Mimicking Great Writers and Eating All Their Food

A hat tip to The Rumpus for passing along this little dandy of an article from The Awl: An A-to-Z listing of famous writers and their food fetishes, such as that of Victor Hugo:

Y is for YOLKS
When living in exile in the Channel Islands, Victor Hugo would rise at dawn and eat 2 raw eggs, drink a cup of cold coffee, then begin writing.

There is a habit among writers — namely writers aiming to cross into the realm of The Known — to mimic the actions of other great writers. We think if we have the writing schedule of Hunter S. Thompson or the home office of William Shakespeare, then maybe we should be able to produce writing that equals their works.

It’s a good idea to learn from successful habits — not that I would be caught mimicking Thompson anytime soon — but at the same time, I think it’s a better idea to forge new ones. In fact, I think it should be a common goal for writers to land on such a list as The Awl assembled. Personally, I find the “B is for Booze” section uninspiring, so perhaps I should aim to be the first author to live solely on broccoli and blueberry juice. It is not that I should want to be set apart by my habits, but that my habits should be a more honest representation of me (and I love broccoli and blueberries).

Set let us endeavor, then, to not mimic, but learn, and then carve our own, wonderful entries in the A-to-Z listing of literature.

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