This is a time-proven strategy I use when I’m working on a piece but feel blah about it.
Imitate the Greats
There are great writers whose style is worth studying and imitating. I’ve been doing this kind of self-study for a long time. In college, I got accused by a professor for plagiarism. When he realized I’d imitated someone’s style so well that it came off as professional writing, he was impressed!
I’m not bragging. I’m saying this because imitation can be …intimidating! But here is my strategy.
Look up writers in the same genre. This is where a library can help, e-books, or a bookstore that doesn’t mind excessive browsing! Find a writer whose style you LOVE.
If it’s a book, you don’t have to read it to the end. I often do, but mainly I look at how that writer puts their sentences together. How are the paragraphs put together.
And then I try to shape my writing in a similar way. Using my own story, of course!
Recently, I began to use sticky notes to analyze what certain writers are doing in their essays. It’s actually kind of fun!
Fast Learning
This can help you quickly stretch your style. It can help you write more poetically, or more plainly, or with greater emotion!
It can also help you put a page together that feels unwieldy. I know I can get bogged down in the emotion of a piece. Looking at another writer’s structure helps me think more analytically about my own writing.
It can also inspire you. You are looking closely at piece of writing to inform your own. You are working on your craft, and you are on your way to being the writer you want to be!