If you derive your work, it will be DERIVATIVE.
Okay, this may seem obvious, but I see this all the time. People who love one writer so much they emulate them to a point where they have no style of their own. I love Mark Waid too, but if I write like Mark Waid, what is the point of my bothering to write.
Mark Waid is Mark Waid. We don’t need another one.
Okay, it’s true, if you can emulate a popular writer effectively, you might get some work. Editors, (though they are wonderful, exceptional people, stroke, stroke…) are also human. Sometimes when a writer or artist is very popular, editors will seek people who can write or draw in a similar fashion, for the sake of riding a trend and perhaps boosting sales for a time. But, inevitably, the fashion changes and the copycats are soon out of a job. The originator of the style will probably continue to work though, because he is a unique voice.
Since many of us begin our comics careers as fans of comics, how do we separate the work of those we admire from our own? Again, it’s the element of time that usually does this. There is certainly no harm in emulating a good writer while we are learning our craft. There is much to be gleaned from studying and analyzing the work of talented practitioners of the craft we are learning. But, at some point, (AFTER we have learned our basics!), we have to reach inside ourselves for our own thoughts and ideas about what makes a good story. We must learn to trust our inner voice. Then, slowly, our style will begin to emerge.
Those writers we admire may still leave a subtle stamp on our work for a long time, but all writers have these “influences”. Roy Thomas was influenced by Stan Lee, but eventually became his own man. What we don’t want to do is decide that Chris Claremont is the greatest comics writer that ever lived and that we must write like him forever. This is the kiss of death. While Chris Claremont continues to grow, and change, and become a more mature and interesting voice, we would forever be a hollow clone, churning out stories in a style even Claremont himself has long ago left behind.
Who wants to be that guy?
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