Nathan Bransford - The Forums

There's quizzes out there about writing like a certain author that you can take and post on your blog or journal. They're amusing and hilarious. But finding out you write exactly like someone isn't.

I think I realized last night why I was plodding along Neil Gaiman's book.

I write like him. And I mean, he's good. He's very good. Better, because he's older, more experienced, and let's face it, able to go places I couldn't dream because he's braver.

But many times I find him turning phrases like I do, and here is one that slapped me in the face dead on:

From American Gods, Pg. 198:

They reached a large house, built in the style people called Queen Anne. Shadow wondered who Queen Anne was, and why she had been so fond of Addams Family-style houses.

From Chasing Miracles, Pg. 120:

Stephen said it was a Queen Anne Stick Style. But he had never met the Queen, and he wasn’t sure on how something so large could be compared to a stick.

I thought, OH. MY. GOD.

Things like this are happening, actually, quite frequently. The dry sense of humor. The off handed comments. I write like Neil Gaiman. The reason I can't get through the book but slowly is because it's like reading my own writing, and I've been doing that for a year, and I can see these things coming. It's amusing, yes, it's interesting, yes, but I know what's going to happen slightly before it does.

But this is bad. This is bad because if there's already someone out there like me, then where do I fit in? Is there a place for me? And if I write exactly like that, then it's going to look like I'm just some bad rip off artist. I'm going to have to set fire to everything I've already done and...why hasn't anyone told me this?!

I feel so stupid. So incredibly stupid.

Why do I even try anymore if with the next book I'm just going to find another and another and another? I'm done for. Finished. Used up before I've even been touched. Why even write stories anymore?

Merry Christmas...I am fail.

I say stop causing yourself unnecessary anxiety. It's not uncommon for genres or subgenres to have a certain level of shared voice brought on by, if nothing else, the conventions of the genre. There are certain style commonalities shared among many of the authors who write Angry Chicks in Leather urban fantasy, and there are certain commonalities in feel between the contemporary fantasy authors with a more literary reputation. There are commonalities I've noticed between certain historical romance authors I read in college, and those were very much a function of the conventions and allowances of the genre.

If you have a certain style that resembles literary contemporary fantasy, that is nothing to worry about. Edit: I should add that I've had editors tell me my writing style reminds them of Jo Walton and Mary Renault. They meant that as a good thing.

Besides, I don't think it's actually possible to have Neil Gaiman's voice - or any other author's. Voice is prized because it is unique, and when yours shines through, then you've set yourself apart from other writers. Just keep writing, sierra, and differences will spring on their own.

When I'm teaching or speaking one of my favorite catch phrases is "all my best ideas are stolen; I'm just not sure who I stole them from." Gaiman doesn't have the stories you have, so what if one human has a similar voice to another human? Go figure.

I'm sure you don't believe it when you call yourself "stupid" but in my decades of walking the Earth, I can tell you that living down that label is one of the hardest things I've had to do. I have no problem with calling myself ignorant or even idiot - those can be fixed - but PLEASE, please, please avoid that word because you're not.

I'm really not joking this time.