Technique Tuesday: Beware the Classics

I get a lot writers who tell me that their writing is okay because they write like [insert name of classic writer like Dickens or Twain].

Listen, that's great, but here's the thing: these books are classics and handed down. It's not that you can't write like that, but let me put it this way: Shakespeare was a classic writer. Do you write like him?

Of course not, because styles and tastes have changed.

So, if you want to write like Twain, I get that, but also remember that you need to respect t...