Teach Yourself to Be a Copycat

Want to write like your favorite author? Open one of their books and start typing.

Photo: Migle Kirklyte / EyeEm via Getty

When I first started writing professionally, I copied like crazy. Not literally copied — I didn’t lift sentences or ideas — but copied in the way an apprentice woodworker might copy a master woodworker, following the curves, mimicking the cuts and joinery, lining up my work…