The Repertoire Guide

We are made of references. Everything a writer uses in his work comes from somewhere, and those places are our individual references.

A reference means what we have as a model. From an early age, we have someone as a reference, someone who we admire and inspire. The first reference is usually our father or mother. Then, idols of our childhood and youth, an artist, a musician, a writer, a revolutionist. References shape our character and style, and the combination of different references and social experiences shapes each writer's individual way of producing content.

Today, almost nothing that is produced is 100% original. In the book "Steal Like an Artist," the author Austin Kleon assumes that nothing is original and that being inspired by other artists as references is practical and advantageous to improve someone's writing style.

“If you admire some artists, copy them, and copy their references, find out who they admire, who they copy things from, who are their influencers, and take it all for yourself. Be these artists until the moment you feel like you are no longer copying, but creating your own stuff.”

By Austin Kleon, at “Steal Like an Artist.”

While your own style is still not well defined, try out different styles and realize in which of them your work stands out and with which you feel more comfortable.

But, the ace in the hole is knowing how to combine different references to make your work original, did you get it?