Noticing Newbies

Fear: I am afraid...no simpler way to put it. I have zero writing training, but I have read literally thousands of books. I have been a heavy reader since I was eleven (I'm 40 now). I try to mimic the writing style of the writers I admire, but I know somewhere along the way, I get so wrapped up in my story, that anything that resembles a style might fly out the window like a pig that cant fly, but I push on and write my story.

This...this is something that most of us have had to deal with. I wrote a lot when I was younger..all the way up until High School. Then..something happened and I stopped. I was a miserable failure as a student. Especially in English classes.

So I stopped writing for over 20 years. Not once did I pick up a pen or anything else and write anything other than my signature or a grocery list.

I have no training. I have no degree in English. Very few of us do.

But I did read....a lot. Thousands of books. Just like you. All that reading has helped me to keep a pretty good grasp on the language now that I have started writing again.

The worst thing for you to do is to try to mimic another writer's style. We all have our own "voice". That is what is so great about writing.

I once asked a friend who had published 4 novels if it was a bad thing that everything I wrote sounded like something I had read before. He told me it was perfectly fine because we all have our influences. Mine are fellas like Terry Brooks and Piers Anthony.

My point is, it's fine to start off trying to emulate some of your favorite writers. But eventually, your own style is going to want to emerge and be heard. That is a VERY good thing and nothing to be fearful of. It's when we get "wrapped up" in our stories that great things happen within them.

I can see by your post that you write pretty clearly. I will go and check out that chapter when I have a chance, and I won't charge you for it.

I honestly think that charging someone new GPs for a review is kind of silly anyway. I understand the need for GPs...but still.