Many great authors have copied out the writings of other authors so as to learn their works. Some of them have even taken the time to describe how they learned and used this technique - you can find glowing recommendations of this method from Benjamin Franklin, James Jones, and Somerset Maugham, to name just a few.
Here’s an account from Malcolm X, who improved his reading and writing skills with this method while in prison:
"I saw that the best thing I could do was to get hold of a dictionary—to study, to learn some words. I was lucky enough to reason also that I should try to improve my penmanship. It was sad. I couldn’t even write in a straight line. It was both ideas together that moved me to request a dictionary along with some tablets and pencils from the Norfolk Prison Colony school.
Apparently, he ended up copying the entire dictionary.
I learned this technique from the books of educational pioneer Arthur Whimbey, in particular Why Johnny Can’t Write and the workbook How to Analyze, Organize, and Write Effectively.
Although many authors have used this tactic, Whimbey had two unique contributions. First, he formalized the technique into a specific method, and created exercises for people to practice with.
Second, he saw that copying from memory could be used for writers of all ages, for everything from basic spelling and punctuation errors, to intermediate areas of mastery like vocabulary and grammar, all the way up to advanced writing tactics like rhetorical devices. Why memorize rules when you can learn from experience? (Plus: you can even use this method for seemingly unrelated fields, such as programming: see this presentation I gave on applying this method and other ideas to my efforts towards learning the Clojure programming language.)
So what is copying from memory, exactly, and how do you do it? Here are Whimbey’s instructions:
Don’t just copy word for word. Copy from memory as much as possible. For each sentence, read as many words as you think you can remember and write those words from memory.
Note that this is not what we ordinarily think of as copying something out. If you worked with me in an office, and I asked you to copy something out for me, you would probably try to do it in the fastest amount of time possible. This probably means that you would copy word for word. That kind of copying won’t help you to learn to write well, though. This method requires you to take your time, and be conscious of the material that you are copying from.
Pick a small passage that you’d like to practice with this technique. By small, I mean something like a sentence or paragraph scale - not a whole blog post, essay, or dictionary. Grab a paper and pencil (a computer will work, too) and try copying it out using this method. Read some of the original; commit the words to memory; and then, turning your attention towards your paper, write those words from memory. Once you’ve finished, you can look back, and correct any errors.
It is important to only look at one version at a time: the original or the copy. Otherwise, you will be tempted to copy word for word.
Additionally, when you are trying to remember the words in a sentence, you should also try to remember the punctuation marks. Say them clearly in your mind, or out loud. For example, copying the previous sentence from memory might sound like this in your mind: "SAY THEM CLEARLY IN YOUR MIND COMMA OR OUT LOUD PERIOD." Good writers use all of these punctuation marks in very specific ways, and this technique can help you to learn how to use them by example.
Practicing this skill will be helpful to you during the Hostwriting Process. If you come across something you like, and want to emulate, you can always practice this technique on that material.
What's next?