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Mimicking another author's style

I know this might not be the right place to ask but I going to ask anyway because this is basically research. There's a character that I really I want to base the speech patterns of P.G. Wodehouse's Bertie Wooster. The problem is he is a very unique author and he has these prose that one Wodehouse scholar has said that it is hard to imitate and mock P.G. Wodehouse's unique prose. My question is, should I read closely to the texts of Wodehouse and try to emulate him the best I can or should I just do my version of what I think Wodehouse would've said in my writing of the character I am working on?
 

JCFarnham

Auror
Always your own take on it. Read plenty of Wodehouse (and why wouldn't you!) and try and take in the parts of dialogue you think you're identifying with the most.
 
You are right, when I started writing I used him as a template but obviously I didn't want to make a Bertie Wooster copycat (that would be stupid) but I started going into a different direction and I think I shouldn't be so afraid of that either.
 
We all take in to some degree the styles of those writers we enjoy the most. If you study one in particular, you can get the style....if you really want to get their style, take one of your least favorite of their books, and type it out several times. From what I've been told it will do the trick, but the book you do it with will probably go to the least likely to ever be read again by you. It does impress their style on you more when you write their words enough.

I considered it at one point, but decided I'd rather let my own style develop on its own.
 

Dreamhand

Troubadour
I'm thoroughly behind evolving your own style, but Darkstorm's suggestion is an excellent one. Especially early in developing your writing style, I think it's important (if not vital) to examine the works of writers you admire. You're clearly well-read... put that awareness to use to really dig in to what defines those great writer's styles... then you can make a conscious choice about your own.
 
@Dreamhand

Well I do have a book of Jeeves stories and A Wodehouse Handbook: The World and Words of P.G. Wodehouse by N.T.P. Murphy by my side while I write for reference.
 
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