I have developed a "system" of sorts. Several times a day a read a page, or chapter or just one sentence from a selection of my favourite authors - authors that I would most like to emulate.

John Banville
William Golding
Patrick White
P G Wodhouse

I have the books piled up on my desk. If I am stuck on my manuscript I just go through these books slowly, taking in the poetry and rhythm of the words and sentence construction. So subliminally they serve as input, which will affect my output. I'm not looking to copy ideas or phrases or plots or anything tangible. But I do believe that what you input subtly affects your output. I have found that this has improved the standard of my writing.

Others might find this useful (with their own favorate writers and books)

Anyone whose system involves reading lots of P.G.Wodehouse is fine by me!

But be careful - it's easy to fall into the unconscious trap of copying or pastiching your favourite authors. I look back at some of my short stories from a few years ago and the Wodehousian metaphors and similes are painfully obvious, to the extent where any publisher reading them would just think "Oh yes so Griff reads a lot of P.G.Wodehouse, nothing very original here" and throw them in the bin.

On the other hand, I've found detailed analysis of the mechanics of great authors pays great dividends. Thorny questions such as "how does one go about writing an action scene" or "how can I combine comic writing with a sense of realism" are often best answered by going back to your favourite books, seeing exactly how they did it, and then making a decision as to whether you want to do the same or not.

But I certainly have read tales of authors who did something very similar to what you suggest. I can't quite remember but it might have been Roald Dahl who used to get over writer's block by typing out passages from his favourite authors. (I think he mentions this in one of his volumes of autobiography, which are excellent. But who his favourite authors were, I can't remember. )

I think good authors really can feed your writerly self. And immersing in a compelling novel can get you back into that hyper-sensitive state that good writing often comes from. (music and art do it for me too).

On the other hand, what I wrote the day after spending the evening with Raymond Chandler is too horrible to contemplate. Very highly-flavoured writers - like Wodehouse - are the riskiest for this. Golding, true great though he is, I'd have thought less of a risk.

Emma

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I might have a look at Roald Dahl's autobio. I haven't much time for his fiction, except a bit for his children's. But of course that doesn't necessarily mean the man can't write about writing.

Emma, that phrase "spending the evening with Raymond Chandler" reminds me there's a whole song called Raymond Chandler Evening. (by the very fabulous Robyn Hitchcock)

It's a Raymond Chandler Evening At the end of someone's day And I'm standing in my pocket And I'm slowly turning grey I remember what I told you But I can't remember why And the yellow leaves are falling In a spiral from the sky There's a body on the railings That I can't identify And I'd like to reassure you but I'm not that kind of guy It's a Raymond Chandler Evening And the pavements are all wet And I'm lurking in the shadows 'Cause it hasn't happened yet

BTW did you know that Wodehouse and Chandler went to the same school (Dulwich College) at almost the same time - Wodehouse left the year that Chandler joined! I always find that incredible since the two seem to come from such different worlds (Psmith, Journalist notwithstanding.)

Of course it's not a phrase to be lightly employed about every writer. "Spending the evening with Belle de Jour", for example, might require further clarification.

But be careful - it's easy to fall into the unconscious trap of copying or pastiching your favourite authors. I look back at some of my short stories from a few years ago and the Wodehousian metaphors and similes are painfully obvious, to the extent where any publisher reading them would just think "Oh yes so Griff reads a lot of P.G.Wodehouse, nothing very original here" and throw them in the bin.

Agreed.

That is why I have deliberately chosen writers with contrasting styles. I spent a period just reading Patrick White and, well, I found I was writing too much like him (not as GOOD as him, just like him). And with White that's a bad thing because his strength is what he says not how he says it; he's not an easy read. So if you're not as profound as him and stuck with his writing style, you've had it!

I tend to be aware, when I'm reading Wodhouse, of the high-paced elements and characterisation, but being careful not to go overboard with some of his over colourful metaphors.

For me, John Banville is the most enjoyable writer to read today - except that he is the most depressing writer for aspiring writers to read; its like a would-be composer listening to Mozart or Bach and saying: "Am I supposed to write like THIS?" then throwing their pens away, vowing never to write another word.

The only Banville novel I've read was Kepler and that was terrific. I must try some more of his.

Griff, I love that lyric, and I know just what it means - apart from the body on the railings.

I did know that about PGW and Raymond C, probably because I live just up the road from Dulwich College. I think they do have more in common than you'd think: Bertie and Marlow are both knight-errants in modern form - one comic, one dramatic. And the slightly baroque near-excesses of the language. Dammit, maybe I should have sent my son to the College after all!

It amuses me that when PGW wants a boring suburban address for Bertie to give in court, or for the deplorable showgirl fiancée of some friend, it's usually somewhere round here. In fact, I've been known to catch a wiff of dusty music hall costumes hanging round the landing in this house...

Emma

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knights-errant, I think.

micheal

i agree, banville is depressingly brilliant. 'the book of evidence' was so well pitched and his descriptions are spot on. in his latest he describes the sea as being 'malignantly agleam' - portentious maybe, but, in the context of the novel, perfect.

i always read bits of novels when im writing, just dipping in and out. usually ill see a word and think 'i could use that...'

I don't read any serious fiction when I'm involved in a first draft - the input affects my output all to un-subtly, unfortunately. Either that, or if the writing's great enough I just want to give up. I do read bits of fiction of the period I'm writing in, though - not to pastiche it, but to absorb the flavour in a more non-specific way, rather as Michael does, I suppose.

Emma

Apparently Ian Mckewan kept Saul Bellow's Herzog to hand when he was writing Saturday. Some scenes are even 'borrowed'. I guess McKewan is confident enough in his own voice to do that. I myself would be worried. I only read pulp fiction or non-fiction when I'm writing.

Mind you, the former can teach you something about plot...