How to avoid copycatting?

So, a few months ago, I made a disturbing development while rereading a short story I had written: I was copycatting Haruki Murakami.

It really upset me, because I had considered it one of the best things I had written, but the style and plotlines were rather identical: short but descriptive sentences, stoic narrators assisted by quirky outsiders, alternate dimensions, random bizarre occurences, etc. It may not seem like much from this description, but they read like bad scenes from The Wind Up Bird Chronicle.

Anyways, I've been able to stop to a certain extent, but I sometimes have to restrain myself from writing certain scenes, including certain types of characters, etc. I want to know how to keep the impact of a book I've read as an influence and not...a blueprint. It's quite distressing.

I'm sure I could just do it on my own if I tried hard enough...but does anyone have tips on how to avoid making this grave mistake?

1 - Wind-Up Bird Chronicles, yay!

2 - I'm not sure that there's a sure-fire way to know, but I sometimes have the paranoid thought that I've accidentally filched a better story and re-written it, and am just very oblivious to the fact. I'll try and mentally catalogue stories I've read (or films I've watched, or tv, or anything else) that have similar concepts or characters, however vague that similarity may be, and I try to steer clear of whatever they're doing. The whole mental catalogue thing wasn't easy at first, but I think it just takes a little practice.

3 - In your situation, I would suggest that you also try to be as aware of your influences as possible. Again, easier said than done, but if your situation is as dire as you say, maybe keep a list of writers and books you've been reading in a file somewhere. When you're brainstorming or fleshing out an idea, pull up the file and check your story against the writers & stories you've been reading. If it rings a bell, you know you have to go in a different direction. I don't know if this will work, but maybe it's a place to start?

The catalogue thing is a good idea. I do something similar, but I also keep in mind what I liked or didn't like about the story. Stuff I like is more likely to sneak its way into the story without me realizing, so if I'm conscious of it and actually decide "yes, I will take concepts from this" or "this doesn't fit into the story so I'm going to make sure it doesn't show up." Stuff I don't like can also provide story ideas, cause I want to do it better.

You can also toss this into making sure you don't copycat: don't read. Spend some time without any outside influence and really solidify your story as your own. Spend some time getting to really know your own style. I had my style, plot and characters become dangerously close to Song of the Lioness, but Tamora Pierce. What ended up working for me was not reading anything by her, and eventually not reading anything as the next step (because I could only read one author at the time who didn't influence me, and he doesn't write all that much). I've reached the point I can read some stuff without being influenced, but now I'm out of the habit of reading and would rather write.

Hope this helps!

~Rosey

DON'T READ!?
A scary thought.
I guess taking a break from reading would make sense from that perspective...I guess.
I tend to read tons of different authors at the same time, though. This summer was different with Haruki Murakami, so I guess the copycatting has a clear source...

Thanks for the advice, though, guys. I actually do have a database of books I've read at http://www.goodreads.com I've been perusing it over the past half hour making sure I haven't been too heavily influenced by any one work.

I'm not really sure that copycatting is the best word. After all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and all, and these days an 'original' idea - an idea no one has ever thought about before - is incredibly hard to get. It's inevitable that you'll be influenced by the work of your favourite authors and want to imitate their style of writing, and sometimes that can be quite a healthy way to reach your own style, too! If you're really afraid of this near-plagiarism, I'd recommend classing it as fanfic. Can't go wrong there.

Mostly, I'd recommend this: if you liked that author's style, go for it - try it out. Just be a little more actively aware whose style it is you're using, and do steer clear of using the same idea as them. So. Exact content you should not copy, but exercising with styles is alright. Conversely, you could do the exact opposite - say there was an idea you really felt you needed to write about, but then write about it in a different style. For fun.

Hope that helped!

I actually think that reading is the best thing here... but make sure you read a lot. That way, it all melds together after a while.

Snoink wrote:I actually think that reading is the best thing here... but make sure you read a lot. That way, it all melds together after a while.

This would be the other end of the spectrum. xD Either don't read or read a ton of different authors/styles at once or in short succession.