Mark Twain and Steve Allen got. By imitating great writing, you
learn how to create great writing. It gives you something close to the
same feelings the author probably had when he wrote the story.
That’s powerful.
You can imitate anyone in order to learn new skills. I’ve taught
harmonica players to imitate great players by slowing down the
recordings and copying each note they hear. And when I was 16
and wanted to be a writer, I imitated Jack London and William
Saroyan until I understood how they wrote their masterpieces.
Reading and copying great writing is comparable to what an
athlete does when he watches videos of other athletes. A skier
watches expert skiers handle tough slopes; tennis players watch
films of tennis champions; swimmers watch videos of legendary
swimmers. All of these people are training their minds (and bod-
ies) to record the pattern for creating success.
Writers can’t watch videos of other writers and pick up what the
authors are doing because writing is largely an internal experience.
But if you pick up a piece of writing, something created by a mas-
ter writer, and copy it, word for word, you begin to internalize the
subtle intricacies used to create that writing.
Imitation isn’t stealing (unless you try to sell the imitation). It’s
learning.
What I want you to do now is train your mind to create Hyp-
notic Writing. How? First, you have to find some Hypnotic Writ-
ing. Look around your room. What are the articles, letters, or
books that have stuck with you over the years? What have you
read recently that you could not forget? You might have read a
novel, a short story, a letter, a direct mail advertisement, and
even a memo. Collect examples of writing that you regard as
hypnotic. Since this is a subjective judgment, there aren’t any
wrong examples. Just gather examples of writing that you think
is excellent.
Now select something from your pile of examples. Anything.
Now write out the example. That is to say, take out a pad of paper
and a pen and actually copy, word for word, the example in front of
you. Simply reproduce it in your own handwriting.HYPNOTIC WRITING