I was listening to a local talk show this morning (don't hate me--I was just waiting for the news) when I heard the hosts interviewing two members of some rock band or other. Don't recall the name, don't care. What interested me was the comment of one of the band members who'd replaced the well-known bass player of the group. When the host said, "You have some big shoes to fill," the man replied, "I brought my own shoes."Wow! That's confidence. No attempt to live up to the reputation of the person you're replacing. No struggle to mimic his playing style. I'm not trying to fill his shoes--I brought my own.
How many novelists struggle to write like someone else? How many have fallen prey to the temptation to mimic the style of..? You can fill in the blanks. But I'm not Robert B Parker, or Earl Stanley Gardner, or James Scott Bell. I'm me. And I brought my own shoes.
There was a time when I was encouraged to make my writing conform to the style of a cozy mystery. The advice was good-intentioned, but trying to follow it was like trying to put on a pair of shoes that just didn't fit. Sorry. I have my own writing voice. I brought my own shoes.
Whether you're a writer or an executive, whether you're young or old, no matter your situation, remember this when someone encourages you to mimic what others are doing. You're you. You're unique. You brought your own shoes.
Posts
2 comments:
True. So true. You can only be a second class someone else.
That's pretty good company you have me in, Doc. Wow! I should be so prolific. Parker is amazing, but ESG was something else again--he dictated his books and had a band of secretaries transcribing while he went bow and arrow hunting, or some such.
The writer's life, eh?
Post a Comment