Through imitation, we discover our voice.
Beginning of this year, I read the following passage from David Perell's newsletter:
I once met a painting coach who tells students to copy their favorite artists. At first, students resist. In response, the coach tells them to listen for friction. “Do you hear that resistance? It’s the whisper of your unique style.”
And so I started experimenting with it…
Through imitation, we discover our voice.
We all want to be original and unique. To develop our own style. We are told we need to come up with our own ideas. But how do we do that?
Isn't pattern recognition and imitation a fundamental part of the human condition and hence the creative process as well? We learn by watching, listening and experiencing the work of others.
And what I learned over the past weeks is that when you go one step further and not only consume, but COPY word for word, brush stroke for brush stroke the work of people you admire, you indeed start to hear that voice of resistance.
Listen closely, then follow the voice.
It's your inner critic that does not agree with parts of the work you are copying. And suddenly, you are entering an imagined dialogue with the author (or painter). You can hear that critic even when you read a book or an article. Try it next time and listen to how your inner artist rebels. Write down how you disagree and how you would change the piece.
I personally started copying passages from certain writers I admire. You start peeking into their thoughts: "Ah I see what you did here", you start following their arguments "mmhmm I see where you are coming from, but I would rephrase this part here".
With time your own style and voice emerges.
And it makes sense. If you copy someone word for word, your brain gets confused: "Hey what about this thing we believe in", "why do you say or write it like this when you could put it like that". Our mind is not used to write stuff that emerged in other brains.
It doesn't matter if you are doing this for business (copying Amazon's shareholder letters to sharpen your business philosophy) or personal leisure (copying a Monstead painting to learn how you interpret nature).
Your own voice will make itself heard and if you keep at it, a comprehensive and cohesive style and philosophy slowly starts to emerge. And from this position you can draw out more original ideas that have its source someplace deep inside of you.
Try it out. It’s like magic.
