Three Magic Books, Part Three

I would wager that you already own this Magic Book and that it is very near at hand, possibly on the night table by your bed, or on a special shelf reserved for special books, because the third Magic Book is your favorite novel.

Most fiction writers start out as avid readers.  If you were not a voracious fan of stories and novels in your youth, chances are you won't magically turn into a writer in later years.  So you love to read - stories, novellas and novels, fiction of all kinds.  And I'll bet you have a few favorite titles that you return to time and again, and loan out only to those reliable friends who you are certain will return the treasured book.  And I'll bet you even have One Favorite out of them all, the one novel that resonates with your soul and makes you feel an almost mystical connection.  This is the book that has made you think: I want to write like this. 

The book that inspired me was The Egyptian, by Mika Waltari.  I was fourteen when I read it, and my life changed forever.  It was a hot summer afternoon in the San Fernando Valley, and I was afflicted with typical teenage boredom.  This, of course, was before the days of Facebook, computers, video games and 900 TV channels.  Entertainment and escape came in few choices, and one of them was books.  After whining to my Mom that I was bored (I am not sure what she was supposed to do about it!), she said, "Go read a book."  There was a book case in our living room, stocked with paperbacks.  Nothing for teens, of course.  I had my choice between Nancy Drew (I had outgrown her) and regular adult fiction.  To this day, I do not know why my eye was drawn to the spine of The Egyptian - perhaps it was the vivid colors, or the exotic lettering of the title, or maybe it was the illustration of a buff male in a loincloth and nothing else.  My hand reached out, I drew the book from the shelf, I opened to the first page, read the first lines and I was hooked.  I retreated into the backyard of our small Tarzana home, and at the same time, I retreated into the exotic, frightening, alluring world of the Nile Valley three thousand years ago.

I remember little of that distant summer, as I devoured Waltari's incredible novel.  When I was finished, I returned to page one and started again.  This was the novel that got me on the writing track.  I thought: I want to do this - create fantastic worlds with amazing heroes and share them with others. 

Here is what I recommend you do with your Favorite Novel.  Study the book's "voice."  Most likely, you love this book because it already imitates your own natural voice.  I surely believe that of The Egyptian.  Now here's a nifty exercise: try writing a chapter in that author's style.  That's right, see if you can copycat what the author did.  There is no shame in imitating a style, especially as it's clearly a style you already love.  Here's another exercise: How did that author introduce and describe the heroine?  Invent a heroine of your own and introduce and describe her in a similar manner, or even in the exact manner your favorite author did, and then make changes to suit your taste.  This is what I did in my early years of writing.  I so loved Mika Waltari's style that I tried to imitate him.  After a while, my own style emerged and then evolved until I wrote Hounds and Jackals, my first novel, and although it takes place in Egypt, it is a modern-day Egypt and the style is nothing like Waltari's.  But he got me launched and that's what matters.

You, too, will discover that the more you strive to imitate your favorite novel, the more you will gradually find your own voice, your own style and, eventually a book that is entirely your own - original, unique, and best of all, finished!

So proudly display your Three Magic Books, keep them near at hand, refer to them often and start writing!  Good luck!