On Craft…
I have a complicated relationship with my comfort zone. As a perpetually anxious person, I prefer the comfort zone for obvious reason. However, as a writer and artist who is interested in growing, I have to constantly make myself uncomfortable. This brought on the idea of chasing and abandoning the familiar when it comes to writing. There’s different layers to the familiar depending on where you are in your creative career. So, let’s get started.
When you’re just starting out, you’ll naturally gravitate to comfortable language and techniques. I’m talking about styles and phrases you’ve seen be used before successfully. I’m not calling you a copy-cat, but I am saying you will be inclined to replicate what already works. When starting out, that’s not so bad. It’s a great way to learn some skills and to find your own voice.
As you mature as a writer, though, you’ll want to grow beyond the familiar. It’s not necessarily about using awkward phrasing and trying to make it cool. Really, the advice here is about chasing what feels authentic to you. This will come over time and evolve naturally out of your practice of imitation. You’ll eventually be working on a piece and deploying your learned tropes, only to find they don’t really fit your point. From that struggle and tension comes your personal style.
There’s so much to be said for learning by example, and then learning by rebellion. I remember being a Murakami copy-cat for most of my fiction life, and then, eventually, sculpting something new when the fact I wasn’t Haruki Murakami presented itself to me. It’s so important to be inspired, and as I’ll touch on later this week, all influences are valid, but eventually, you stop needing direct inspiration and your own instinct kicks in. Anyone who tells you this instinct is native to you is telling the truth, but what they might not be telling you is how to shake it out and get it going. That’s why I’m here.
There’s a special moment as a growing writer where you pull out a stylistic trick you’ve done before, and give it the slightest tweak. That’s how you know your own prowess as a creative is emerging. When I instruct people to read a ton and learn from mentors, I’m not saying you should chase what’s familiar to you in terms of their influence. I am saying you should allow your own voice to innovate upon the familiar. Writing and art do not exist without everything else mish-moshing around in our heads. You’re encouraged to tap into all of that creative gook and make something new and less gook-like.
The pursuit of authenticity in your own style requires moments of inauthenticity and grappling with the page. You get your authentic self out once you realize your influences are not who you are, but merely a part. They can be fuel, but you are the engine. So, I give you permission to be inspired, but I also give you permission to rage against your inspiration and develop something new and true to your unique language. The comfort zone is a great incubator, but it has its limits. Your job is to extend beyond those limits and be boundless as a writer. It doesn’t happen overnight, and it never stops happening. That’s what’s so exciting about writing: There’s always a chance to learn more.