You can't write like that

Often, when I'm reading a good book I will say to myself, "Wow, I wish I could write like that."

But of course I can't.

And neither can you.

Each of us can only write just as we do. I comes from inside us - I haven't figured out just where yet - and each word we write is ours and only ours.

As an interesting exercise I can try to imitate Faulkner or Hemingway, but really attempting to do that seriously would be, as might daughter might say, a "classic fail."

We can each get better in our own writing and we should try to do that and never stop trying.

But ultimately what we write is a fundamental part of who we are. I can no more borrow someone's ability to write than I could borrow Arnold Schwarzenegger's arm to impress all my friends.

I'll be back.

Yours in rejection,

Phil