After Monet, Study for Mixed Media Collage © by Ruth Zachary
Reading Other Writer’s Work Can Sharpen Your Own Style.
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Ted Kooser said, “We teach ourselves to write the kinds of poems we like to read.” He said even a poem you don’t like can teach you, if you can articulate how you would change it.
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Sometimes the influence of another author’s work can be absorbed on an almost imperceptible level. Even some prose is so lyrical it has that kind of effect. I see this as a good thing. As a visual artist, other imagery influences me and yet it always is interpreted in a way that is uniquely different than the source.
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Recently I saw Barry Lopez in an interview on Bill Moyer’s Journal, and was very impressed with the lifestyle he has embraced in order to nourish his writing. Lopez goes out into remote areas to experience nature in an intimate way, so that he can bring back his impressions and reflections to reach others whose lives rarely experience it.
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Years ago Lopez wrote Of Wolves and Men, which I read and was most impressed by. Since then he has gone on writing, and has written several published books, containing his nature essays, and short stories that reveal unique qualities in people. I find both forms spiritually uplifting. As a writer, I am inspired by his style, which I would define as poetic prose.
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Lopez narrates some of his short stories on audiotape. In Light Action in the Caribbean, he reads very well, imbuing his characters with unique personality. The stories too, grip the imagination.
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His Artic Dreams, a National Book Award Winner, contain his observations and notes about people and animals living in the Artic. He draws from many sources, history, science, literature and myth in the construction of his essays, and truly takes us to places most of us would never experience.
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I don’t know as yet how his unique vision and language will affect my writing. I do know trying to say something of substance is something I value, and Barry Lopez always says something of value to me. In reading his work, I believe I can only be strengthened in my own writing.
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A Challenge to Visitors of this Site –
Read an author you have been influenced by, or share the impact a particular author has made upon your own thinking, and hopefully upon your writing.
You are invited to share your reflections on this site. (You will be attributed)
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