They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. . .

Akuma · Feb 25, 2007

Or something like that.

Recently, I decided to pose a challenge to myself. If you want to get better at something, you have to practice practice practice, and also study the best, right?

Well, while I know I learn through my WIPs, I think I could progress faster.

So I've decided to copy, word for word, Stephen King's "The Stand".
Maybe I'll pick up some pointers, criticize his and my own work (I think he places too much trust on italics and exclamation points for emotion), and generally get to know the story better.

Although you may say there's probably a better author to study, it doesn't seem as if the King isn't too bad of a choice. He seems to know his stuff and "The Stand" is considered his best work by most people.

So, there. Just letting you guys know what I'm doing to try and further myself in The Craft and also wondering if anyone else has done something like this before.

Although, I gotta tell you, with juggling this and my WIP, things will be slow going.

Akuma

johnzakour · Feb 25, 2007

Thats an interesting approach since we do type and read with different parts of our brain.

PeeDee · Feb 25, 2007

It's a fun thing to do, and one I've seen suggested (and have suggested) before. I don't know that I would have the physical or mental capacity to type out all of The Stand (you just looked for the heaviest book on your shelf) but I recommend typing out a chapter of a book you particularly like.

I think it was Uncle Jim who pointed out that painters will paint copies of other people's works in their efforts to learn, and it's the same thing for a writer. Plus, it's fun.

johnzakour · Feb 25, 2007

When I ghost writing for a book packager I typed in all of "Cat in the Hat" to get the feel of Dr. S.

Not quite as tough as The Stand.

Sage · Feb 25, 2007

I don't know. When I was in elementary school, we had to copy a page on each president from some handouts our teachers gave us. I remember the exercise itself. I remember practicing condensing my handwriting (or maybe it was printing) so I could fit more onto one piece of paper. What I can't remember is a single bit of information I learned from the handouts nor how the essays were written.

RG570 · Feb 25, 2007

I tried this with a page out of one of uncle jim's books, just to see how a real book would appear in my word processor. I'm not quite sure what exactly I learned from it, but it helped . . . somehow.

I already knew this from studying jazz improvisation. Miles Davis said something like "Imitate, assimilate, innovate" and it works quite well.

blacbird · Feb 25, 2007

For several years now, I've been involved in one of the many efforts to bring public-domain literature to an electronic text format suitable for free posting on the internet. This has involved typing numerous (40-50) books, from scratch, into a word-processor, and subsequent formatting. It can be a very interesting exercise, and I think it is useful from a writing standpoint. Some I've hated, but most have been enjoyable exercises. It lets you see in great detail the construction of prose narrative.

caw

alaskamatt17 · Feb 25, 2007

Good luck. I was thinking about doing this with some of my favorite books, but I gave up pretty quick. If I were to copy any book it would have to be Jurassic Park. Again, I'm sure people out there can come up with hundreds of better books as far as craft goes, but Crichton was one of the authors who kept me reading as a kid, and I don't think I would be as literate as I am today if I hadn't started off reading his techno-thrillers.

Rolling Thunder · Feb 25, 2007

Is rewriting the Stand a good endeavor though? How about reading a chapter or page three times instead, out loud? That way you get the feel for the work through physical interaction. Typing it out is just...well.....copying. Isn't it? It's like reading Shakespeare vs. acting out, Shakespeare.

Birol · Feb 25, 2007

Analyzing how things were put together and how they were done is an essential component in quality upper level English lit classes.

JeanneTGC · Feb 25, 2007

But does it help you to become a better writer, or just understand how something was written well?

Rolling Thunder · Feb 25, 2007

Birol said:
Analyzing how things were put together and how they were done is an essential component in quality upper level English lit classes.

Heh....I bet Mr. King would take umbrage with that philosophy. In fact, I believe he does in his book, On Writing.

Rolling Thunder · Feb 25, 2007

Oh look! I used the word 'umbrage' in a sentence. My word of the day toilet paper is paying off. :ROFL:

Birol · Feb 25, 2007

JeanneTGC said:
But does it help you to become a better writer, or just understand how something was written well?

Depends. And everything read in English lit classes is not well-written.

Rolling Thunder · Feb 25, 2007

Well, ambiguous must be the word for tonight.

*runs to check word for the day toilet paper*

Cassiopeia · Feb 25, 2007

no hun...it is ambivalent

Rolling Thunder · Feb 25, 2007

Casiopeia said:
no hun...it is ambivalent

I think that word is on the next roll.

Blondie22 · Feb 25, 2007

It's funny you should write about this, since I recently started copying (aka retyping) bits of my favorite book (Rebecca) before I start writing each day, to get a little warmed up. It's been helpful, and I was wondering if anyone else on AW did it. I've read that Somerset Maugham and Joan Didion copied their favorite writer's works word for word, so it can't be too crazy. (I get this info from The Modern Library Writer's Workshop by Stephen Koch).

Something to think about

alaskamatt17 · Feb 25, 2007

Birol said:
Depends. And everything read in English lit classes is not well-written.

Did you actually mean to say "everything read in English lit classes is not well-written" or did you mean that "not everything read in English lit classes is well-written?"

Birol · Feb 25, 2007

The second one.

alaskamatt17 · Feb 25, 2007

Okay, that makes more sense. I was just worried, because I thought you might be posting under the impression that tonight's word was "ambiguous," as Rllgthunder erroneously stated. I was ambivalent as to which interpretation I should go with, and worried that if I interpreted incorrectly, you might take umbrage.

Okay, now that I've gotten all the proper words out of the way ...

I agree with you. I've seen some absolutely wretched books being analyzed in upper-level English lit. classes.

Raphee · Feb 26, 2007

That'll be a super effort, copying The Stand.
How about doing chapters from various authors that you like; to get a broader feel of how they approached the craft differently and were good writers in their own ways.

Pagey's_Girl · Feb 26, 2007

As an exercise, I've also taken chapters and/or stories and rewritten them the way I would have told the story - sometimes with the same characters, sometimes not. Two in particular took on such lives of their own that they left me with two characters in search of a story to call theirs.

PeeDee · Feb 26, 2007

If you're a Jazz musician and you're playing Fats Domino tunes note for note, it's not going to teach you how to write catchy hooks or amazing songs. That's something you'll eventually have to figure out on your own.

What it does teach you is a sense of rhythm, and a taste of how really good music works. Sometimes, all it teaches you is a feel for a certain type of music.

Same with writing. You're not really going to gain any conscious knowledge form typing out someone else's chapters. Typing out The Stand is not going to even teach you how to write books like Stephen King.

If you're paying attention to what you're typing, then what it's teaching you is the beat behind the words, rather than the actual information in the words. And that can be a very useful thing too.

Azure Skye · Feb 26, 2007

I've decided to do this so I can concentrate on sentence structure in middle grade novels. I won't be typing the whole book out though, just a couple of pages.

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. . .

Akuma

Rare Writer Pokemon

johnzakour

Dangerous with a Keyboard

PeeDee

Where's my tea, please...?

johnzakour

Dangerous with a Keyboard

Sage

Our Lady of Parentheticals

RG570

blacbird

alaskamatt17

Rolling Thunder

Birol

Around and About

JeanneTGC

I am Catwoman...and Gini Koch

Rolling Thunder

Rolling Thunder

Birol

Around and About

Rolling Thunder

Cassiopeia

Otherwise Occupied

Rolling Thunder

Blondie22

alaskamatt17

Birol

Around and About

alaskamatt17

Raphee

In debt to AW

Pagey's_Girl

Still plays with dolls

PeeDee

Where's my tea, please...?

Azure Skye

Huh?

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. . .

Rare Writer Pokemon

Dangerous with a Keyboard

Where's my tea, please...?

Dangerous with a Keyboard

Our Lady of Parentheticals

Around and About

I *am* Catwoman...and Gini Koch

Around and About

Otherwise Occupied

Around and About

In debt to AW

Still plays with dolls

Where's my tea, please...?

Huh?

I am Catwoman...and Gini Koch