Imitation Is Part of Being a Writer

Zeynep Ozakat

I recently read an essay by Theo Nestor, describing how you need a nut graf in a personal essay. She offers a wonderful example of how this can be done, then advises writers to copy the format: “It is perfectly okay … The content will be very much your own.”

Similarly, in a recent essay for Glimmer Train, Zeynep Ozakat says:

Imitation is part of being a writer. Just like babies who learn to smile by imitating adults, we must have the humility to learn from the greats through mimicry.

She closes by quoting Picasso, “Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.” Read her entire essay.

For more insight from the latest Glimmer Train bulletin:

Writing What You Don’t Know by Patrick Hicks
Just Add Cowboy by Sean Bernard
The Monster Scale by Daniel Torday

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