For history, we had to write a paper pretending to be a soldier in the Battle of Hastings, writing about what it was like and such. I had some fun with it and it turned out pretty well in my opinion. I got a good grade on it and my history teacher liked it. So I was pretty happy.
Yesterday in study hall, I was sitting next to a friend of mine and he saw the paper in my binder and asked what it was. So I handed it to him and told him it was my history paper and that I was pretty proud of it. He looked at it for about five seconds, then handed it back and said, "I can tell from reading this that you read a lot of the popular books out right now; Percy Jackson, Hunger Games, etc."
Ouch.
Okay, so it's true, I do read a lot of the popular books that aren't exactly LotR or Narnia or all those awesome books. But to be honest, I tend to read anything I can get my hands on, so it's not like I'm purposely only reading the Hunger Games.
But is my writing style too familiar? Too much like all the books everyone's talking about; Divergent, Princess Academy, Percy Jackson?
I'll let you decide:
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It was so terrifying, I almost died before the fight even began. I tried to keep my heart from escaping my chest as I listen for the signal from Duke William. The men around me were straight and ready. And calm. Three things I was lacking at the moment.
It was almost eerie, like that moment when a rock balances on the tip of the cliff before tumbling down. And all I could think about was how this could be the day that I die...
I missed it! Duke William had given the signal while my mind was still elsewhere. Suddenly, everything was loud and chaos rang free. I decided that if I was going to die, at least I could die pretending to be brave.
I ran, shouting, into a hellish battle where blood was raining down and Death was the only victor.
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And now that I'm re-reading it, I see that my friend was right. My writing style is a lot like Suzanne Collins or Shannon Hale. The paper is like the part of the Hunger Games, right in the beginning of the games, when Katniss misses the gong because her mind was elsewhere... I have that in my history paper!
Is it bad that I write like this? I mean, I would much rather be compared to Tolkein rather than Suzanne Collins. But I think many writers would say the same thing.
But what am I supposed to do now? I've been writing like this forever and I can't just change my writing style. I was actually really proud of this paper because it expressed who I am as a writer. But now I'm not so sure I'm proud of it.
I don't want to write like everyone else does. I want to write like me. But maybe me is like everyone else.
I really shouldn't dwell too much on this, it was just one person's opinion. I guess I can't really handle the fact that someone didn't think my writing style was unique or special in any way. I think the reason it stung was because I want to be really good writer and this critique kind of put me back on square one.
And my friend meant well. He did say it was good. I just need to accept that not everyone will like what I write.
On that happy note, I'll leave you to your cards, Cupids, and those little heart candies that taste like chalk. Happy Valentine's Day!
--Abby
Yesterday was Friday 13th...
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