough as I'm trying to find my own voice.

My advice: Experience all the styles you can, from Kerouac's and Ellison's rambling drug-hazed narratives to Milan Kundera's intellectualism to Terry Pratchett's deft wielding of the language. The more people you read, the more people you'll sound like, until you finally figure out how you want to tell your tales.

__________________
Grizzled veteran of the console wars.

Wyndham

To expand on MisterRaziel's point, your style has to be somewhat dictated by your subject. If you were writing a novel about the American Revolution or the Civil War, you probably wouldn't write in the same style you would if your novel were about the Viet Nam era.

Also, I don't think the term "crap out" is overly harsh. However, in the case of certain very prolific writers I think even that would take more effort than they put into their writing.