Because I have some acting and directing background, I used to be in the habit of going to a play and as I would hear certain performers recite their lines, I’d repeat them, silently, with different, and what I thought were improved inflections.
I didn’t do this with the greats, Anthony Hopkins, Vanessa Redgrave, Ian McKellan, and Paul Scofield, to name a few. But with lesser actors, this impulse to superimpose my act on theirs was irresistible.
Flying from LA to San Francisco one evening, I got a chance to chat extensively with Eric Roberts, an actor with some classical training, and I asked if he did the same thing.
He shot me a look that said, “I’ve never even heard of that!”
I share this with you because as writers or artists of any kind, I believe there is the temptation to re-do other people’s work, unconsciously if not deliberately.
The question comes to mind: Is this worthwhile? Moreover, is it right?
Budding painters throughout history have tried to copy the classics to understand and to improve technique, so in a sense, I believe this can be a useful exercise in any art.
It adds tools, possibilities, and it forces us to develop latent talents.
But should you try to write like Hemingway or T.S. Eliot or even Napoleon Hill?
Why, not?
There is an adage, perhaps you’ve come across it, that says: “Every story has been told, but every new writer thinks he or she can tell it better.”
Part of a classical education is to fill oneself with the wisdom and perspectives of the greats, because then we’ll know what “great” is, and with that foundation, we can more capably originate, knowing exactly how and when we are breaking with tradition.
I’m finding, by writing articles in various subject areas I’m adopting styles suitable to the material. My sports pieces sound “punchy” and have a ringside air to them, and my martial arts offerings have a trace of mysticism in them.
Probably, I’m imitating someone or some model that I’ve internalized.
Is this right? Is it effective?
Eric Roberts might take a different path to creating, and that’s fine, but a certain amount of mimicry works for me.
By the way, have you heard my Sean Connery impersonation?
Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of http://www.Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service, and the audio program, “The Law of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable,” published by Nightingale-Conant. He is a frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide. A Ph.D. from USC’s Annenberg School, a Loyola lawyer, and an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School at Claremont Graduate University, Gary offers programs through UCLA Extension and numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations from Santa Monica to South Africa. He holds the rank of Shodan, 1st Degree Black Belt in Kenpo Karate. He is headquartered in Glendale, California, and he can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at: gary@customersatisfaction.com
For information about coaching, consulting, training, books, videos and audios, please go to http://www.customersatisfaction.com
