As a teenager, Benjamin Franklin famously copied other people's writing in order to develop his own prolific publishing. He would find essays and articles he thought were particularly well done, and then he would memorize them and copy them by hand. The act of writing ingrained in him the methodology for structure, voice, debate, and general composition. Perhaps the act of copying could help in the creative format as well.
A recent article titled "What Hand-Copying Classic Short Stories Did For My Own Writing" by Lauren Sarner describes the revelations that can occur when forcing yourself not just to read great literature, but to copy it word for word by hand.
She says that she became more aware of the choices writers make regarding how much detail to use--what to add in and what to leave out. She noticed the emphasis on characterization and setting appears different from the writing perspective as from the reading. She also saw that slowing WAY down allows an author to contemplate more deeply the act of storytelling, rather than unconsciously scribbling plot points on a page. Perhaps most importantly for her writing career, Sarner was able to understand more clearly the feedback she received from publishers and agents. By getting lost in her own writing, she hadn't been able to see the subtleties that can derail fiction until she painstakingly copied the work of classics.
I've written here previously about physically writing things down when it comes to note-taking, as it improves cognitive performance. Sarner contends the same brain boosting may be in effect when writing creatively as well. As someone who teaches both creative writing and composition, I may seriously adopt her strategy in my own classes. If you're someone who needs to refresh your brain and your writing process, try copying the classics. Who knows, maybe someday someone else will be copying your work.
A recent article titled "What Hand-Copying Classic Short Stories Did For My Own Writing" by Lauren Sarner describes the revelations that can occur when forcing yourself not just to read great literature, but to copy it word for word by hand.
She says that she became more aware of the choices writers make regarding how much detail to use--what to add in and what to leave out. She noticed the emphasis on characterization and setting appears different from the writing perspective as from the reading. She also saw that slowing WAY down allows an author to contemplate more deeply the act of storytelling, rather than unconsciously scribbling plot points on a page. Perhaps most importantly for her writing career, Sarner was able to understand more clearly the feedback she received from publishers and agents. By getting lost in her own writing, she hadn't been able to see the subtleties that can derail fiction until she painstakingly copied the work of classics.
I've written here previously about physically writing things down when it comes to note-taking, as it improves cognitive performance. Sarner contends the same brain boosting may be in effect when writing creatively as well. As someone who teaches both creative writing and composition, I may seriously adopt her strategy in my own classes. If you're someone who needs to refresh your brain and your writing process, try copying the classics. Who knows, maybe someday someone else will be copying your work.