Whilst on the Arvon Foundation short-story writing course in 2009, one of the tasks we completed was to write down the aims of our writing, or what we would like someone to think of our writing. The below is what I came up with at the time:
I’d like my writing to have:-
> the humour of Robert A. Heinlein
> the bizarreness of Philip K. Dick
> the drama of David Weber
> the prophecy of Arthur C. Clarke
> the inventivenes of Isaac Asimov
> the scope of Frank Herbert
> the realism of Joe Haldeman
I suppose that part of this task was to help us find our own voice, perhaps even our style. But overall, I think it was to get us to think about what type of writer / the kind of writing we wanted to do. I think that knowing any amount of this will help to provide focus, motivation and confidence in one’s writing endeavours.
Looking at this list now, I think I would adjust it a little bit. But overall, I still think that it sums up at least partially, how I want my writing to aim towards.
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